Surat BasinNEWS Thursday 25 MARCH 2010
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LNG FIRST
INSIDE
BOC and QGC sign $100 million deal New transport fuel industry BY Teneale Luckraft
USA
editorial@suratbasin.com.au South-west Queensland will host the first plant in Australia to convert coal seam gas to liquefied natural gas on a commercial scale after a $100 million agreement was signed in Chinchilla last week. Gas company BOC (member of the Linde Group) and CSG exporter QGC (a BG group business) will work together to provide Queensland with a new transport fuel industry, which will see a network of LNG refuelling stations developed for the trucking industry. BOC plans to build a microLNG plant next to QGC’s Condamine Power Station with construction expected to start early next year. This will be subject to a formal development approval process. The plant will produce 50 tonnes of LNG a day, which is equivalent to 70,000 litres of diesel for heavy transport and industry. Around 40 jobs will be created during the construction phase with local suppliers being utilised where possible. Two full-time employees will work at the plant when it is completed. Starting July next year, QGC will supply gas to BOC, putting the companies on track to become the first in Australia to produce LNG from CSG, through safe and proven liquefaction technology. As part of the agreement, QGC will supply BOC with up to 30 petajoules of coal seam gas over 15 years, with an option of extending this a further 15 years.
BOC plans to complete an interstate network of LNG refuelling stations for the trucking industry, building and operating up to eight refuelling stations from Queensland to Victoria. As a starting point, BOC proposes to build a refuelling station on the Warrego Highway, subject to further discussions with customers. The eight stations will be supplied from BOC’s existing liquefaction plant in Victoria and the one to be built in the Surat Basin. Queensland premier Anna Bligh was in Chinchilla for the announcement and said the Surat Basin would be the birth place of LNG in Queensland. She said the partnership between BOC and QGC provided the Western Downs Regional Council with extensive opportunities as well as challenges that would need to be faced. “This really is cutting edge technology right here in Chinchilla,” she said. “LNG produces up to 25 per cent fewer emissions than diesel when used for transport and is a quieter, proven, safe alternative to other fossil fuels.” QGC managing director Catherine Tanna said by supplying coal seam gas to be converted into LNG to replace diesel, they would be helping to create a new industry and at the same time support local economies. “QGC is committed to supplying the domestic gas
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QGC managing director Catherine Tanna, Queensland premier Anna Bligh and BOC South Pacific managing director Colin Isaac at the annoucement launch.
market from our gas fields in southern Queensland as we continue to develop our Queensland Curtis LNG project at Gladstone,” she said. BOC South Pacific managing
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director Colin Isaac said LNG was a reliable and proven technology that would offer Queensland’s trucking operators an economically and environmentally appealing alternative to diesel.
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