Queensland has granted a petroleum facility license to Melbourne-based energy infrastructure company Jemena for the construction of a natural gas processing plant that will form part of the Atlas Pipeline project.
The Atlas project involves the delivery of gas from 100 coal seam gas wells on acreage owned by Senex Energy Ltd., Brisbane, in the Surat basin of southeast Queensland near the townships of Wandoan and Miles specifically to the domestic market.
The Atlas project 2P gas reserves are estimated to be 144 petajoules.
Senex was awarded the permits in 2017. The company announced its agreement with Jemena in June 2018 in which Jemena will build, own, and operate the $140-million (Aus.) Atlas Pipeline that will span 60 km and transport about 40 terajoules/day of gas. The line will connect gas from the Senex acreage with Jemena’s existing Darling Downs pipeline and the Queensland Wallumbilla gas hub.
Jemena has already awarded a $22-million (Aus.) construction contract to Valmec Ltd. of Perth for the construction of the Atlas compression station.
The plan is for gas from Senex’s wells to be compressed at the new facility and transported to Wallumbilla for onward distribution to the Queensland domestic grid.
When granting the facility license to Jemena, Queensland Natural Resources, Mining, and Energy Minister Anthony Lynham said gas was scheduled to come on stream through the Atlas system by yearend.
Community information sessions are being held during February and early March in the Wandoan region to explain the mechanics of the project.
