Santos expands CSG interest by buying Eastern Star Gas  

The ABC reports on some more consolidation of he Australian coal seam gas industry - Santos expands by buying another CSG company.

Coal seam gas company Eastern Star Gas has been sold to resources firm Santos, the same company that's currently being blockaded by farmers on the NSW Liverpool Plains. Former Deputy Prime Minister and Eastern Star Gas chairman, John Anderson, was previously the Federal Member for Gwydir, which covers the Liverpool Plains region.

He says coal seam gas is essential to solving a looming energy crisis. "No one has contradicted me on this yet, but gas is actually going to be very important for agriculture, because it's the obvious extender of hydrocarbons, i.e. oil, as we run out of oil and as oil becomes incredibly expensive," he said. "We've got to find a sensible way to do this in the very interest of food security."

Mr Anderson says there needs to be a rational debate, and that mining and agriculture can co-exist. "I'm not confident as a farmer that there are no risks in some things that farmers do," he said.