CSG economic modelling: on the alleged benefits of the Santos coal seam gas project in North West NSW

The alleged benefits to NSW communities from Santos’ plans to develop coal seam gas reserves in the north west of the state should be questioned in the light of inconsistencies and flaws in the economic modelling used to support the project, argues this paper. Santos recently commissioned the Allen Consulting Group to examine the economic impacts of developing coal seam gas operations in North West NSW. Far from delivering ‘once-in-a-generation economic opportunities’ as claimed by Santos, this analysis of the modelling reveals that the benefits to the local economy will be quite small, in the order of 30 new gas jobs, and that the environmental costs have been ignored