BG's $15bn Gladstone project starts coal seam gas race  

The Australian has an update on BG's coal seam gas LNG project in Queensland - BG's $15bn Gladstone project starts coal seam gas race.

BRITISH gas giant BG Group has taken the lead in the race to establish the world's first coal seam gas to LNG project.

This follows it signing-off yesterday on its $US15 billion ($15.24bn) Queensland project.

BG Group's Australian subsidiary, QGC, announced it was pushing ahead with the first phase of its Curtis LNG project, which includes the development of a two-train liquefaction plant on Curtis Island near Gladstone, together with the associated upstream and pipeline facilities.

QGC managing director Catherine Tanna, who announced the go-ahead in Brisbane yesterday with Treasurer Wayne Swan and Resources Minister Martin Ferguson, said it was BG's single biggest investment.

"Over the next four years, we will build the world's first liquefied natural gas plant to use coal seam gas (CSG) as a feedstock," she said. ...

The Queensland Curtis LNG Project involves building a liquefied natural gas plant at Gladstone, a 540km underground pipeline network, and expanding production in gasfields in the Surat Basin around Chinchilla. It will have an operating life of at least 20 years, with 2014 targeted for first LNG shipments from Gladstone.

BG Group has already signed binding commitments with LNG customers in China, Japan, Singapore and Chile, and said it would continue to provide gas to markets in eastern Australia.

In March, the gas giant signed a $60bn deal with China National Offshore Oil Corp for the supply of 3.6 million tonnes of LNG per annum for 20 years. This was followed by a $20bn agreement with Tokyo Gas for 1.2 million tonnes per annum over 20 years.

Deutsche Bank analyst John Hirjee said BG had always been regarded as the leader in the CSG to LNG space. "It is significant, as it is the first coal seam gas to LNG project anywhere in the world," he said.

As recently as last week, rival CSG project proponent Santos reaffirmed it was planning to announce shortly the final go-ahead for its $15bn-plus facility at Curtis Island, and Origin Energy is expected to have approval for its $35bn facility by the end of the year. Santos still needs to finalise financing and development costs and complete a sales deal with Korea Gas, which awaits Korean government approval.