Cottee can afford to be relaxed because the Northern Gas Pipeline won't be ready until 2018 and he says the Mereenie field's remaining resources don't require fraccing in the near future.

"We have drilled so many wells in the past that if they needed to be fracced they have been already been fracced. Mereenie lost its contract in 2009 [with the start-up of Blacktip] but it has all the wells and infrastructure in place," he told Energy News.

He says Central is well placed to push gas into the east coast gas markets now, but he is more concerned about the symbolism that bans on fraccing represent.

"If, as a nation, we are concerned about the million-odd jobs that are dependent on the manufacturing sector, and if you can't expand on where you were in 2009 that would have an incredible dislocated effect on the nation," he said.

"Suffice to say there are a few distinguishing factors for us. Our field has been in existence for nearly 40 years, there have never been any environmental issues, and it is in the common vernacular a conventional field, the same with Palm Valley and Dingo.

"We had not intended to complete any conventional fracs until we had more contracts anyway."

But if the Amadeus Basin, and the basins further afield such as the Beetaloo, Georgina and the McArthur, are to become major gas producers they will need stimulation.

That also holds true for Central's undeveloped Ooraminna and Orange fields, tight but naturally fractured discoveries that Central believes could be developed in the next decade because they are close to existing infrastructure, although in the case of Ooraminna gas flows will need to be higher.

Diseased

Cottee said that if the states and territories that are connected by gas pipelines are not careful they will have a gas shortage that will spread "like an STD" over the whole network.

He said improving pipeline economics to underpin developments is the only penicillin the market needs.

And he rubbished recent speculation from RISC and Deloitte that an LNG receiving in Sydney Harbour may be a potential solution to the east coast's gas woes.

"That has to be one of the most asinine ideas I've heard," he said.

"The idea that you have a pipeline network, apart from Ballera to Moomba, that is more than 15-20 years old, which is the exemption period for new pipelines, and the idea that you could transport, liquefy and ship gas through coastal shipping and then re-gasify it cheaper than a fully amortised pipeline can transport it probably indicates just how dysfunctional the debate is.

"It is proof the ACCC's finding that the pipeline regulations are not working."

Cottee said Central is hopeful the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and the Council of Australian Governments will recognise the threat to gas supplies and move quickly.

"We have the gas, we are the most remote new field that can come into the eastern seaboard market, and if you want new supply and new suppliers you need to decrease the barriers to entry," he said.

One voice in many Cottee needs to win over at COAG is new NT resources minister Ken Vowles, who was appointed to that role over the weekend.

The former cricketer will oversee yet another study into fraccing in the Top End, building on the earlier Hawke Report, which found the risks associated with fraccing can be managed.

But fraccing will continue in the immediate future, with approval for testing the Amungee South-1 well given by the former government just four days out from the last election.

Chief Minister Michael Gunner, who campaigned on a fraccing moratorium, said the timing of the approval was unusual, but he stopped short of calling it a "dodgy deal" on Friday.

The approval means Falcon Oil & Gas, Origin Energy and Sasol to test their well, however the new fraccing ban is expected to come into force on September 14.

Given Origin and its partners submitted their application in May, and it has been approved in accordance with departmental guidelines and was approved by the NT Environmental Protection Authority, the fraccing of last year's Amungee South-1 is expected to be unaffected by the ban.

Origin expects all fracking-related activities would be completed this week.

A commercial flow-rate at Amungee South-1 in the McArthur Basin would be extremely significant for the NT.