The Santos GLNG project is now 75% complete and on track for the first shipment of LNG to sail out of Gladstone Harbour in Queensland next year, it has been announced.
With the 6,000-strong workforce delivering approximately 4.5 million work hours so far this year, Santos GLNG has already achieved a number of construction milestones in 2014, including the breakthrough of the pipeline tunnel underneath Gladstone Harbour and the completion of the final modules which will form the first LNG processing train.
Queensland Premier Campbell Newman joined Santos CEO David Knox on a visit to Curtis Island to mark the 75% completion milestone.
“We’re delighted to host the Premier to mark 75% completion of this truly world-class project, and thank him for his strong support in making this state a world-leading gas producer,” Mr Knox said.
“As an Australian owned and operated company, we are very proud to be building this new industry for Queensland. We have had a home in this state for over 50 years, and it represents a hugely important part of our future.
“To date, Santos GLNG has provided $5.1 billion worth of work to Queensland businesses, and over the coming decades of operation Santos GLNG will contribute billions of dollars in royalty payments to the people of Queensland.”
On Curtis Island, where the LNG plant is being constructed:
- The 4.3-kilometre pipeline tunnel under Gladstone Harbour has just broken through to Curtis Island from the mainland after 10 months of tunnelling. The tunnel will now be lined, flooded, and the pipeline floated and pulled through. The entire 420-kilometre pipeline is due to be completed in the next few months.
- The final three of the 82 modules which will be joined to form the first LNG train (processing unit) are being completed and over 90% have been delivered to Curtis Island from the module construction yard in the Philippines. Meanwhile, all of the 29 modules required for the second train are under construction. The trains will liquefy gas by cooling it to -162°C for transportation via ship to Malaysia and Korea starting next year.
In the gas fields around Roma and Fairview:
- Construction of the largest gas processing hub in the Fairview field – Fairview 4 – is progressing strongly. The hub will compress gas for it to be sent along the 420-kilometre pipeline to Curtis Island. The Fairview 4 hub’s water desalination plant has just been completed, and our construction team is now focused on the hub’s electrical switchrooms and utility systems.
- 410 kilometres of the 420-kilometre gas transmission pipeline have been buried and 282 kilometres of the pipeline route are under rehabilitation. First commissioning gas is due to be piped to Curtis Island around the middle of this year.
Mr Knox said that while the investment and economic contribution of Australia’s gas industry was important, “the real value will be measured by our ability to operate responsibly, and in doing so to gain the trust of all of the communities, the individuals and the organisations that our business touches.”
“Santos has been operating in the Roma area since the sixties, and all these years of experience in the Australian natural gas industry have taught us that respect and trust are the keys to strong, enduring relationships with landholders,” he said.
“I’m pleased to say that a survey of landholders on whose properties Santos operates in Queensland, conducted independently by Nielsen, has shown our ability to work in co-existence with agriculture.”
The survey found nine out of 10 landholders surveyed would welcome Santos GLNG back onto their properties.
Santos GLNG is a pioneering joint venture between Santos, Petronas, Total and Kogas to supply liquefied natural gas to global markets.
