Thousands of jobs and billions of investment dollars are at risk from the ever-increasing gas price, economists say.

A new report from Deloitte Access Economics says the profits of gas export will be devastating domestically.

Australian companies are throwing their gas into international markets, taking advantage of the high global price, depriving the large range of industries reliant on gas in Australia.

Deloitte says if things keep going as they are, the manufacturing sector alone will lose up to $118 billion by 2021, leading to the loss of nearly 15,000 jobs.

In the same instance, mining would contract by $34 billion and agriculture by $4.5 billion, with job losses difficult to tally.

The report was commissioned by a coalition of industry groups, aiming to make policy-writers stand up and listen.

Brian Green - chairman of a market group representing firms from BlueScope Steel and BHP Billiton to Woolworths – says there needs to be more production and a two-tiered pricing system.

“One of the things we'd like to see is a distinction being made between gas being supplied for the export market and gas that is being supplied for the domestic market,” he told the ABC.

“When we say domestic market we mean industry, although obviously it also has a flow-on effect right through to household gas bills.”

Australian Food and Grocery Council president Gary Dawson said gas cost rises are worn by producers.

“If a food processing plant shuts down there is a direct flow on effect to farmers supplying that plant when they lose their key customer,” he said.

The Australian Industry Group says there are still widespread limits on coal seam gas extraction, and that removing such restrictions would boost supplies.

“We need action on two fronts - get more gas flowing, by replacing blanket bans on gas production with strong but workable regulation; and reform the market that gas is sold in to boost competition and transparency,” Ai Group chief executive Innes Willox said in the report.