Inquiry questions NSW govt CSG plans

Ramping up coal seam gas mining in NSW won't keep the state's gas prices down.

That's the main conclusion of a parliamentary committee inquiry into the future of the state's gas supplies.

The committee, led by Shooters and Fishers Party MP Robert Borsak and The Greens' Jeremy Buckingham, has called for all new CSG developments to be halted until recent recommendations from the NSW chief scientist are implemented in full.

The government has supported the development of NSW's gas resources as a way to fight supply shortages and rising prices caused by increased exports.

But the report released on Wednesday says this will have no impact because prices are dictated by global supply and demand.

The committee instead urged the NSW government to lobby for an Australia-wide reservation scheme to prevent too much gas being sent to rapidly-developing Asian neighbours.

It also cast doubt on the government's commitment to implementing CSG recommendations handed down by NSW chief scientist Professor Mary O'Kane in September.

It criticised the government's failure to provide a timeframe for implementing the recommendations, which include the development of insurance arrangements to cover environmental damage.

Anti-CSG group Lock the Gate Alliance welcomed the report and called on the government to implement the recommendations immediately.

Resources Minister Anthony Roberts stood by the government's gas plan, saying it would ensure that any gas extraction "is done safely, with all risks adequately managed".

He said fellow Council of Australian Government members had emphatically rejected a gas reservation policy.