Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher says investors are fearful pleas for a 25 per cent export tax will not go away – despite Labor ruling out the proposal.The Australian Council of Trade Unions, independent senator David Pocock, and the Greens agitated earlier this year for a 25 per cent levy on LNG exports as the United States’ and Israel’s war on Iran triggered a global energy crisis. The proposal was subject to a Greens-led Senate inquiry, but was ultimately ruled out by Anthony Albanese in favour of a 20 per cent domestic reserve.The federal government had expressed concerns a tax on Australia’s biggest importers of gas would harm relations at a time when Australia was overly reliant on many of those same nations for refined petroleum products. Appearing before the National Press Club in Canberra on Wednesday, Mr Gallagher said he would “love to see them (the government) rule it out”.Asked whether investors were concerned the proposal may be reconsidered once the current fuel crisis dies down, Mr Gallagher said he’d be “misleading you if I said investors don’t ask about it”.“So, I guess that means they’re concerned about it,” he said.“ … So, look, I mean, do I think it’s gone away? No, I don’t. I think the debate will be with us for a while.”Mr Gallagher said he agreed with Foreign Minister Penny Wong in stating that there were “many ways” Australians benefited from the natural resource sector.Chief among them were the $600m Santos paid in royalties and taxes last year, Mr Gallagher said. “Santos, over the last eight years, has paid more than 10 per cent of the total PRRT (petroleum resource rent tax) in Australia … and that’s predominantly from a domestic gas project in Western Australia,” he said.He also described the new domestic reserve as being able to “be seen as another form of tax”.“When I think of it through that lens, I think reservation would be part of that returning additional benefit to the Australian people,” he said.Asked about how Santos would make up what would essentially be a 20 per cent shortfall in exports because of the reserve, Mr Gallagher said it was not about “defeating” the legislation, which is still in draft.“The details will be in the draft legislation that should come out any day now and we’ll look forward to seeing them,” he said.“As the government have requested, they’ll be looking for feedback pretty quickly on that and we’ll provide that.”Santos has been one of the principal targets of the campaign for a new gas tax, including over its impact on worsening climate change.Mr Gallagher was repeatedly pressed on estimates the Santos-led Gladstone LNG (GLNG) joint venture in Queensland had bought the equivalent of 20 per cent of east coast supplies since 2016 to meet over-commitments in exports sales contracts, thus depriving the domestic market.He said the purchases were under a deal with energy giant AGL.“That expires in 2027. We’ve said publicly … that we will not renew that contract,” he said. Mr Gallagher earlier stated: “GLNG will not contract any third-party gas going forward, and it will meet its commitments and mitigate any shortfalls through other means.”Those means “would be confidential and commercial with our joint venture partners”, he said.