Santos project wins environmental approval from Queensland government

With the environmental approval it received from the Queensland government yesterday, Santos Gladstone Liquefied Natural Gas (GLNG) project has become the first major Australian coal seam gas to liquefied natural gas (LNG) project to be so approved.

The GLNG project is a joint venture between Santos, Australia's largest domestic gas producer and Petronas, Malaysia's national oil and gas company and the world's second largest LNG exporter.

The environmental approval comes on review of the project's Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) by the Queensland coordinator-general.

The Queensland government approval includes the development of coal seam gas resources in the Bowen and Surat Basins around Roma and construction of a pipeline from the gas fields to the coast and construction of up to three processing trains at an LNG plant. It additionally covers an export facility on Curtis Island, off Gladstone.

Describing it as a significant milestone, president GLNG and Queensland, Rick Wilkinson said, ''We acknowledge the Queensland Government's foresight in encouraging the development of the coal seam gas-to-LNG industry.''

''As our EIS submission outlined, we are committed to implementing comprehensive environmental management plans and are supportive of the conditions outlined by the co-ordinator-general.''

According to estimates the GLNG will create about 5000 construction jobs and 1000 permanent operational jobs when the project starts shipments of LNG in 2014.