The hub, located north of Roma in central Queensland, is one of three major Bowen-Surat Basin gas processing areas set to supply Santos’ Gladstone LNG project.
The news follows the introduction of first gas to GLNG’s 420km gas transmission pipeline last month via the primary compressor at Fairview.
The pipeline, which Saipem Australia constructed, will be progressively filled with gas, section by section, with first gas into the plant at Gladstone scheduled for later this year.
The company also completed hydro-testing on one of two LNG storage tanks on Curtis Island in July, filling the giant structure with 100 million litres of water to test its ability to safely store LNG.
Santos said commissioning operations were progressing well at the remaining two processing hubs, ahead of achieving its first LNG goal at Curtis Island.
“We’re making excellent progress at Santos GLNG,” Santos vice president Queensland Trevor Brown said.
“First gas is scheduled to arrive at our plant on Curtis Island later this year, we’re approaching 90% complete, we’re on budget and on track to deliver first LNG in 2015.
“This is a great story for Queensland. Santos GLNG alone is projected to deliver ongoing investment in this state of an average of $1 billion a year from 2016-2020, and an average of half a billion dollars a year after that. This means long-term jobs for Queenslanders over the next 20-30 years.
“LNG is without doubt the new shining light of the Australian economy. In just a few short years, LNG will overtake coal and become Australia’s second-largest export behind iron ore – that is a staggering statistic that demonstrates the massive investment underway today.”
Twenty-one wells were spudded in the GLNG acreage during the third quarter, which included 18 development wells (12 in Fairview and six in Roma) and three appraisal wells.
Deliverability of the existing wells in Fairview continues to exceed expectations, with total gross field well capacity in excess of 400 terajoules per day at the end of August.
When fully operational, GLNG will have the capacity to produce 7.8 million tonnes of LNG per annum.
