EXPLORATORY drilling off Newcastle could discover enough natural gas to convert all the Hunter's coal-fired power stations to gas, Advent Energy executive director David Breeze said.
Mr Breeze said such a discovery could allow all new baseload power stations in NSW to be gas-fired.
Preliminary studies estimate gas reserves worth $50 billion in the company's offshore petroleum licence area from Newcastle to Wollongong.
Advent Energy, through its subsidiary company Asset Energy, plans to begin drilling in the first half of December.
"This project has the capacity to reduce Australia's carbon emissions by around 16 per cent, which would be a massive reduction," Mr Breeze said.
About 100 people attended a rally outside Newcastle Town Hall yesterday about the NSW government's decision to approve the company's exploratory gas drilling plan 55 kilometres off Newcastle.
The rally coincided with a community consultative meeting the government set up to consider the project.
Rally organiser and Hands Off Our Coast spokeswoman Phillipa Parsons said she approached Mr Breeze and a government official to address the protesters.
"They both refused," Ms Parsons said.
"Community concern about this is huge among people that know about it, but a lot of people don't know about it."
Mr Breeze said he was unable to meet protesters because he had to attend a meeting inside the town hall.
The two sides have tussled over the suitability of gas as an energy source. Ms Parsons said "gas is not a clean, renewable energy source".
Mr Breeze said "renewables could only contribute 20 per cent of total power consumption" and gas was much cleaner than coal.
"We need gas to meet increased energy demand," he said.
Environmentalists are concerned about the potential for an oil spill and damage to the coast and marine life.
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