Shell to drill more CSG wells in Queensland

Shell’s Australian unit informed its QGC joint venture will contribute to the east coast gas market with the drilling of up to 161 additional wells in Queensland. 

The volumes will supply natural gas to both the domestic customers and natural gas exports, Shell’s statement reads.

Under the project Ruby, which expands on QGC’s operations in the Surat Basin, new wells to be drilled in 2017 and 2018 in the company’s existing tenements in southwest Queensland will enable sustained gas production as older wells decline.

Discussions with landholders are underway to agree on access conditions and compensation, as well as the location of wells and associated infrastructure to ensure the impact to agricultural activities is minimized.

Shell’s QGC business is a net contributor to the domestic gas market and will sell more than 75 petajoules, net of domestic gas purchases, to customers in Australia this year. This represents more than 10percent of east coast gas demand and 40 percent of Queensland’s demand.

QGC, that became part of Shell when the Hague-based company acquired BG Group in a $54 billion deal in February last year, is the operator of the 8 million tons per year QCLNG facility on Curtis Island near Gladstone.