Australia: APLNG Holds Supplier Workshop

More than 500 representatives from local businesses in South East Queensland attended a supplier information workshop in Brisbane Tuesday to learn how to maximise their potential for work on the Australia Pacific LNG Project.

The Australia Pacific LNG Project includes the development of coal seam gas resources in the Surat and Bowen Basins, a 530 km transmission pipeline, and a multi-train LNG facility on Curtis Island, near Gladstone.

The presentation, held at the Convention Centre, gave attendees a Project overview and update, details on the opportunities that exist for suppliers and contractors and assistance with preparing tender responses.

A key component of the workshop was an introduction to Australia Pacific LNG’s dedicated online assessment tool which steps businesses through a series of questions to identify their size and capability and then creates a road map of the additional skills and training they need to meet the demands of work on the Project.

Origin General Manager Australia Pacific LNG Project Delivery and Major Development Projects, Janet Hann said nearly 600 suppliers had used the assessment tool to date and more than 1,400 had registered their interest in the Project and were receiving regular updates about supplier opportunities via the Industry Capability Network Queensland’s supplier portal.

“Many businesses provide goods or services that are relevant to major projects, but aren’t fully aware of the tendering opportunities or requirements that must be met,” Ms Hann said.

“These sessions along with the online tool are designed to help local businesses get ‘tender ready’ particularly in relation to quality, safety and environmental and risk management. They’ve been successful too with 84% of our contract expenditure spent locally here in Queensland.

“We are grateful for the support we’ve had so far and look forward to working with many more Queensland companies as we enter the construction phase of the Project and beyond,” Ms Hann said.

Australia Pacific LNG currently employs 2,700 people directly or as contractors on the Project and expects to create up to 6,000 jobs when the construction phase of the Project commences.

The Brisbane supplier information workshop is the second of four events to be held this month in Gladstone, Melbourne and Sydney which are expected to draw 1,000 local business representatives.

[mappress]
LNG World News Staff, April 19, 2012