Santos GLNG Gas Field Development Project, Queensland

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The Santos GLNG gas fields development project is an extension of the approved GLNG Project. Credit: Lindsey G. The Arcadia gas field lies in the Bowen Basin in Australia. Credit: Lindsey G. First gas from the Arcadia gas field is expected by 2023. Credit: Nick. The Santos GLNG gas field development project, also known as the GFD project, is an extension of the Gladstone liquefied natural gas (GLNG) project. The GFD project includes the development four gas fields namely Arcadia, Fairview, Roma and Scotia, which are located in the Surat and Bowen Basins of Queensland, Australia. The project is being developed by a joint venture named Santos GLNG Partners, which comprises Santos, Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS), Total, and Korean Gas Corporation (KOGAS). It aims to provide additional gas to the GLNG project to increase its operational life by 30 years. The final investment decision for the development of the Arcadia gas field with an estimated investment of $304m ($A400m) was taken in May 2018. First gas from the field is expected in 2022. The GFD project is expected to create 1,980 jobs during the construction phase and 300 jobs during the operational phase. The GFD project will comprise approximately 6,100 new coal seam gas production wells, which will target the Walloon Coal Measures in the Surat Basin, and the Bandanna formation in the Bowen Basin. The wells will be drilled with a typical construction in an area of 1.5ha for a single well lease and 2.5ha for a multi-well lease. The well lease areas will accommodate fluid injection wells, monitoring bores and potential underground gas storage wells. Five stand-alone nodal gas compression facilities, with a capacity of 80 terajoules (TJ) a day each, are expected to be installed for the project. Steel gas transmission pipes of diameter ranging from 4in to 24in will transfer the pressurised gas from the nodal gas compressor facilities to hub gas compression facilities. The project is expected to install ten centralised hub gas facilities in the Arcadia, Fairview, Roma and Scotia gas fields to compress the gas required for transmission. The hub gas compression facilities will vary in size and are expected to have a compressing capacity of up to 240TJ/day. Gas and water gathering pipelines to transport gas and water from wells to gas compression facilities, and water management facilities will be laid as part of the project. The pipes will range from 4in to 39in in diameter and are expected to be made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE), glass-reinforced epoxy and steel. Water storage facilities will be constructed to store 350 mega litres of water in dam-type structures in addition to water storage tanks with a capacity of 15.5 mega litres. HDPE pipelines with diameters ranging up to 24in will be laid between the water management facilities and the fields. Other associated infrastructure for the project will include roads, accommodation facilities, maintenance facilities, workshops, construction support, warehouse, administration buildings and power generating facilities. The Arcadia gas field will be the first field to be developed under the GFD project. Located near Injune in the Central Highlands region of Queensland, the gas field lies in the Bowen Basin, approximately 680km north-west of Brisbane, Australia. The development activities for the project will include drilling of 137 new wells, and construction and installation of 140km-long gas and water gathering system and a new compressor station. The project development activities in the southern part of the field are expected to commence by 2019, while those in the northern part are expected to commence by 2023 and be completed by 2040. The northern part of the gas field lies close to the Rolleston town. The Arcadia gas project is expected to have a peak production capacity of 24 million standard cubic feet of gas a day. The infrastructure planned to be developed as part of the project includes two 4G communication towers, a four million litre per day capacity water treatment plant, a 5MW gas-fired power station, connecting roads, and other associated infrastructure. Further, seven gas and water treatment facilities will be developed in future.

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