Australia Pacific LNG to splash A$3 billion this year

The Australia Pacific liquefied natural gas (LNG) export project plans to spend around A$3 billion ($2.34 billion) in planned activities this year.

This spend would be on a wide range of development activities in the gas fields, as well as operations and maintenance activities for gas processing infrastructure, pipelines and the two-train 9 mtpa liquefaction plant on Curtis Island near Gladstone, Chief Executive Officer Warwick King said.

“This expenditure reflects our long term commitment to regional Queensland as we expect to invest significant amounts in capital works and spend on operational activities every year for at
least the next decade,” King said at a gas conference in Sydney on Wednesday.

“This is the level of expenditure needed to ensure we meet our long term commitment to the Australian domestic market as well as our LNG export commitments,” he added.

Development activities by APLNG upstream operator Origin include the drilling of 250 to 300 new natural gas wells, construction of associated support infrastructure, and continued focus on exploration and assessment activities.

Operational and maintenance activities by APLNG downstream operator ConocoPhillips include scheduled shutdowns, including a single train shutdown of one train at the Curtis Island LNG facility in March and the other train in April, according to King.

Australia Pacific LNG is the largest producer of natural gas in eastern Australia. It will this year supply around 30 percent of the Australian south eastern domestic gas market, King said.

The LNG export project is a joint venture between ConocoPhillips (37.5%), Origin (37.5%) and Sinopec (25%).