The future instability of the gas market on the east coast favours a much earlier start for the development of the company’s gas treatment component of the proposed world-first $A4 billion integrated low-cost gas, electricity and fertiliser complex in Queensland.

Liberty managing director Andrew Haythorpe said the company had never been better positioned to start the project.

“As our scoping studies and other work is now at an advanced stage after three successful years of project advancement and tenement selection it is increasingly clear that a substantial decrease in initial project costs by going the gas plant first will be easier to finance, generate a solid return on capital and offer less development risk and timeframes,” he said.

“The feedback we are receiving from financiers is that going first with the gas plant will have wider financing appeal as Queensland is looking for a new supply because it faces price hikes for gas and some uncertainty in domestic supply capability due to the local gas volumes now dedicated to long-term LNG contracts for processing facilities being developed at Gladstone.”

Haythorpe said market pressure favoured a higher focus on getting a gas plant established, which would allow Liberty to back-end the gas plant into the company’s long-term proposal of an integrated low-cost gas, electricity and urea production plant.

Liberty’s urea aspirations drew industry interest when Japanese powerhouse Marubeni signed a letter of intent for 1 million tonnes a year of urea and ammonia over a period of 25 years.

The company plans to develop gas processing operations on its Denison permit centred around Injune with the option of having a fertiliser processing plant located near the coast.

Liberty plans to use emerging environmentally friendly technology of injecting saline water and oxygen into coal seams to generate natural hydrocarbon-enriched syngas to bring coal seams to the surface on the company’s large tenements.