In a national first, a joint venture between Armour Energy Limited and Australia Pacific LNG Pty Ltd (APLNG) will seek out gas, entirely corralled for Australian manufacturers, in Queensland’s prospective southwest.

On Monday Minister for Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, the Hon. Dr Anthony Lynham, announced the joint venture’s successful bid for 18 square kilometres (km²) of coal seam exploration tenure located 22 kilometres south-west of Chinchilla.

Under the permit’s conditions, gas can only be sold to Australian manufacturing businesses.

“This is about more petajoules of Queensland gas in pipes, fuelling jobs in manufacturing,” Dr Lynham said.

“While other states close their doors, Queensland continues to rise to the challenge to keep our manufacturers in business.”

The 18 km² block, PL2018‐1B, is considered to be highly prospective as exploration levels in the area are already high and it is surrounded by production leases.

APLNG CEO, Warwick King, and Armour Energy CEO, Roger Cressey, both welcomed the news.

“The proximity of the block to our existing infrastructure will allow us to bring the gas to the east coast market efficiently and on competitive terms,” Mr King said.

“This is a great opportunity for Armour,” Mr Cressey commented.

“As an Australian company headquartered in Brisbane, Armour is pleased that the award of this block to the Joint Venture will contribute to the provision of more affordable energy and feedstock to Australian manufacturing businesses.”

Armour is already producing up to 3.6 petajoules of gas per annum and exploring for gas for across its 2090 km² of exploration acreage on the gas-rich Roma Shelf near its Kincora project. It was one of four companies awarded exploration tenders to look for domestic-market-only gas in September last year.

The others were:

• Chi Oil and Gas on 5266 km2 near Quilpie
• Santos/Shell joint venture on 393 km2 near Surat
• Central Petroleum on 77 km2 near Miles

 

The announcement was also well received by Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive, Ian Macfarlane, who stated that the granting of the licence with a domestic-only condition was an example of the State’s leading regulatory framework.

“Gas sourced from the highly prospective land southwest of Chinchilla is destined for manufacturing businesses who need certainty around energy if they are to expand and employ more people,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“Not only will this decision fuel Australia’s manufacturing industry but it’s another example of Queensland’s success in best-practice regulation in action – fast, effective and focussed on outcomes.”

First gas from PL2018‐1B is expected to occur in mid-2020.