Curtis Island second LNG train starts production

Australia Pacific LNG, a joint venture between ConocoPhillips (37.5%), Origin Energy Limited (37.5%) and Sinopec (25%), confirmed yesterday that it had produced the equivalent of a cargo of liquefied natural gas from the second train at its LNG Facility on Curtis Island near Gladstone, Queensland.

The start of operations from the second train marks the final major construction milestone on Australia Pacific LNG’s journey to become one of Australia’s leading domestic and international energy suppliers.

Australia Pacific LNG CEO Page Maxson said the second train had produced 150,000 cubic metres of LNG, equivalent to the volume required to fill an LNG ship.

“The second train is up and running, enabling our LNG Facility on Curtis Island to deliver commercial quantities of LNG at sustained output from both trains,” he said. “With our strong reserves position we are looking forward to working with our key customers here in Australia and overseas to help meet their energy needs today and in the decades ahead.

“As the largest producer of natural gas in eastern Australia, we are underpinned by a world-class coal seam gas resources position. We currently provide approximately 25% of domestic gas to the east coast market, with sufficient reserves to meet both LNG and domestic demand.”

With the commencement of train two operations, approximately 200 TJ/day of equity gas that was previously directed to the QGC sales contract will become available to Australia Pacific LNG. In recent days, Australia Pacific LNG successfully completed the 120-day operational test period relating to the first train at the LNG facility. This is the critical test set forth in the project financing completion agreements. The completion of all tests for the first train is expected in coming weeks.

LNG production from Australia Pacific LNG’s first train began in December 2015 and the first LNG cargo was exported in January 2016. To date, Australia Pacific LNG has loaded a total of 47 cargoes.