Australia’s proposed plan to protect domestic consumers from global natural gas market volatility has made major LNG exporters rethink domestic supply partnerships and sparked concern amongst countries reliant on Australian supplies.

On Dec. 9, the government outlined an intervention plan that could cap domestic natural gas prices at around $8/gigajoule and coal at around $86/ton for a year. The policy is expected to be debated by lawmakers during a special session Thursday.

In reaction, Shell plc confirmed Wednesday it had paused the process of entering into an agreement to supply around 47 Bcf/y of additional gas to domestic customers until 2024. Shell also supplies mostly Asian customers liquefied natural gas cargoes from the Prelude floating LNG terminal in western...