Energy exploration has picked up sharply in Australia, driven ⁠by growing Asian gas demand, technological advances and an improved investment climate, with the Iran war ⁠underscoring the urgency to develop supply after years of sluggish spending.Quarterly oil and gas exploration spending in Australia, the world’s No 2 liquefied natural gas producer, hit a 10-year high of A$471 million (US$324 million) in the March quarter, government data released in June showed.Energy investment sentiment has improved in part following last year’s election of a more supportive second term Labor government, which faces pressure to fill a looming end-of-decade domestic gas shortfall without harming valuable LNG exports.Spending is expected to increase about 10 per cent this year to more than US$1 billion, according to Rystad Energy, although Canberra’s move last month requiring that 20 per cent of gas be set aside for domestic use has sparked industry backlash.Much of the drilling is focused on three gas-rich regions: the Otway Basin offshore western Victoria, the Beetaloo shale in the Northern Territory, and the Taroom Trough in Queensland. Among them, the Otway is the most established and is close to existing infrastructure.A storage facility for Inpex’s offshore Ichthys project in an industrial estate in Darwin. Photo: ReutersWhile the search for more gas and oil in recent years has been concentrated onshore, costlier and riskier offshore investment is on the rise. “We’re seeing renewed interest in frontier and unconventional plays as modern techniques de-risk development,” said Krishan Pal Birda, vice-president at Rystad Energy.