May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Australia’s oil and gas producers propose projects valued in excess of A$200 billion ($160 billion) that may help lead the country out of its first recession since 1991, the industry’s biggest lobby group says.

Developing the projects may create 50,000 jobs, yield A$10 billion in government revenue and avoid 180 million metric tons of carbon emissions each year, Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association Chairman Eric Streitberg said in an e-mailed statement today.

A forecast gain in north Asian demand for cleaner-burning fuels has prompted plans for some 10 liquefied natural gas projects in Australia and Papua New Guinea. Potential curbs on oil and gas investment growth identified in its State of the Industry 2009 report include regulatory reform and the design of Australia’s emissions trading system, APPEA said.

Australia provides 9 percent of global LNG supply and has the potential to grow this to 20 percent “if we get the policy settings right,” Streitberg said. “The right emissions trading scheme design will result in new business investment and many thousands of new jobs for Australians, billions of dollars in government revenue” and lower greenhouse gas pollution, he said.

BG Group Plc and ConocoPhillips are among companies with stakes in rival ventures aiming to turn gas extracted from coal seams in Queensland into LNG. Australia’s coal-seam gas industry attracted about $22 billion in investment last year.

Carbon ‘Flaws’

LNG producers said last year the country’s draft carbon reduction scheme may cut Australia’s output of the fuel by half of what it would otherwise be in 2030. Woodside Petroleum Ltd., Australia’s second-largest oil and gas producer, said May 4 that revisions to the proposed carbon-trading system fail to address its flaws.

Australia’s economy is in its first recession since 1991, according to central bank Governor Glenn Stevens, who forecast earlier this month that gross domestic product will fall 1 percent this year.

The government says a drop in global demand for commodities from Australia, the world’s biggest shipper of iron ore and coal, will trigger a rise in unemployment as companies such as BHP Billiton Ltd. fire workers and shelve expansion plans.

APPEA will release its state of the industry report tomorrow at the group’s 2009 conference in the Australian Northern Territory capital of Darwin, it said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Ben Sharples in Melbourne bsharples@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 30, 2009 23:30 EDT