Santos chair Peter Coats takes parting shot at costs, regulation SANTOS has warned that Australia's gas industry faces the twin challenges of regulatory uncertainty and eroding cost competitiveness, raising the prospect of domestic gas shortages as well as the loss of new liquefied natural gas export development opportunities to emerging competitors in Canada, East Africa and the US. The group's retiring chairman Peter Coates, who is taking up an executive role with the recently enlarged Glencore Xstrata, told shareholders at yesterday's annual meeting in Adelaide that time was of the essence for governments and other policymakers in dealing with the challenges.