PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The project partners of the Australia Pacific liquefied natural gas (APLNG) project on Thursday announced that an additional 16.2 PJ of natural gas produced at the project would be set aside for domestic customers.
APLNG will supply explosives manufacuter Orica with 10.2 PJ of gas over a four-year period, starting from 2021, while packaging manufacturer Orora will receive 6 PJ of gas over a three-year period, starting from 2023.
“We’re delighted to be getting more gas to domestic customers and as a result, supporting manufacturing jobs in Australia,” APLNG CEO Warwick King said.
The Queensland Resources Council has welcomed the supply agreements, with CEO Ian Macfarlane saying it was yet another sign of the benefits that flowed from a successful gas industry that has regulatory stability.
“The Queensland gas industry is leading the nation with a proactive approach to easing the east coast gas squeeze.
“Queensland’s neighbours must take a leaf out of our book, instead of relying on our State to meet the gap caused by their failure to develop their own gas industries. Gas exploration has stalled in New South Wales and Victoria, despite the fact all jurisdictions have their own reserves in the ground.”
Last month APLNG, along with its joint venture partner Armour Energy, announced it would enter into gas supply agreements with a number of Australian manufacturers including Incitec Pivot, with supply agreements totalling more than 50 petajoules of gas.