The ERA is reviewing the access arrangement for the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline - one of the largest capacity natural gas transmission pipelines in Australia.
The Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP) spanning 1,600 kilometres starting near the township of Dampier, running parallel to the coast of Western Australia, and finishing near Bunbury, south of Perth. It connects the gas fields located in the state’s northwest directly to mining, industrial and commercial customers. The pipeline is owned and operated by Dampier Bunbury Pipeline (DBP) and is part of the Australian Gas Infrastructure Group (AGIG).
The process for gas access arrangement reviews has changed since the ERA’s last review of DBP’s access arrangement for the DBNGP in 2021. There are now two key stages involved in the ERA’s decision making process for an access arrangement: (a) Reference Service Proposal and (b) Access Arrangement Proposal. Under the National Gas Rules, DBP must submit a reference service proposal to the ERA 12 months before submitting an access arrangement proposal.
On 8 December 2023, DBP submitted its reference service proposal. The ERA published DBP’s proposal for consultation on 9 February 2024 and on 1 July 2024 made the decision to not approve it. The ERA subsequently published its own reference service proposal, which retains the current three reference services (Full Haul, Part Haul and Back Haul) and specification of data and storage services as pipeline services that can reasonably be provided.
On 2 January 2025, DBP submitted its access arrangement proposal for the sixth access arrangement period (AA6): 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030. The ERA published an issues paper on 4 March 2025, along with an additional DBP document, to assist interested parties in making submissions. A simplified future of gas model was subsequently published on 14 March 2025 to further assist stakeholders in understanding DBP’s future of gas modelling.
The ERA received five submissions in response to DBP’s proposal and the ERA’s issues paper.
The ERA’s draft decision was published on 7 July 2025 and is open for public comment. DBP submitted its response to the draft decision on 19 August 2025. DBP’s revised proposal has been published and interested parties have until 17 September 2025 to make submissions on the ERA’s draft decision and/or DBP’s revised proposal.
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DBP AA6 Revised Access Arrangement and Access Arrangement Information
20 Aug 2025
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File Attachment
DBP AA6 Revised Access Arrangement Supporting Information
20 Aug 2025
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File Attachment
Draft Decision
0.47 MB
07 Jul 2025
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Public Submissions in response to Issues Paper
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03 Apr 2025
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03 Apr 2025
0.43 MB
03 Apr 2025
0.49 MB
03 Apr 2025
03 Apr 2025
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Issues Paper and Additional DBP Document
0.14 MB
14 Mar 2025
2.40 MB
04 Mar 2025
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DBP AA6 Proposed Access Arrangement and Access Arrangement Information
23 Jan 2025
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DBP AA6 Proposed Access Arrangement Supporting Information
23 Jan 2025
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File Attachment
Decision on DBP's Reference Service Proposal
01 Jul 2024
01 Jul 2024
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ERA Consultation on DBNGP's Reference Service Proposal
20 May 2024
20 May 2024
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Reference Service Proposal
0.89 MB
09 Feb 2024