By Poppy Johnston in Canberra

Australia’s big exporters will be forced to put aside up to a quarter of their gas for the local market under a national reservation scheme.

Exporters will need to reserve from 15 to 25 per cent of gas production for the domestic market, with the exact proportion to be ironed out after consultation.

The scheme is designed to ease forecast shortfalls in domestic gas supply and exert downward pressure on prices, the federal energy minister said on Monday.

“Most Australians think that Australians should have first rights to the gas that’s under Australian soil, Australian waters and that gas should be available to Australians at reasonable prices,” Chris Bowen told reporters in Canberra.

“Australians are right about that.”

The reservation regime will come into play immediately but only apply to new contracts.

Western Australia has long had a gas reservation scheme and Mr Bowen’s announcement will bring a similar policy to the east coast.

Industry Minister Tim Ayres said secure and affordable gas supply was critical to keep Australian manufacturing firms afloat.

“Our government is supporting heavy industry to decarbonise as much as possible – but not every facility can and some use gas as an irreplaceable feedstock,” he said.

“This is one of the reasons we will introduce a domestic gas reservation scheme.”