Queensland CSG construction continues
Murphy Pipe and Civil crews have been hard at work in the Surat Basin, constructing a 46 km, 600 mm steel pipeline that will transport coal seam gas to the Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) Project.
The trunk pipeline is the longest in QGC’s Surat Basin development areas, and once complete later this year will connect the Matilda-John, Lauren and Kate field compressor stations to the Jordan Central Processing Plant.
The work is in addition to ongoing installation of gas and water gathering pipelines to connect new wells to existing processing networks in the Surat Basin.
The QCLNG project involves a 340 km, 1,066.8 mm export pipeline – operated and owned by APA Group (Wallumbilla Gladstone Pipeline) – from Wandoan in the Surat Basin to north east of Gladstone, as well as the two-train LNG processing plant and export terminal, on Curtis Island, which has an initial production capacity of approximately 8.5 MMt/a.
APA Group acquired the pipeline in June 2015 for approximately $5.9 billion.
In August, BG Group had started up and loaded its first LNG from the second production train at the project and, by early September, Train 2 at the project continued to progress through the start-up phase.
In January 2015, BG Group subsidiary, QGC, completed a world first with the QCLNG project, exporting LNG produced from CSG. At plateau production, expected during 2016, QCLNG will have an output of around 8 MMt/a of LNG.
Milestone for QLD LNG shipments
In early September, Queensland had shipped more than $1 billion in LNG exports in the six months since shipments commenced, according to Treasurer Curtis Pitt.
Mr Pitt said according to official Australian Bureau of Statistics data, the value of Queensland’s overall merchandise exports is also accelerating.
“Growth over the year was driven by the ramp up of LNG exports, which commenced in January 2015, along with increases in the value of meat and coal exports,” Mr Pitt said.
“LNG is one of Queensland’s great economic success stories, one that will continue to shape the state economy in coming decades.
“LNG exports are projected to hit $15 billion by 2016-17, earning the state valuable export dollars and annual royalties while supporting thousands of jobs.”
Queensland’s LNG industry exported $1.14 billion worth of gas up to July 2015, following the first shipment from the QCLNG Project in January 2015.
Santos GLNG exports imminent
LNG exports from the $20.5 billion, 7.8 MMt/a GLNG Project LNG facility on Curtis Island, Queensland, are expected to commence later this year.
As at early September, the project is nearly 95 per cent complete and on track for first LNG around the end of the third calendar quarter of 2015.
First gas has also been brought into Train 1 at the project, marking a key milestone in the commissioning process.
Existing supply contracts include agreements with Petronas and KOGAS, each for 3.5 MMt/a of LNG.
The project is a joint venture between Santos (30 per cent) and PETRONAS (27.5 per cent), Total (27.5 per cent) and KOGAS (15 per cent).
The project includes an API 5L X70 PSL2-grade 420 km, 1,050 mm diameter gas transmission pipeline linking a compression station at Santos’ Fairview, Bowen and Roma CSG fields in the Surat Basin to the liquefaction plant.
Construction on this pipeline began in September 2012 by construction contractor Saipem Australia, with first gas reaching Curtis Island in March 2015.
Initial production is expected to be 3-4 MMt/a, with a potential maximum production of 10 MMt/a of LNG, while total gas supply of approximately 1,200 TJ/d will be required for the two LNG trains.
In March 2015, the project passed one million safe work hours.
APLNG exports expected by end of 2015
The Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) Project is set for start-up in the second half of the 2015 calendar year.
A joint venture between Origin Energy, ConocoPhillips and Sinopec, APLNG is a two-train CSG-to-LNG project utilising Origin’s Queensland CSG reserves and resources.
APLNG has more than 17,000 sq km of CSG acreage in the Surat and Bowen basins, and an additional 18,000 sq km in the emerging Galilee Basin.
This will provide the potential CSG production capacity required to feed the LNG facility for decades.
The project includes a 530 km, 900-1,050 mm API 5L externally-coated gas transmission pipeline from the Surat and Bowen basins to the LNG processing site located at Laird Point on Curtis Island, Gladstone.
The pipeline has a capacity of 1,560 TJ/d.
Beginning east of Wandoan at the junction of the two lateral pipelines, the main pipeline extends 362 km to the north, veering east during the latter stages, with a marine crossing at The Narrows to arrive at the LNG facility.
Two lateral pipelines connect the Condabri and Woleebee developments to the main pipeline and are 44 km and 38 km in length, and 914.4 mm and 762 mm in diameter, respectively.
In addition, there are four other associated pipelines, namely the Eurombah Lateral; the Fairview Spring Gully Pipeline; the Spring Gully Taloona Pipeline; and the Orana to Talinga CSG Water Pipeline.
Origin is the upstream CSG operator and is responsible for construction and operation of the project’s gas fields and main gas transmission pipeline.
ConocoPhillips will be the downstream LNG operator and is responsible for the construction and operation of the project’s LNG facility.
Several LNG sales and purchase agreements have so far been made for the project.
In February 2012, Sinopec increased its existing purchase commitment from 4.3 to 7.6 MMt/a. In July 2012, APLNG and Kansai Electric signed an agreement for the sale of 1 MMt/a of LNG every year for the next 20 years.
First LNG is expected in the second half of 2015, with LNG from the second train expected in early 2016.
SWQ Project expansion reaches completion
Construction contractor McConnell Dowell has completed works on the South West Queensland Gas Development Project.
McConnell Dowell was awarded the contract to undertake pipeline and flowline works as part of the project in January 2015, which comprises installation of eight flowlines ranging from 150-250 mm in 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.
Read our in-depth coverage of the South West Queensland Gas Development Project on page 160.
Arrow Bowen Pipeline to complete FEED by end of year
Arrow Energy’s proposed Arrow Bowen Pipeline’s (ABP) environmental impact statement was approved by the Queensland Government in May, and front-end engineering and design (FEED) is expected to be completed by late 2015.
The project will involve the construction of a buried high-pressure steel pipeline to transport coal seam gas from the Bowen Basin to a gas hub 22 km north west of Gladstone, Queensland.
Arrow awarded the FEED contract to engineering services firm WorleyParsons.
The pipeline corridor has been selected, with the exact pipeline route within the corridor being refined in response to landholder requirements, cultural heritage, engineering, and environmental constraints and government feedback.
Queensland Gas Pipeline gets an upgrade
Jemena has completed its $40 million upgrade project on the Queensland Gas Pipeline.
Jemena announced the expansion project in February 2015 and began construction in June.
The 627 km, 324 mm diameter Queensland Gas Pipeline and Rockhampton branch line transports gas received at the Wallumbilla gas hub from the Surat and Cooper basins in south central Queensland, to large industrial gas users in the Rockhampton and Gladstone areas, and has been a vital cog in Queensland’s gas network since it was constructed in 1991.
The works saw the capacity of the QGP increased by seven per cent, which means the pipeline is now capable of delivering up to 10 TJ/d of additional firm capacity.
NORGAS Project remains on the cards
APA Group entered into an agreement with Armour Energy in June 2013 to investigate the development of pipeline infrastructure to connect unconventional gas fields in the Northern Territory to eastern Australian gas markets.
Armour Energy Heads of Agreement, which is non-binding, will facilitate development of Armour’s Northern Area Gas Scheme (NORGAS) Project, and will involve construction of a new 350 km link from Burketown to the Carpentaria Gas Pipeline in Mount Isa.
The project holds potential for up to 330 PJ per annum to be transported to markets in Mount Isa, Sydney and Queensland
The Armour resource (near Burketown, on the Gulf of Carpentaria) is approximately 350 km from the closest point on the east coast gas grid (Mount Isa).
APA has said that the development of the infrastructure and commercialisation of the resource will only be possible if a significant level of resource can be proven.
