Q1. What is the current state-of-play in the Australian gas market, given rising production costs and competing sources of supply from the Americas and Africa? What is the government doing to ensure that Australia remains a top player in global LNG trade?

Martin Ferguson: The global market for gas has never been stronger. Gas is increasingly being recognised as a relatively clean, reliable and flexible fuel source that can provide both base load and peaking electricity generation requirements. This is supported by the International Energy Agency (IEA) which predicts consumption of natural gas is likely to exceed that of coal in over two decades.

Australia is well-placed to meet this growing demand with both conventional and unconventional gas reserves, and is presently the world's fourth-largest exporter of LNG.

In the last 12 months we have seen final investment decisions that will support a 21 percent increase in Australia's LNG export volumes in 2012-13. This includes the commissioning of the Pluto LNG project and decisions to proceed with the A$34 billion Ichthys LNG project, the A$2.5 billion Greater Western Flank gas field.

Australia's stable and sound economic conditions, favourable tax regime, leadership in geosciences and technological innovation, highly-skilled workforce and modern regulatory systems make the continent a safe haven for investment and a desirable place to live and work. I believe this places Australia in good stead to becoming an increasingly important player in the global LNG trade.

Q2: Resource exploration continues to be a key plank of the Australian economy. How is the Australian government encouraging continued investment and sustainable exploration in the sector?

Ferguson: Australia has all the key ingredients for sustaining exploration, with prospective acreage either granted or available, and a stable fiscal and regulatory environment.

Our excellent track record of exploration is led by the pre-competitive work of Geoscience Australia, which has assisted in delivering offshore exploration expenditure of A$2.4 billion in 2011.

The Australian government has a strong commitment to exploration and recognises its importance in driving investment in Australia's resource sector. This is evidenced by the seven new offshore petroleum exploration permits I recently awarded in offshore areas off the coast of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. These permits are expected to see an estimate of A$277 million in new investment in offshore drilling over the next three years.

The Australian government makes regular releases of exploration acreage to promote further spending, including the 2012 package that opened in May and consists of 27 areas. I encourage interested industry participants to find out more by visiting the Geoscience Australia Web site.

Q3: Australia is set to issue an Energy White paper later this year. What would be the focus of the White Paper?

Ferguson: The release of the Energy White Paper in October will outline the Australian Government's vision for the development of our energy future.

The White Paper will outline a strategic policy framework to deliver on the Government's commitment to market based solutions providing secure, reliable, clean and competitively-priced energy to consumers while building national wealth through the safe and sustainable exploitation of our energy resources.

To realise this objective the government will focus on delivering better energy market outcomes for consumers, accelerating our clean energy transformation, developing Australia's critical energy resources, particularly gas resources, and strengthening the resilience of Australia's energy policy framework.

Q4: What are the three common issues that energy policymakers have to grapple with to ensure energy security for future generations?

Ferguson: Ensuring energy security for future generations is a concern for all energy policymakers. In my mind, energy security is about ensuring the adequate, reliable and competitively-priced supply of energy:

Adequacy in terms of having enough energy to meet our goals for social and economic improvement;
Reliability in terms of maintaining supply with minimal disruption; and
Competitiveness in terms of sustaining energy prices low enough to support social and economic goals while still providing sufficient return on investment for producers.
To achieve these three pillars of energy security, Australia supports the development of well-functioning domestic and international energy markets.

Australia's integration into global energy markets has ensured we maintain a high level of energy security to meet the needs of our growing economy over many decades. In turn, as a major energy exporter, Australia has benefited from access to these international markets where consumers bid for the best price for our energy exports.

In this context, I think the biggest challenge for policymakers is to continue to support and develop robust market based policy frameworks and reduce market intervention to allow the benefits of global trade and investment in our energy resources to deliver energy security at least cost to future generations.

Q5: What are your views on the energy developments in Asia, and how can Australia deepen energy cooperation with developing Asia?

Ferguson: Asia's rapidly increasing demand for energy presents many opportunities for Australia's plentiful coal and gas exports, but we also need to face up to our responsibilities to develop low emissions technologies and reduce carbon emissions.

The IEA estimates that demand for coal will continue to grow by nearly two-thirds to 2035 based on current trends. Given that Australia is the largest coal exporter in the world and China comprises half of global coal consumption, we have been working together to address the challenges of climate change while maximising both countries' development potential.

In July this year, Australia and China launched a A$1.1 million Clean Coal Technology Partnership Fund which aims to accelerate the deployment of low emissions coal technologies, such as post-combustion capture, oxy-fuel combustion and gasification. Â This initiative is part of the Australia-China Joint Coordination Group on Clean Coal Technology, which is supported by an additional A$20 million in funding.

Through co-operative efforts such as this, we can work together to build expertise in lower emission energy technologies that will be shared for everyone's benefit, both in Asia and globally.