Australia Pacific LNG lines up $8.5 bn for coal gas to LNG project

Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd (APLNG), a company led by the country's leading integrated energy player Origin Energy Ltd, said yesterday that it has secured an $8.5-billion project finance facility for the development of the company's prestigious coal seam gas (CSG) to liquefied natural gas (LNG) project near Gladstone in Queensland.

The funding has been arranged from a group of global financial institutions including Export-Import Bank of the United States (US EXIM), the Export-Import Bank of China (China EXIM) and a syndicate of Australian and international commercial banks, the company said in a statement.

APLNG chairman Grant King said, ''Today's announcement is another major milestone for Australia Pacific LNG, and paves the way for development of one of Australia's largest LNG export projects.''

''Australia Pacific LNG's ability to secure $8.5 billion in project financing from Australian and international investors, evidences the strength and quality of the project,'' King further said.

The $20-bn APLNG project is a joint venture between Origin Energy and the US oil giant ConocoPhillips owning a 37.5-per cent stake each, and China's Sinopec holding the remaining 25 per cent.

The project involves the development of  APLNG's substantial CSG reserves in the Surat and Bowen basins in central Queensland, a 530-km gas transmission pipeline from the gas fields to the Curtis Island and a two-train LNG facility in Curtis Island with a total capacity of 9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa).