Coalbed methane project eyed for SE Queensland

March 15, 1999
Privately owned Australian companies Transfield Pty. Ltd. and Tri-Star Petroleum Corp. have unveiled plans for a $1 billion (Australian) coalbed methane (CBM) project in the Bowen basin of southeastern Queensland. The project could rival a Chevron Corp. group's Papua New Guinea gas pipeline project in terms of supplying potential gas customers in the state (OGJ, Sept. 7, 1998, p. 38).

Privately owned Australian companies Transfield Pty. Ltd. and Tri-Star Petroleum Corp. have unveiled plans for a $1 billion (Australian) coalbed methane (CBM) project in the Bowen basin of southeastern Queensland.

The project could rival a Chevron Corp. group's Papua New Guinea gas pipeline project in terms of supplying potential gas customers in the state (OGJ, Sept. 7, 1998, p. 38).

The CBM project revolves around the Comet Ridge deposit, which has been shown to contain at least 200 bcf of gas within a 20,000 sq km area of the region's coal seams. The first stage of a three-stage Comet Ridge project is now under way, with about $70 million being spent on drilling and developing the resource.

The second stage, timed to get under way in the fourth quarter of this year, involves building a $12 million, 90-km pipeline to Wallumbilla in southern Queensland, where it would connect with the existing Roma-Brisbane gas trunk line.

The final stage, subject to feasibility studies, includes a $225 million, 675-km pipeline to be built to Townsville in 2001 to supply expected increased demand from power stations and other industries in the state's north.

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