Name and Location
Santos Gladstone liquefied natural gas (GLNG) project, Queensland, Australia.

Client
The Santos GLNG project is a joint venture between the operator, Santos (30%), Petronas (27.5%), Total (27.5%) and Korea Gas Corporation (15%).

Project Description
The Santos GLNG project is a pioneering venture to convert coal seam gas (CSG) to LNG for export to global markets.

It includes the development of CSG resources in the Bowen and Surat basins, in south-east Queensland, the construction of a 420 km underground gas transmission pipeline to Gladstone, and two LNG trains, with a combined nameplate capacity of 7.8-million tonnes a year, on Curtis Island.

Value
$18.5-billion.

Duration
The first LNG will be delivered in 2015 and plateau production of the LNG plant is expected to be reached in 2016 and be maintained for more than 20 years.

Latest Developments
Santos GLNG’s pipeline compressor station, a central facility through which all its gas will be piped before it is sent along the 420 km pipeline to Gladstone, has reached mechanical completion.

Mechanical completion indicates all major work is complete and the infrastructure is essentially ready for final testing, known as commissioning, start-up and operation.

The next step is for the commissioning team to complete final checks and tests on the pipeline compressor station so that it is ready to receive gas as soon as the 420 km gas transmission line is complete.

Once Santos GLNG starts feeding gas through this facility later this year, a 60 t separator will remove any remaining traces of liquid from the gas before it continues on its journey.

While gas will be sent north through the new pipeline compressor station to the LNG plant at Curtis Island in Gladstone, Santos GLNG will also have the option to reverse the flow and send gas south to its underground storage facility at Roma, if required for maintenance activities.

Meanwhile, Santos GLNG is performing milestone welds on its 420 km pipeline that runs from Fairview field, north of Roma, to Gladstone, while simultaneously undertaking final tests and checks along the route.

The entire gas transmission pipeline is in the ground but remains in large segments, some nearly 30 km long, pending final testing.

These segments are joined together by performing a ‘golden weld’ once the section has been successfully pressure tested with water, known as hydrotesting.

Golden welds are carried out in pits along the pipeline route. These pits are then backfilled and the land above is rehabilitated.

Close to 50 golden welds are required to join Santos GLNG’s pipeline together, and more than half of these are already complete.

The last of 82 modules required for Santos GLNG’s first liquefaction processing train has been installed at the Curtis Island LNG plant off Gladstone.
Once Santos GLNG starts delivering gas to Curtis Island, it will use the two trains to convert it to LNG so it can be shipped to market.

Over the past month, significant attention has also been devoted to Train 1’s supporting infrastructure, with work focused on piping and electrical works.

Another shipment of modules for the second train, Train 2, has also arrived at the plant.

Santos GLNG’s two LNG storage tanks are also advancing considerably at the site.

Crews are working inside the giant structures to build two inner tanks that are composed of four layers of insulation and a layer of protective steel plates.

Later this year the inner tanks will be filled with water and pressurised to test their ability to store LNG.

Elsewhere at the plant, the newly constructed central control and administration building has been energised and work continues on the 360 m jetty that is nearing completion.

Key Contracts and Suppliers
Fluor Corporation (engineering, procurement and construction services for upstream facilities); Saipem (construction of the gas transmission pipeline); Bechtel (construction of the LNG plant) and Theiss (tunnel).

On Budget and on Time?
The project is on track

Contact Details for Project Information
Santos GLNG project, tel +61 07 3838 3000, fax +61 7 3862 3722 or email info@glng.com.au.