At the recent Energy Club WA dinner, Bill Townsend, Senior Vice President Corporate at INPEX, challenged conventional narratives around the energy transition. He shared the view that natural gas is not a contradiction to net zero and instead, it may be one of Australia’s most powerful tools in achieving it.
“LNG is a solution that is deployable now, helps close the emissions gap in the critical decade ahead, and supports our regional trading partners in finding their own optimal balance between energy reliability, affordability, and cleanliness,” he said.
He urged the audience to rethink the language of “transition,” referencing energy historian Daniel Yergin’s concept of energy addition. “Yergin doesn’t talk about energy transition. He reframes it as energy addition. And that simple change in wording… makes all the difference in the world in understanding what’s really happening.”
“The global energy stack isn’t shrinking, it’s getting bigger,” he added.
“No energy source has ever declined in absolute terms across the globe over a sustained period. Why? Because global energy demands keep rising,” said Townsend.
There is a rising global energy demand, especially in the developing world. Bill shared that nearly 3 billion people still use less electricity than the average Australian refrigerator. For many, carbonisation will precede decarbonisation.
LNG can help regional partners like Japan and Taiwan reduce their reliance on coal, providing a cleaner, more reliable energy source that’s available now.
Mr Townsend shared the INPEX Vision 2035, built on three core insights: that natural gas will remain essential, that net zero requires multiple practical pathways, and that energy systems must be strengthened and diversified, not dismantled. The company’s strategic roadmap is underpinned by INPEX’s bold 60-60 target: a 60% increase in cash flow from operations by 2035, and a 60% reduction in Scope 1 and 2 carbon intensity from 2019 levels.
To achieve this, INPEX is investing across three key areas. First is expanding its natural gas and LNG business by securing new gas resources to backfill the Ichthys LNG project, and a potential third LNG train in Darwin.
Second is with the Bonaparte CCS project expected to reduce Ichthys emissions by up to 40%.
“We know that there's no single path to net zero. That's why we're pursuing multiple practical pathways,” Mr Townsend said.
Third, is diversifying into renewables through Potentia Energy, a joint venture with Enel Green Power, to build one of Australia’s largest renewable pipelines. The venture includes projects here in WA, with a recent $1 billion investment in the state to deliver approximately 1 GW of wind, solar, and battery storage capacity.
“The greatest and most immediate contribution is for Australia to increase its LNG production,” Mr Townsend stated, arguing that a key role for Australia in accelerating the energy transition is the responsible export of LNG to the Indo-Pacific region.
“The energy transition is not a simple swap. It’s not a sprint. It’s a long multi-dimensional journey,” Mr Townsend concluded.
Thank you to our industry dinner sponsors: Bechtel, Vertech Group and Momentum.
You can find the event's photo gallery here.