Oil and gas producer, Senex Energy Ltd, has signed a new domestic gas sales agreement with power generator CleanCo Queensland for 2.55 petajoules (PJ) of natural gas.
Under the one-year agreement, Senex will supply CleanCo with 2.55 PJ of natural gas from its Atlas operations, commencing 1 January 2021.
Gas will be supplied at the Wallumbilla Gas Hub in Queensland at a fixed price in line with current market levels.
Atlas gas will fuel Swanbank E, CleanCo’s highly-efficient 385 MW gas-fired power station, which is located 10 kilometres south of Ipswich in South-East Queensland. The power station features the Alstom GT26 gas turbine, which was the largest gas turbine in Australia at the time of its commissioning in 2002.
Initial gas sales to CleanCo – the first from dedicated domestic gas acreage in Australia – have been made since December 2019. CleanCo is the new Queensland Government-owned corporation focused on delivering affordable and reliable clean energy.
Managing Director and CEO, Ian Davies, said the increase in supply of Atlas gas to CleanCo is a great outcome for Queensland.
“Senex is continuing to negotiate gas sales agreements that will support jobs and regional economies as we partner with commercial and industrial customers for long-term and mutually beneficial relationships.”
“As strong demand for domestic gas supply continues, new gas sales agreements are being negotiated to further de-risk future Atlas revenue streams and strengthen overall business resilience,” Mr Davies stated.
To date, Senex has contracted more than 35 PJ of natural gas from Atlas (including potential contract volume expansions and term extensions). The company outlines that Atlas gas production for calendar year 2020 is now fully contracted and 2021 expected production is more than 70 per cent contracted.
Senex has drilled 39 wells of the 50-well Atlas campaign, with Atlas gas production continuing to perform strongly at approximately 14 TJ/day. Total daily Surat Basin gas production is above 32 TJ and continues to increase towards initial nameplate capacity of 48 TJ/day (about 18 PJ/year).