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🇦🇺 Australia /Energy & Infrastructure

Pipeline companies advance major plans to bring Beetaloo gas to Australia’s east coast

From ABC Australia · () English

Translated from English and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Jemena plans a 400-kilometre pipeline linking the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin to the Northern Gas Pipeline, while APA Group is pursuing a 1,500-kilometre route to southwest Queensland.
  • First gas from the basin entered the Northern Territory power grid, and officials and industry leaders say the resource could expand domestic supply and eventually support exports.
  • APA’s proposal requires environmental approval from Queensland, the Northern Territory and the federal government, while Jemena plans to seek a territory pipeline permit before year-end.

The first gas from the Beetaloo Basin has entered the Northern Territory power grid, and two pipeline companies are moving to connect the remote resource with Australia’s east coast.

Jemena has unveiled plans for a 400-kilometre link from the basin to the Northern Gas Pipeline, which runs from Tennant Creek to Mount Isa. The NGP is currently the only pipeline connecting Northern Territory gas resources with the east coast. APA Group, meanwhile, has begun environmental assessment for a proposed 1,500-kilometre pipeline running directly from the Beetaloo, about 500 kilometres southeast of Darwin, to southwest Queensland.

more gas than this country will ever know what to do with

· Lia Finocchiaro, Northern Territory chief ministerFinocchiaro described the potential scale of the Beetaloo resource at a ceremony marking its first flow into the territory’s power grid.

Jemena managing director David Gillespie said improved infrastructure would allow the basin to reach its potential. He said the resource was expected to be “very material” and that supporting infrastructure would typically operate for at least 20 to 30 years. Gillespie could not estimate the cost of the new connection, but noted that the 622-kilometre NGP cost $700 million to build before opening in 2018. Jemena plans to submit its pipeline permit application to the Northern Territory government before the end of the year.

The resource is expected to be very material, and so the sort of infrastructure that's being built to support it is typically 20 to 30 years at a minimum.

· David Gillespie, Jemena managing directorGillespie discussed the expected scale and operating life of infrastructure needed for the basin.

APA chief executive Adam Watson called the proposed North to East Australia Pipeline “critical, nation-building infrastructure.” He said it could transform Australia’s energy market, strengthen energy security and support households, businesses and manufacturing.

The projects still face regulatory requirements. The NEAP needs environmental approval from Queensland, the Northern Territory and the federal government. The Northern Territory government and the gas industry have promoted the shale basin as a possible answer to east coast gas shortages. Gillespie said domestic customers would probably use the first Beetaloo gas, with exports becoming possible as infrastructure expands.

critical, nation-building infrastructure

· Adam Watson, APA Group chief executiveWatson characterized the proposed North to East Australia Pipeline.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Australia in English. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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