Queensland LNG exports performing above expectations
Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise (TSBE) chief executive officer Dr Ben Lyons has welcomed news that Queensland’s three LNG projects are performing beyond market expectations.
Outlined in EnergyQuest’s recent report, the three Queensland projects, including Shell’s QCLNG project, Santos’s GLNG project and Origin Energy Conoco Phillips project, have exported 3.8 million tonnes of gas worth approximately $1.7 billion in the March quarter of 2016.
TSBE chief executive officer Dr Ben Lyons said that despite the difficulties encountered by the resource sector in the last 12-18 months, the figures highlighted a strong vote of confidence in Queensland’s ongoing liquefied natural gas future.
“2016 delivered a situation where all three Surat Basin gas projects now export LNG from Gladstone, so the latest figures are good news for our region and for the overall LNG picture in Queensland,” Dr Lyons said.
“Particularly for the Surat Basin region, as we continue in this ongoing ‘sustain phase’ of these major projects, these growing export figures will create jobs, investment and continued economic returns for our regional communities and businesses.
“And we are already seeing examples of this with QGC investing $1.7 billion in late 2015 in the development of their Project Charlie coal seam gas development in Wandoan which will soon directly supply gas for export from Gladstone.”
The report comes as the Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed Australian LNG exports are significantly boosting the country’s economy.
2015 saw a record $17 billion in Australian LNG exports, with oil and gas extraction in the March 2016 quarter rising 5.1 per cent, with LNG output now Australia's largest component of petroleum production.
According to the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) Australia will be the largest single exporter of LNG in the world by 2019, with the LNG industry to nearly double its contribution to Australia's GDP by 2030.
TSBE Chair Shane Charles this week attended the APPEA 2016 Conference and Exhibition in Brisbane.
Mr Charles said whilst it has been tough in the resource sector of late, it is not all doom and gloom.
"We have projects built and operating unlike elsewhere in the world, and with the struggles the sector has experienced, people are getting smarter, which will undoubtedly lead to further investment," Mr Charles said.
Mr Charles also congratulated Toowoomba local Ian Macfarlane for winning the renowned Reg Sprigg Medal for his oustanding service to the oil and gas sector awarded at the conference yesterday.
