SWAN ENDORSES BRITISH GAS PROJECT

QUEENSLAND Gas Company (QGC) owner British Gas has made the final investment decision for the Curtis Island LNG Project, winning the support of Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan (pictured, right).

The project will contribute $1 billion annually to Federal Government coffers, as well as $300 million in royalties to the Queensland State Government.

“As Treasurer but also as a proud Queenslander, this is a tremendously exciting project for Queensland and for Australia,” says Swan.

“It will provide vital support to jobs, to small business, to future investment and it will do that within a framework of environmental protection and a framework of agricultural production. It will also bring a boost to Australian exports.”

QGC managing director Catherine Tanna (pictured, left) says the $15 billion investment commitment is the largest ever undertaken by BG.

“Over the next four years, the project will create an estimated 5000 construction jobs and, from 2014, nearly 1000 jobs in operations,” she says.

“We estimate that the project will increase economic activity in Queensland by $32 billion over the project’s first decade, or $2.6 billion a year. Over the next four years, we will build the world’s first liquefied natural gas plan to use coal seam gas as a feedstock.”

Tanna says the plant will generate 35 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than other fossil fuels, with project approvals that include around 1500 conditions.

“We are determined to co-exist with our neighbours – farmers, townspeople, miners, conservationists, traditional custodians, business, and governments,” she says.