Where is the Surat Basin?

As you can see Toowoomba is the primary regional city in the Surat Basin which the State Department of Employment, Industry Development and Innovation describes as "a rich source of coal and coal seam methane gas. Coupled with major existing and planned infrastructure and an ever increasing demand for energy, the region has the potential to become the 'central energy powerhouse' of Queensland and ultimately a major exporter of high quality thermal coal and coal seam gas."

The Department also states that the area is still in the early stages of development and represents a huge opportunity for the public sector, the mining sector and the private sector.

The future of the Surat Basin

The Department of State Development recently commissioned a report on the Surat Basin. In brief, the Department of State Development report found that:

• Coal and coal seam gas production in the region will increase by ten fold by 2030.
• Gross Regional Product will at least double by 2030 - and could even quadruple making the Surat region one of the largest contributors to the Gross State Product.
• Resident population will grow 34 - 46% from the 2006 population by 2030.
• Most communities in the region will need additional community facilities - approximately one third more than what is currently recommended! 

All of which spells prosperity and growth.

In a bit more detail, coal production is expected to increase from a current level of 7 million tonnes per year to 71.3 million tonnes by 2030. That's a huge increase. About 72% of that production is tagged for export.

Coal seam gas production is expected to grow rapidly over the next five to ten years and then to continue to grow steadily from 2015 to 2030.

What this means is that the region should have a GRP of $10 billion per annum by 2030. (And $7.3 billion of that is from the direct impact of coal and coal seam gas production. The rest - an enormous $2.9 billion will be from flow-on impacts.)

The growth is expected to be pretty constant over the period - which means an average annual growth rate of 14% each year through to 2030.