Regional LNG: Darwin LNG plant works begin

Construction of the long-awaited $1.5 billion Darwin liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant begins, The Age of Australia reported Monday.

The construction of the plant - the Northern Territory's biggest ever private investment project - is part of the $2.3 development of the Bayu-Undan gas field in the Timor Sea.

International oil giant ConocoPhillips will build a pipeline from the Bayu-Undan gas field, about 500km north-west of Darwin in the Timor Sea, to the Darwin LNG plant to supply Japanese customers with LNG for 17 years from 2006.

NT Chief Minister Clare Martin said the start of construction on Monday marked a turning point in the territory's economic history.

Employee orientation courses were conducted on Monday morning, in readiness for the start of site clearing, at Darwin's Wickham Point, on Monday afternoon, she said.

"The site clearing work is the beginning of the three-year construction phase for the ConocoPhillips LNG Plant - part of the overall $3 billion Bayu-Undan development," Martin said.

Site clearing was expected to take two to three weeks, after which excavation and grading work would begin, she said.

Australia is expected to benefit from the Bayu-Undan gas development with an estimated $1.5 billion slice of revenue over the next two decades, increased economic activity and new jobs.

The NT government has estimated 1,000 jobs will be created during the three-year plant construction phase, with 100 workers needed for the plant's operation.

Martin said the site clearing would be carried out by Thiess Pty Ltd, which had been awarded a number of contracts, worth over $150 million. (*)