MELBOURNE—A gas seller that supplied 7 percent of the eastern Australian market has collapsed due to soaring global gas prices, the first significant casualty in the country from the global gas supply crisis due to sanctions on Russia for its invasion of Ukraine.
The Essential Services Commission on Tuesday suspended private gas retailer Weston Energy from the wholesale gas market for failing to meet financial security requirements and said the company’s 184 large and medium-sized customers would be shifted to other suppliers.
The collapse of Weston Energy underscores energy price concerns set to face Australia’s new Labor government, as it pushes to rapidly expand renewable energy to replace gas and coal over the next eight years….