Since its commissioning in 1968, the Roma Brisbane Pipeline (RBP) has played an important role in bringing gas to southeastern Queensland.

The 438-kilometre RBP is a transmission pipeline that transports natural gas between the Wallumbilla Gas Supply Hub, near Roma, and Brisbane, and regional centres in between. The associated Peat lateral pipeline is also a transmission pipeline and connects the Peat and Scotia gas fields to the RBP. The RBP is bi-directional.

The Roma Brisbane Pipeline is fully regulated, which means that prices for reference services and the terms and conditions are subject to regulatory oversight by the Australian Energy Regulator. The key regulation instrument is the pipeline’s Access Arrangement, which must be consistent with the national gas objective.

The national gas objective requires that we efficiently invest in, and efficiently operate, the RBP in the long-term interest of consumers. This is in line with the APA way and Customer Promise.

An access arrangement must be revised periodically. The RBP Access Arrangement for the current regulatory period must be revised by 30 June 2022. We are now preparing the revised access arrangement for the 2021-27 regulatory period.

In May 2020, APA held a workshop to engage with stakeholders interested in services provided by the RBP. Following this, APA submitted a reference service proposal to the Australian Energy Regulator.

Before submitting the access arrangement revision proposal to the regulator on 1 July 2021, APA intends to hold a series of meetings with RBP stakeholders to hear their views and to answer any questions arising throughout this process. Our guiding principles for this engagement are:

  • No surprises: we want to reveal as much as possible about our plans ahead of making our submission to the regulator.
  • Clear, accurate and timely communication: we will aim to prepare information to allow sufficient time for you to consider and provide feedback.
  • Easy to understand: we will not become too technical and we will prepare information that can be read and understood by a wide audience.
  • Transparent: we will aim to be transparent about our thinking and plans but, as an ASX-listed company, there are rules about what we can and can’t make public.
  • Consumer influence: we aim to be open about what is and what isn’t open to consumer influence.
  • Measureable: we will seek your feedback on the engagement process and we will ask you to rate us on the above principles.

RBP Access Arrangement

Please see RBP Access Arrangement Document

Documentation

All RBP engagement documents are on this webpage.

Reference Service Decision

In November 2020, the Australian Energy Regulator accepted RBP’s reference service proposal to have a westbound firm transportation service and an eastbound firm transportation service as reference services in the 2022–27 gas access arrangement period (1 July 2022 through 30 June 2027).

More details on the Roma Brisbane Pipeline Access Arrangement Proposal are available on the AER’s website.

Contact

Please email [email protected] to ask any questions or provide feedback on the APA’s RBP Access Arrangement or community engagement plans; or to request an invite to an engagement session or to arrange a private consultation.