Senex Energy has made Final Investment Decisions to develop two natural gas projects in the Surat Basin in Queensland.

The developments, called Project Atlas and Roma North, involve the construction of a combined 110 wells initially, two gas processing plants and associated pipelines and facilities over 18 months starting late in the first quarter of 2019.

Project Atlas will be positioned close to 20 kilometres south-west of Wandoan and Roma North roughly 30 kilometres north of Roma.

Nearly 60 wells will be drilled in the initial development phase for Project Atlas, which is centred on Queensland’s first tenement dedicated to domestic gas supply. Senex expects it to deliver more than 200 petajoules (PJ) of gas for the domestic market over the life of the project.

The State Government awarded the company acreage for the project last year after a competitive tender and delivery of first gas is on target for the end of 2019, however, development remains to be subject to final state and federal regulatory approvals.

Further to this, Jemena is set to build, own and operate the Atlas processing plant and 60-kilometre pipeline that will transport natural gas to Wallumbilla, a major domestic supply hub. Gas from Roma North, which forms a part of the larger Western Surat Gas Project, will also be sold to GLNG under a 20-year sales agreement.

Senex Managing Director and CEO Ian Davies said the investment decision was significant both for the domestic gas market and regional communities.

“Our investment decision means that we are a step closer to delivering on our plan to become a material supplier of gas to the east coast,” Mr Davies said.