Late in 2013 there was a growing wave of commentary regarding the looming gas shortages but are these concerns overstated

Late in 2013 there was a growing wave of commentary regarding the looming gas shortages but are these concerns overstated? According to Envestra CEO, Ian Little, majors like Esso and BHP are sitting on large reserves in Bass Strait and are simply waiting for the market to come to them. Exxon and BHP have declined to say how much spare gas they have in Bass Strait, but Deutsche Bank analyst John Hirjee has previously claimed the two have the largest volume of uncontracted gas on the east coast and clearly have an amount of gas available at a certain price. Origin Energy purchased $3billion in gas from Bass Strait last year in a deal that has alleviated some of the concerns around the East Coast gas shortages. This article in The Australian raises some interesting questions around transparency in the east coast gas markets (VIEW LINK)