A panel of experts will assess the nine responses submitted for development of a gas pipeline connecting the Northern Territory to the East Coast.
“The North East Gas Interconnector is a critical piece of economic development infrastructure and a priority Major Project for the Territory Government,” Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles said.
“This is a critical nation-building project with the potential to create jobs and industry growth in the Northern Territory, particularly in regional areas.
“It is estimated that the Territory has more than 200 trillion cubic feet of gas resources in six onshore basins – potentially enough gas to power Australia for more than 200 years and reserves almost 20 times the size of the Ichthys LNG Project. There is also more than 30 trillion cubic feet of gas offshore.
“This project will help unlock those onshore and offshore gas assets.”
The Northern Territory Government launched the competitive process seeking private sector proposals for building the pipeline in November 2014, after a successful industry briefing in Alice Springs in October 2014.
The nine responses to the Request for Initial Proposals will now be evaluated by an expert panel comprising two private sector members and two senior public servants.
The private sector members both have exemplary professional records:
- Dr Michael Vertigan (Chair) has over 40 years of experience in both the public sector and at Board level in the financial, investment, energy and infrastructure industries.
- Antony Cohen is a Chartered Accountant with over 30 years of experience including as a partner at KPMG advising corporates and governments on strategic direction including extensive industry experience in the energy and utilities sectors.
“It is expected the evaluation process will be completed by the end of March. We know that this project is time critical so we are hoping the competitive process will be finalised in late September 2015, with Contractual and Financial Close shortly thereafter,” Mr Giles said.
