Origin coal seam gas project likely to create 5000 jobs  

The SMh reports that the coal seam gas juggernaut shows no signs of slowing down yet, with the origin / ConocoPhilips project likely to cost $35 billion - Origin gas project likely to create 5000 jobs.

IN A change from the gloomy news engulfing the market, Origin Energy has revealed its gas export project with US oil giant ConocoPhillips could be worth $35 billion and may create up to 5000 jobs in a region hit by resources sector sackings.

The joint-venture partners said yesterday their plans to build a liquefied natural gas plant would create up to 4000 jobs in the Queensland resources hub of Gladstone, where Rio Tinto cut 500 staff on Tuesday. Documents lodged with the Queensland Government said the $35 billion will be spent between now and 2020 if the partners build the maximum number of four production units, or trains.

The state's Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Stirling Hinchliffe, signalled the first step of a complex environmental assessment process by designating the project "significant".

Australia-Pacific LNG, the name of the venture, plans to build a plant to ship 14 to 16 million tonnes of gas a year by 2020. The project has not yet secured a site, but the joint venture's preferred location is Curtis Island, where Britain's BG Group, Santos and Shell have also arranged sites. The government ruling is the latest development in the race between four rival projects planned for the area, which together plan to export 20 million tonnes of gas a year from as early as 2014 - almost seven times Queensland's annual gas consumption.

A flurry of joint-venture deals - of which Origin's $9.6 billion deal with Conoco is the largest - have attracted billions from global oil giants seeking a stake in Australia's extensive coal-seam gas reserves.