SYDNEY, May 9 (Reuters) - Australia's Labor government

on Thursday laid out a strategy to boost natural gas development

even as it remains committed to net zero carbon emissions by

2050, highlighting demand from key Asian trade partners.

Australia is one of the world's largest exporters of

liquefied natural gas (LNG), and Resources Minister Madeline

King said gas would be needed "through to 2050 and beyond" in

the global shift to cleaner energy.

"It is clear we will need continued exploration, investment

and development in the sector to support the path to net zero

for Australia and for our export partners, and to avoid a

shortfall in gas supplies," she said, launching the government's

Future Gas Strategy.

Australia supplied around a fifth of global LNG shipped last

year, with the largest projects run by Chevron ( CVX ) and

Woodside Energy Group ( WDS ) in Western Australia, with its

biggest customers in China, Japan and South Korea.

The centre-left government came up with the new strategy

after facing criticism for a range of short term measures it

took to boost domestic gas supply and drive down soaring energy

prices in 2022 in the wake of Russia's war on Ukraine.

The plan lays out ways to reduce Australia's emissions,

such as leasing more offshore acreage for carbon capture and

storage, while encouraging development of new gas fields,

including tightening "use it or lose it" provisions on existing

leases.

It comes as Woodside and Santos battle

environmentalists opposing gas projects they are developing off

northwestern Australia, while smaller companies face opponents

to shale gas drilling in the Northern Territory.

"The strategy also makes it clear that we can't rely on past

investments to get us through the next decades, as existing

fields deplete," King said in a column in the Australian

Financial Review on Thursday.

"That will mean a continued commitment to exploration, and

an openness to the kinds of foreign investment that have helped

build the industry into the powerhouse it is today."

The announcement was welcomed by energy producers but

criticised by renewable energy advocates and environmentalists.

"The Future Gas Strategy announced today promotes a reckless

plan to open up new industrial gas basins that will damage land,

water and communities," Carmel Flint, national coordinator at

environmental group Lock the Gate, said in a statement.