PNG pipeline pullout
THE Papua New Guinea to Australia gas pipeline project has hit a major hurdle, with industry giants Australian Gas Light (AGL) and Petronas hanging up their hats on the $5.3 billion scheme.
After months of public consultations, including a well-attended public meeting in Longreach in May, APC (AGL-Petronas Consortium) project manager Gerard Coggan said the company had announced last month it would "scale back" activities on the Australian component of the pipeline.
"This decision was based upon a lack of committed [end-users] and escalating construction costs," Mr Coggan said.
"Since that announcement, APC has met with the upstream gas producers in Papua New Guinea.
"As matters currently stand, the PNG Queensland gas pipeline project is unlikely to proceed without an alternative ownership structure."
Over the past 18 months, APC project consultants have been travelling across the State, visiting properties which lay in the proposed pipeline path to document landholder concerns and conduct environmental impact studies.
Despite the company looking fairly secure in its initial commitment to the project, APC have been reluctant to firmly secure their position in the deal.
"This isn’t a sure thing," APC public affairs manager Gerard Coggan told The Longreach Leader in May.
"I’ve been on plenty of projects which went way past the community consultation phase that never saw the light of day."
Touted as an initiative which would benefit the State’s interior through employment opportunities and flow-on effects for local businesses, the pipeline was set to pass through the communities of Muttaburra, Longreach and Windorah.
However PNG’s unstable political environment influenced the confidence of investors from the get-go, provoking a tumultuous chain of events that saw the project come in-and-out of the investor spotlight on a number of occasions.
Yet across the Pacific, hope remains high about the pipeline’s viability.
PNG government officials and the main driver of the project, Oil Search, are still confident that the pipeline will one day transfer natural gas from their country’s Southern Highlands to Australia.
But without a company willing to take on the construction of the pipeline in Australia, the project will remain at a stand-still.
Reports have now surfaced suggesting that the pipeline be re-routed to Mount Isa, cutting 400 kilometres off the original route and making use of existing infrastructure which takes gas to Moomba in South Australia.
After months of public consultations, including a well-attended public meeting in Longreach in May, APC (AGL-Petronas Consortium) project manager Gerard Coggan said the company had announced last month it would "scale back" activities on the Australian component of the pipeline.
"This decision was based upon a lack of committed [end-users] and escalating construction costs," Mr Coggan said.
"Since that announcement, APC has met with the upstream gas producers in Papua New Guinea.
"As matters currently stand, the PNG Queensland gas pipeline project is unlikely to proceed without an alternative ownership structure."
Over the past 18 months, APC project consultants have been travelling across the State, visiting properties which lay in the proposed pipeline path to document landholder concerns and conduct environmental impact studies.
Despite the company looking fairly secure in its initial commitment to the project, APC have been reluctant to firmly secure their position in the deal.
"This isn’t a sure thing," APC public affairs manager Gerard Coggan told The Longreach Leader in May.
"I’ve been on plenty of projects which went way past the community consultation phase that never saw the light of day."
Touted as an initiative which would benefit the State’s interior through employment opportunities and flow-on effects for local businesses, the pipeline was set to pass through the communities of Muttaburra, Longreach and Windorah.
However PNG’s unstable political environment influenced the confidence of investors from the get-go, provoking a tumultuous chain of events that saw the project come in-and-out of the investor spotlight on a number of occasions.
Yet across the Pacific, hope remains high about the pipeline’s viability.
PNG government officials and the main driver of the project, Oil Search, are still confident that the pipeline will one day transfer natural gas from their country’s Southern Highlands to Australia.
But without a company willing to take on the construction of the pipeline in Australia, the project will remain at a stand-still.
Reports have now surfaced suggesting that the pipeline be re-routed to Mount Isa, cutting 400 kilometres off the original route and making use of existing infrastructure which takes gas to Moomba in South Australia.
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