Australia: APLNG Pipe Construction Starts

The first shipment of steel pipe for the Australia Pacific LNG Project arrived in the Port of Gladstone today signalling the start of the construction phase for the main gas transmission pipeline of its CSG to LNG Project.

The pipe will be used to construct a 530km gas transmission pipeline that will transport CSG from the gas fields in the Surat and Bowen basins to an LNG facility being developed on Curtis Island, off Gladstone.

The majority of steel pipe will be transported by rail out of the Port of Gladstone to a lay down area at Callide near Biloela, from where it will be transferred to key construction points along the proposed pipeline route.

This is the first of 22 shipments, carrying 270,000 tonnes of steel pipe, scheduled to arrive in Gladstone over the next 13 months.

Australia Pacific LNG Chief Executive Officer, Page Maxson said the arrival of the pipe represented a major milestone for the Project, signalling the start of the critical construction phase for the gas pipeline.

“The pipeline is a crucial link between the gas fields and the LNG facility on Curtis Island,” Mr Maxson said.

“We expect construction to take 24 months, following typical construction stages, with the pipeline divided into sections. It normally takes between three and six months for the construction stage of each section of the pipeline.”

More than 41,000 sections of up to 18 metre length pipe will be delivered over this period.

The coated pipe varies in size from 12 to 42 inches in diameter and weighs up to 10.3 tonnes per section.

It takes roughly four days to unload each ship.

The first section of pipeline to commence construction will be in the Miles region.

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LNG World News Staff, January 23, 2012