Surat Basin Population Report, 2020
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Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Surat Basin population report, 2020 Introduction The resource sector in regional Queensland utilises fly-in/fly-out Figure 1 Surat Basin region and drive-in/drive-out (FIFO/DIDO) workers as a source of labour supply. These non-resident workers live in regional areas while on-shift. The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ (ABS) resident population estimates for these areas do not include non-resident workers. The non-resident population represents the number of FIFO/DIDO workers who are on-shift in the region at a given point in time. This group includes those employed in construction, production, and maintenance at mining and gas industry operations, renewable energy projects and resource-related infrastructure. This report provides non-resident population estimates for the Surat Basin during the last week of June 2020. It also includes full–time equivalent (FTE) population estimates, which aggregate the resident and non-resident populations to provide a more complete indicator of demand for certain services. The Surat Basin – at a glance Estimates within this report are primarily derived from the The Surat Basin (Figure 1) is a major energy province, annual Survey of Accommodation Providers conducted by the based on coal seam gas production, coal mining and Queensland Government Statistician’s Office (QGSO). The electricity generation. The region comprises the local survey includes worker accommodation villages (WAVs), government areas (LGAs) of Maranoa (R), Western hotels, motels and caravan parks. Downs (R) and Toowoomba (R). Estimated population at June 2020: Key findings Non-resident population ....................................... 3,260 Key findings of this report include: Resident population ......................................... 217,740 • The Surat Basin had an estimated non-resident population Full–time equivalent population ........................ 221,000 of 3,260 persons in June 2020, around 785 persons or 19% lower than in June 2019. • Non–resident population decline in 2019–20 was driven by a reduction in coal seam gas (CSG) activity, including less maintenance, drilling and project construction. The combined effects of low gas prices and the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to this decline. • At the LGA level, Western Downs (R) had the largest non-resident population in the Surat Basin in June 2020 (2,055 persons). Maranoa (R) (1,075 persons) and Toowoomba (R) (130 persons) made up the balance. • The non-resident populations of all three LGAs fell in 2019–20. Western Downs (R) recorded the largest decline (–485 persons or –19%), with smaller decreases in Maranoa (R) (–180 persons or –14%) and Toowoomba (R) (–115 persons or –47%). • In June 2020, the majority of non-resident workers in the Surat Basin stayed in WAVs while on-shift, with 1,745 persons (53%) recorded in WAVs in rural areas and a further 970 persons (30%) in WAVs in town. The remainder (545 persons or 17%) stayed in other accommodation types such as hotels/motels and caravan parks. • The fall in the region’s non-resident population in 2019–20 affected all accommodation types. WAVs in rural areas recorded the largest decline in the number of non-resident workers on-shift (–400 persons), followed by other accommodation (–285 persons) and WAVs in town (–95 persons). • The proportion of hotel/motel rooms in the Surat Basin that were vacant and available increased from 38% in June 2019 to 51% in June 2020, due to reduced numbers of both FIFO/DIDO workers and other guests. • Both WAVs and other accommodation providers reported being impacted by COVID-19 travel restrictions and containment measures, with hotels/motels and caravan parks reporting more widespread adverse effects. http://www.qgso.qld.gov.au http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 © The State of Queensland (Queensland Treasury) 2021 Queensland Government Statistician’s Office Surat Basin update, 2019–20 The Surat Basin (Figure 3) in Southern Queensland is a major energy province and Queensland’s main source of CSG supply. CSG-related activity continues to provide most of the region’s resource-related employment, with three large CSG projects – Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG), Santos Gladstone LNG (GLNG) and Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) – and smaller gas companies engaged in operations and development. Coal mines, power stations and renewable energy projects also contribute to resource industry activity in the region (Table 5). The three major CSG projects continued their operations and drilling activities across the region in 2019–20. APLNG delivered record production in 2019–20, drilling 260 wells and improving field performance and utilisation of processing capacity following the commissioning of new infrastructure (Origin Energy, 2020c). GLNG completed drilling at the 424-well Roma East project, with drilling underway for the next 250-well phase of the Roma development and a strong ramp-up from the field contributing to record production in the first half of 2020 (Santos, 2020a). QCLNG continued work on ‘Project Goog-a-binge’, with more than 175 of 250 wells drilled by July 2020 and other operational activities ongoing (QGC, 2020). A number of infrastructure and gas development projects were completed between June 2019 and June 2020. APLNG’s Eurombah Reedy Creek Interconnect (ERIC) pipeline north-east of Roma was commissioned in July 2019 (Australia Pacific LNG, 2019; Origin Energy, 2020c), and the Talinga Orana Gas Gathering Station (TOGGS) south-west of Chinchilla was completed in 2019–20 and came online in July 2020 (Monadelphous, 2020; Origin Energy, 2020b). Senex Energy announced the completion of its Surat Basin natural gas development project, comprising an 80-well drilling campaign and facilities at Roma North and Project Atlas near Wandoan, in early June 2020 (Senex Energy, 2020a), while the Atlas Gas Pipeline connecting Project Atlas to the Wallumbilla Gas Hub began operations in December 2019 (Jemena, 2019). Work on renewable energy projects in the region advanced in 2019–20. Coopers Gap Wind Farm in Western Downs (R) and Brigalow Solar Farm, Oakey 2 Solar Farm and Yarranlea Solar Farm in Toowoomba (R) were all nearing completion in June 2020, with full generation expected in the second half of 2020 (AEMO, 2020). One new project – Gangarri Solar Farm in Western Downs (R) – was approved and began construction during the year (Queensland Government, 2020c). Since early 2020, the Surat Basin’s gas industry has been responding to the combined effects of low prices and the COVID-19 pandemic, with reduced demand due to COVID-19 exacerbating the global supply glut and placing further downward pressure on prices (DISER, 2020). From late March, the Queensland Government required resource companies to step up their coronavirus protections, to enable essential operations to continue while reducing the risk of transmission to workers and local communities (Queensland Government, 2020b). While FIFO/DIDO travel within the state continued, border controls limited entry to Queensland to critical interstate workers only (Queensland Government, 2020a). At the same time, companies introduced a range of operational and financial measures in response to COVID-19 and lower gas prices, to reduce expenditure while maintaining supply and ensuring safe operations (Origin Energy, 2020a; Royal Dutch Shell plc, 2020; Santos, 2020b; Senex Energy, 2020b). Key measures included restrictions on non-essential travel and deferral of some non-essential works (Arrow Energy, 2020; Origin Energy, 2020a; Origin Energy, 2020b; QGC, 2020; Santos, 2020a; Santos, 2020b; Senex Energy, 2020b). Companies also adapted to market demand by managing production in the June quarter (Origin Energy, 2020c; Santos, 2020c). While CSG activity in the Surat Basin was ongoing in June 2020, there were fewer non-resident workers on-shift in the region, with less drilling, maintenance and project construction in progress than in June 2019. There were also relatively few related infrastructure activities—such as power station maintenance and road works—underway compared with the previous year. See page 8 for further discussion of COVID-19 and accommodation usage in the Surat Basin. Non-resident population The non-resident population of the Surat Basin was estimated at 3,260 persons at the end of June 2020, around 785 persons or 19% Non-resident population lower than in June 2019 (Table 1). The non-resident population is the number of fly-in/fly-out or drive-in/drive-out (FIFO/DIDO) The majority of the region’s non-resident population was counted in workers who are living in the area of their Western Downs (R) (2,055 persons or 63%). A further one-third workplace at a given point in time, but who have were counted in Maranoa (R) (1,075 persons or 33%), with the their usual place of residence elsewhere. remainder in Toowoomba (R) (130 persons or 4%). Due to shift arrangements, not all members of the The non-resident populations of all three Surat Basin LGAs fell in non-resident workforce are present in the local 2019–20. Western Downs (R) recorded the largest decrease, falling area at one time. For that reason, the non-resident by 485 persons or 19%, while the non-resident population of population refers to the number of non-resident Maranoa (R) fell by 180 persons or 14%. The decline in these two workers on-shift at a given point in time, rather LGAs was driven by a reduction in CSG activity, including less than the total non-resident workforce. maintenance, drilling and project construction.