Santos and its GLNG partners have decided to invest more than A$400m ($303m) in the Arcadia gas project in the Bowen Basin in Queensland’s Central Highlands region, Australia.
Image: The Santos’ Arcadia gas project in Australia. Photo: courtesy of Santos Ltd.
Located near Injune, about 680km northwest of Brisbane, the project involves drilling of 137 new wells, construction of a 140km gas and water gathering network, two 4G communication towers, a new compression station, a 4 ML per day water treatment plant, a 5MW gas-fired power station, and associated roads and infrastructure.
Santos said that the new investment is in addition to its earlier planned A$900m investment in upstream developments in the Maranoa, Western Downs, Central Highlands and Banana regions of Queensland scheduled over this year.
Santos managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said: “The Arcadia gas project will create up to 300 construction jobs and local business opportunities in the Central Highlands region, helping to sustain and boost the benefits of Santos’ and GLNG’s earlier investments.
“This initial phase of the Arcadia development will at its peak deliver in excess of 75 TJ/day to the gas supply for the GLNG project. This is great news for both the domestic gas market and our LNG exports.”
Prior to making investment decision, the firm completed a 13-well pilot program which tested changes to the planned well design and operating philosophy.
Gallagher said: “We have reduced our connected well costs in Queensland by more than 70 per cent since 2015 to become Australia’s lowest cost onshore operator.
“If you want to put downward pressure on gas prices, reducing the cost of supply is a good place to start.
“Santos will apply our low cost operating model, and a well design and water management approach tailored for the Arcadia field, to extract more gas for less money.”
GLNG involves the development of CSG resources in the Surat and Bowen Basins in south-east Queensland, a 420km underground gas transmission pipeline and a two-train liquefaction and storage facility on Curtis Island, Gladstone, Queensland.