Queensland’s coal seam gas reserves “virtually inexhaustible:” Robertson  

While there certainly seems to be a lot of coal seam gas on Australia's east coast, "inexhaustible" is going a little overboard. From Fluid Handling - Queensland’s coal seam gas reserves “virtually inexhaustible:” Robertson.

QUEENSLAND Energy Minister Stephen Robertson claims the coal seam gas (CSG) reserves in Queensland’s south east could become as valuable to the state as oil is to the Middle East.

The Energy Minister was present to official open the $250m Taloona plant at Spring Gully, near Roma on 6 May, 2009. He says Queensland’s CSG stores are “virtually inexhaustible” and will provide a boost to the rest of the country.

The Taloona liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant has the capacity to supply 25% of the state’s gas requirements. It is one of three plants run in the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) joint-venture between Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips at Spring Gully.

Robertson says CSG, along with other sources such as geothermal energy, are cleaner alternatives to produce electricity and will become cheaper as the focus shifts to greener fuels.

Origin Energy hopes to start an LNG plant in Gladstone by 2010, but says exports will probably not begin until 2014, when government and environmental approvals were finalised.

Work on the Spring Gully project began in June 2005. There is now 400km of gas and water pipelines and 160 field wells to feed three processing plants.