An EY report has found gas will remain a vital part of the Western Australia economy for the next two decades, outlining its substantial potential.
The report found that economic activity could be as much as $35 billion higher in 2027 compared with 2020 levels.
This is equivalent to approximately 12 per cent of the state economy currently.
Throughout the past decade, $220 billion has been added to the Western Australian economy by the gas industry.
In the longer term to 2040, it was estimated by EY that an extra $90 billion in new investment could be seen if the WA oil and gas industry unleashed its full potential.
Such would add approximately $440 billion in gross state product (GSP) and $115 billion in tax revenue, which is equivalent to the profits from hosting the AFL Grand Final in Perth every day of the year for the next 20 years.
A boost for industry jobs is also predicted by EY, with 9700 new industry workers generated by 2027 and by 2040 there will approximately be 8300 full-time staff.
Even EY’s more conservative estimates found an additional $236.6 billion in GSP and $57 billion in taxes could be generated as well as around 3,500 new FTE employees by 2040.
In the near term, with the more conservative estimates, economic activity will be more than be more than $16 billion higher in 2025 compared to 2020.
Plus, approximately 7100 new workers will be hired at the height of 2027’s activity.
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