Regional LNG: Santos ships first cargo from GLNG

By Romel S. Gurky

ASX-listed Santos Ltd announced Friday the first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its US$18.5 billion GLNG project has left Curtis Island bound for South Korea.

The company said in a statement that the first cargo is being carried by the Malaysian-owned LNG ship Seri Bakti and will be delivered to South Korea in the coming weeks.

Santos Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer David Knox said: ?This is the largest project we have ever undertaken as a company and I am so proud that we have been able to deliver this on time and within budget.?

?The first cargo from GLNG strengthens our position as a major and competitive LNG supplier to Asia,? he added.

Project construction began in 2011 and has taken more than 95 million work hours to date. More than 10,000 people have worked on the project which saw more than $15 billion invested Australia-wide, including $8 billion in Queensland alone.

Production from the first train commenced in September and work on the second train is continuing to progress well, with Train 2 expected to be ready for start-up by the end of the year with first LNG in the second quarter 2016.

GLNG is a pioneering venture which produces natural gas from Queensland?s coal seams and converts it into LNG. It involves gas field development in the Surat and Bowen Basins, a 420-kilometer gas transmission pipeline and a two-train LNG plant on Curtis Island, near Gladstone which will have the capacity to produce 7.8 million tons of LNG per year when fully operational.

Santos is the operator and has a 30 percent interest in the project. Other co-venturers include PETRONAS of Malaysia (27.5%), Total of France (27.5%) and KOGAS of South Korea (15%).

Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak