BG Group subsidiary QGC and its partners China National Offshore Oil Corp. and Tokyo Gas have approved plans for a A$1.7 billion ($1.2 billion) development of the Charlie gas project to supply both the Queensland Curtis LNG project and domestic market.
The development of QCG's 73.75%-held Charlie coalseam gas field, located west of Wandoan in the eastern Australian state of Queensland, will take around two years, the company said in a statement Monday.
The project will involve the construction of 300-400 gas wells, a large field compression station and associated pipelines feeding into existing gas processing and water infrastructure at Woleebee Creek.
QGC Managing Director Tony Nunan said the project was an important investment in the future of QGC's operations.
The company was the world's first to begin producing LNG from coalseam gas when the QCLNG plant started up in December 2014.
QCLNG has delivered 62 cargoes since it began producing. The plant has a nameplate capacity of 8.5 million mt/year at two production trains.
The eastern Australian gas market is being transformed by the startup of QCLNG and two other coalseam gas-based LNG projects on Curtis Island in the port city of Gladstone.
Santos started producing from its 7.8 million mt/year Gladstone LNG project in September and Origin Energy is set to begin output at its 9 million mt/year Australia Pacific LNG plant this month.
Once in full operation by 2017, the three new LNG plants will triple eastern Australia's demand for gas from the historic level of around 700 petajoules/year to around 2,100 Pj/year.
