Stop Beetaloo –
Don’t Frack the Outback

Beetaloo is marketed by the fracking companies as one of the world’s largest and most significant shale gas reserves, containing 200 to “500 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of discovered and prospective gas resources.”*

While these figures are prospective and total recoverable gas volumes are still unknown, should Beetaloo hold this much gas and it be extracted and burned – Beetaloo would become one of the world’s largest fracked shale gas basins and one of the largest gas fields ever developed.

The potential carbon footprint of Beetaloo is enormous – at the gas companies’ most aspirational scale (500 TCF), the combustion of Beetaloo gas would produce 26.25 billion tonnes of CO₂-e. That would be the equivalent of running Australia’s biggest coal fired power station, Eraring, until the year 3971.

Even if Beetaloo only reaches one-tenth of that scale, it would still emit over 2.6 billion tonnes of CO₂-e: like running Eraring for another ~194 years.

A fossil fuel development of this size is outrageous. Starting large scale extraction and combustion in the 2030’s would be actively choosing a path of catastrophic climate breakdown.

The world’s leading climate and energy bodies have been clear for years: earth is on track for hazardous levels of warming unless we rapidly cut fossil fuel use as soon as possible – we cannot afford to extract and burn more.

“we are currently heading towards outcomes in the range of 2.5-3 °C, with severe implications for lives and livelihoods around the world.” – Dr Fatih Birol, Executive Director International Energy Agency, World Energy Outlook 2025

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has concluded that emissions from existing and committed fossil fuel infrastructure (as at 2018) will significantly overshoot the 1.5°C warming limit. The goal of 1.5°C requires global emissions to have almost halved by 2030.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) has stated that to achieve net zero by 2050, no coal mine expansions or new oil and gas fields can go ahead.

As a new (greenfield) gas basin, Beetaloo is scientifically incompatible with limiting global warming to 1.5°C in line with the Paris Agreement.

Every new gas pipeline, processing facility or LNG export terminal developed as a result of Beetaloo fracking locks Australia and the world deeper into long-term fossil fuel use and increases the probability of catastrophic climate change.

Despite the gas industry propaganda, Beetaloo is not an energy or cost of living solution for Australians – it’s the exact opposite.

The gas companies’ have publicly acknowledged that the real goal is to frack the Outback for LNG exports – a plan that risks locking Australians into more expensive gas, higher energy costs and greater vulnerability to global price shocks.

“Beetaloo Basin – the next major shale to LNG export province” – Beetaloo Energy

“There’s no question that Beetaloo is principally going to be an LNG export play.” – Adam Watson, CEO APA Group

Ignoring for one moment the fact that oil and gas companies prioritising LNG exports has led to East Coast gas prices almost quadrupling over the past decade – even if Beetaloo was purely a domestic supply play, the gas is so remote that it makes no economic sense for Australian consumers.

Beetaloo is also forecast to be one of the most expensive sources of new gas supply for the East Coast, largely due to the substantial costs transporting gas from the centre of the Outback to Australia’s East Coast.

Beetaloo is so remote, even the world’s gas majors don’t see value in it.

Chevron CEO Michael Wirth and ExxonMobil Vice President Neil Chapman – executives from companies that have seriously considered Australian fracking opportunities – have both said they don’t see Beetaloo as financially viable.

As ExxonMobil’s Neil Chapman put it, “It’s quite a ways inland. You’ve got to build a lot of pipe to get it to the open market.” Once gas from Beetaloo reaches its destination, it will be very expensive.

Australia’s largest gas infrastructure company, APA Group is developing plans for an ultra-remote 1,561 kilometers North to East Australia Pipeline (NEAP) which leading energy consultancy Rystad Energy estimates could cost up to $4.9 billion.

The NEAP would rival the longest gas pipelines in Australia and would be an enormously expensive undertaking for APA Group, a company already carrying over $13 billion of debt.

For APA to build the NEAP, the company would need to take on billions of dollars in new debt with substantial interest costs. To then recover these costs and make a profit, APA would have to impose significant pipeline tariffs – effectively passing the cost on to customers.

“For Beetaloo gas to supply the east coast gas market, delivered gas pricing would need to remain sufficiently high to cover both production costs and the significant tariffs associated with long-distance transport.” – INPEX

This means for NEAP to be commercially viable it would need to transport large volumes of gas for decades. That would lock Australia into prolonged use of expensive gas, drive up emissions, and divert investment and support away from cheaper renewables.

Fracking is a high-risk gas extraction method which involves injecting water, sand and hazardous chemicals deep underground to break up pockets of gas and allow it to seep to the surface. Fracking is notorious for contaminating water systems and agricultural land, and has devastated local communities and ecosystems in the United States.

Fracking poses such severe environmental and health risks that the practice has led to bans in at least 15 countries globally, as well as in Victoria, Tasmania and most of Western Australia.

The risks in Beetaloo are already raising alarm. UN Special Rapporteur Marcos Orellana has criticised Beetaloo-related gas plans over climate, human rights and environmental concerns.

Beetaloo has faced years of opposition from local communities and Traditional Owners whose country has been severely impacted by the fracking operations including failure to report cultural artefacts and failure to adequately consult with Traditional Owners.

In a 2025 Guardian exclusive, ‘How an obscure consultancy firm is helping fracking companies influence traditional owners’, leaked documents claim that a consultancy firm hired by Beetaloo Energy promised Traditional Owners private deals, gathered signatures and hired land council members to smooth the way for Beetaloo’s gas sales. The article details extremely serious allegations that may be subject to further investigations.

Traditional Owner William John is quoted saying “They said anything I want they would do: paying me money; getting me [a] vehicle to go visit my land, fuel, money, whatever… They talked about the gas, getting the money out of the gas… I’d like someone to help stop what they’re doing.”

As well as community opposition there are also serious fears surrounding the impacts to the environment, water and cultural heritage, including “major risks” to groundwater, drinking water, precious aquifers and sacred sites.

Fracking Beetaloo would put water, health, Country and communities at great risk.