More gas from Port Campbell is set to bolster domestic supplies over the next 12 months as the nation grapples with the energy crisis.
Beach Energy is set to build a 10-kilometre pipeline over summer to connect its near-shore Enterprise discovery to the Otway gas plant provided it clears regulatory hurdles.
It could then be producing more gas by next winter.
The company is also drilling the final well of its offshore campaign which aims to bring the Otway Gas Plant to capacity.
The first wells of this campaign - Geographe 4 and 5 - were connected to the plant in January, providing increased plant production capacity, just months before the energy crisis started to bite across eastern Australia last week.
Beach Energy chief executive officer Morné Engelbrecht said the company was a key provider of local gas for Victorian households and business.
"100 per cent of the gas we produce goes into the local market," he said.
"Our gas is also sold to our customers under fixed-price contracts so is not subject to the major spot price fluctuations.
"We are investing more than a billion dollars to deliver more gas supply to the local market through our offshore developments, as well as the Enterprise project which we aim to connect to the plant in the middle of next year."
Mr Engelbrecht said Beach Energy was one of only a few companies who had been investing in more local gas in recent years.
"These investments are providing local jobs and other benefits to the region both directly, and indirectly through the supply chain," he said.
"We have already connected new gas supplies into the Otway Gas Plant this year from our offshore wells, and this is already helping to meet the needs of Victoria through a cold winter."
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Katrina Lovell
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
Katrina Lovell is a senior journalist at The Standard who covers council news and human interest stories.
