The South West Queensland Gas Development Project is significant for Santos and its joint venture partners Beach Energy and Origin Energy in the Cooper Basin as it is the first stage in the development of the region north of Coonaberry, which has been regarded as stranded gas.
It will also enable delivery of these gas reserves to the Ballera processing facility and further development of this region. This field development involves connection of seven gas wells. These well include four wells in the Durham Downs, including Durham Downs North, and three more wells located to the north of Coonaberry.
McConnell Dowell comes on board
In late January 2015, McConnell Dowell was awarded a contract to undertake pipeline and flowline works as part of the South West Queensland Gas Development Project. At the time of print, the project was on track for a mid-September 2015 completion.
The project comprises installation of eight flowlines ranging from 150 to 250mmin diameter. Total pipeline length is 120 km across the eight lines, with the shortest line at 1 km and longest at 41 km.
The project will enable this gas to be captured and moved through the existing network to the Ballera plant for processing.
Aside from some wet weather disruptions, Project Manager of the SWQP expansion, Stephen Kneen, said project performance and progress has been positive throughout the duration of the project.
“The South West Queensland project has come together very smoothly and continues the strong working relationship between Santos and McConnell Dowell over the last couple of years, which has included completed projects such as the Mereenie flowlines, the Moomba to Big Lake Fuel Gas Pipeline and the Tirrawarra flowlines.”
McConnell Dowell also ensured all stages of construction were conducted in full compliance with AS 2885.
Working together for pipeline success
At peak, the project involved a workforce of 100 people, including subcontractors, and Mr Kneen said this project was notable for the communal atmosphere and close bonds that were formed over the length of the project.
“The whole project team came together and worked really well with each other and in conjunction with Santos site representatives. Everyone gelled together really well, and we hope this great relationship with Santos continues well into the future.”
“The client-contractor relationship has been collaborative and highly productive throughout the entire project,” he said.
“The workforce came together really well. With employees drawn from all over Australia, everyone banded together effectively. Great friends were made and good working relationships were maintained across project staff, workers, sub-contractors, catering and cleaning staff.”
The bulk of the work has been self-performed by McConnell Dowell, however some non-destructive testing work, pipe haulage, cleaning, catering and camp supplies was awarded to various subcontractors.
At the time of publication, the project had been completed LTI free and achieved industry benchmark standards with a welding repair rate of 0.07 per cent.
Local suppliers, local staff
With the Ballera Gas Plant located approximately 1,200 km west of Brisbane, the project is exceptionally remote. As such, McConnell Dowell made a concerted effort to engage Queensland-based personnel.
The project used Queensland suppliers where possible, and 70 per cent of project employees were drawn from southern Queensland.
The project also directly engaged Indigenous employees involved in pipeline construction in addition to Indigenous workers engaged by Santos for cultural heritage inspection.
Mitigating impact
The works were conducted in potentially culturally sensitive areas with Cultural Heritage monitoring staff on site for all ground-breaking activities.
In the Eromanga area of southwest Queensland, dinosaur bones had been previously discovered in areas of the pipelines alignments. McConnell Dowell worked with monitors from the Outback Gondwana Foundation in the clearing, grading and trenching stages of the project to carefully monitor the area, where no additional bones were unearthed.
This article was featured in the October 2015 edition of The Australian Pipeliner.
If you have news you would like featured in The Australian Pipeliner contact Managing Editor David Convery at dconvery@gs-press.com.au
