Australian Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen said the government has released the Domestic Gas Reservation Bill 2026 for consultation, establishing Australia's first national domestic gas reservation scheme requiring gas exporters to supply a portion of their production to the domestic market, according to a Thursday statement.

The bill proposes reserving up to 20% of gas exports for domestic use, with exporters able to provide up to 200 additional petajoules of gas per year, more than enough to avoid the Australian Energy Market Operator's forecast possible shortfalls of up to 140 petajoules, the statement added.

The license application process will start from Jan. 1, 2027, with the domestic supply obligation starting from Jan. 1, 2028, to align with industry contracting cycles, while the exposure draft establishes a framework for how the reservation scheme will operate, including cost recovery and compliance and enforcement mechanisms, per the statement.