To: Tomas who wrote (1781 ) 8/15/2000 10:45:43 PM From: Tomas Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 2742 South Australia Eyes Victoria, Timor Sea and PNG Gas MELBOURNE, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Proposals to provide a new gas supply into South Australia included sourcing gas from Victorian fields, the Timor Sea and Papua New Guinea, state Treasurer Rob Lucas said on Tuesday. Lucas said there had been 17 responses "of varying degrees of comprehensiveness" to a government call for submissions on bringing a new supply of gas into the state. "We have been enormously encouraged by what we have seen so far," he told the National Power conference. "We see competition in the gas market as being absolutely fundamental to a more competitive electricity market in South Australia and a more competitive industrial base for the state as we move forward." Gas in South Australia is mostly marketed by Origin Energy Ltd and sourced from the Santos Ltd led Cooper Basin joint venture in the state's northeast. But Lucas said the government wanted to drive down the price of gas and electricity in the state. "The time has come from the government's viewpoint to see much greater competition in our gas market at all levels, upstream and downstream," Lucas said. He told Reuters that the submissions included gas supply from the Minerva field in Victoria's southwest as well as Timor Sea gas and supplies via the proposed Papua New Guinea to Queensland gas pipeline. In its call for submissions, the government said the new supply of gas should be available by the planned July 2003 start-up of the South Australian Magnesium Project (SAMAG) majority owned by Pima Mining NL . Early it flagged the potential for a new pipeline to Victoria's southwest, but Lucas said the government had not outlined a preferred supply option. "The market is coming to us at the moment and saying we are prepared to talk about a Victorian option, but others are talking about Timor Sea and PNG gas," he said. "From our viewpoint we have to look at all those and make a judgement as to what we think is the best option." ...