Gas giant AGL charged ordinary customers up to three times more than businesses and made huge profits from households, economists say.

Australia Institute senior research fellow David Richardson published an analysis of the company’s annual report this week that showed it charged consumers an average of $38.1 per gigajoule (GJ) last financial year, compared to just $11.9/GJ for businesses.

Richardson said that gas prices have risen at nearly double the rate of the broader Consumer Price Index (CPI) since June 2021, soaring more than 30 per cent over that time.

Customers are paying more than they should, with AGL booking 36 per cent of its sales price as profits at the retail level, compared to a 0.5 per cent loss on business sales, he said.

“That profit essentially comes from just billing and marketing to you,” Richardson said.

“The gas households get is the same gas as businesses do. Businesses don’t get some special type of gas which means gas companies can’t make a profit on it.”

The analysis of AGL’s investor disclosures shows businesses are paying 69 per cent less per GJ of gas than regular consumers, who Richardson said are being used as “profit cows” by AGL.

Meanwhile, the company paid no tax on $15.4 billion worth of income in 2020-21, according to Australian Taxation Office transparency data.

“It is clear that households dependent upon gas for their heating have done it particularly tough,” Richardson said.

“Consumers … might think that this is just the unfortunate side-effect of the cost of international gas prices rising and as a result, energy companies like AGL have no choice but to pass on the cost to continue to make a profit … this is not the case.”

A spokesperson for AGL said contracts between residential and large business customers are “set up differently”.

“Large business customers are provided bespoke pricing based on their individual customer profile,” they said.

“The gas consumption of different businesses varies significantly when compared to residential customers. Business customers are also signed on longer-term contracts.

“For residential customers, their gas prices are determined by a range of factors including changes in wholesale prices, network and environmental costs.”

No tax paid by multinationals

It comes as separate analysis from the Australia Institute on Friday found that gas exporters in Queensland have made $36 billion without paying any state or federal tax.

Multinationals including Australia Pacific LNG, Arrow Energy Holdings, SANTOS and Petronas made billions in income without paying the Petroleum Resource Rent Tax (PRRT).

Each is exporting coal seam gas from Queensland.

“If you paid any tax in 2022-23, you paid more than all these gas corporations combined,” Australia Institute principal advisor Mark Ogge said.

“Australians are missing out on schools, hospitals, housing and cost of living relief because foreign-owned gas exporters are taking us for a ride, and our governments are doing nothing about it.”

The Australia Institute findings underscore a broader political debate in Australia about whether gas companies are paying their fair share of tax, particularly after a global commodity squeeze post-COVID generated huge profits for the industry.

Gas companies have claimed that the shortage is due to regulations preventing gas exploration, but analysts have pointed out that these companies are shipping large quantities of LNG overseas.

Australian households, meanwhile, continue to suffer from elevated gas bills as the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission (ACCC) continues to warn about possible shortages.

“A minimum surplus of 12 PJ (if the LNG producers export all of their un contracted gas) will be important for the east coast market to help re-fill storage facilities ahead of winter and provide a buffer for other market risks,” the regulator said in its latest report.