Australia: QGC Opens Gladstone Supply Base

Gladstone Mayor Gail Sellers opened the first operational QGC site in the city – a facility which will be the gateway to the Queensland Curtis LNG plant on Curtis Island.

More than 100 people including councillors, contractors and staff attended the inauguration of the A$7.5 million Gladstone Supply Base.

QGC’s 2,000 square metre facility will be the control point for all equipment and materials going to and from the LNG plant once it is operating.

The supply base, built by Queensland’s Hutchinson Builders, will also be the staging area for planned maintenance and provide storage for major spare parts and equipment.

Queensland Curtis LNG is on schedule for first production of liquefied natural gas in 2014.

QGC Operations Director Walter Simpson said: “Today’s inauguration represents a milestone in the transition from construction to operation of our liquefied natural gas plant on Curtis Island.

“The LNG plant is at an advanced stage, with just one of our 80 construction modules still to arrive in Gladstone and work under way to connect the plant with Australia’s longest large-diameter pipeline.”

Staff and contractors at the supply base will be among about 200 people, most of whom are from the local area, who will operate and maintain the LNG plant.

“In coming to work every day all of our people – staff and contractors – will be reaffirming our commitment to Gladstone,” Simpson said.

“The lifespan of a liquefied natural gas plant is measured in decades and so will our presence in this region.”

QGC has A$1 billion of current contracts in Gladstone and has invested A$12 billion – or 80% of the A$14.9 billion spent since 1 January 2010 – with Australian firms.

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LNG World News Staff, October 18, 2013; Image: QGC