Queensland Gas Company Ltd (QGC) was a wholly owned subsidiary of the BG Group since November 2008. The BG Group was in turn acquired by Royal Dutch Shell in February 2016. QGC operates the Queensland Curtis LNG project, which received Final Investment Decision (FID) in October 2010, after acquiring Australian Federal Government’s conditional approval to harness Coal Seam Gas (CSG) in Central Queensland. CSG is the methane gas formed and trapped within coal, created through geological heating and compression of plant matter over millions of years.

In March 2010, BG Group signed 20-year Sale Purchase Agreements (SPA) with Tokyo Gas for 1.2 MMTPA of LNG and with CNOOC for 3.6 MMTPA of LNG, both with starting dates in 2015. This was followed with signing of a 21-year SPA with Chubu Electric in May 2011 and separate agreements with GNL Chile and the Energy Market Authority of Singapore. A 270-hectare site was selected at the North China Bay on Curtis Island, Gladstone, Queensland to build the LNG plant. Curtis Island is home to 3 LNG plants – Australia Pacific LNG, Gladstone LNG and Queensland Curtis LNG, which together represent investments of over $70 billion.

Construction of phase 1 of the project began in late 2010, including 2 LNG trains, gas pre-treatment facilities, a nitrogen reinjection unit and two 140,000 cubic metre LNG storage tanks. The plant started production from the first train in December 2014 and became the first project worldwide to export LNG out of CSG. Commercial production started in May 2015, while the second train came on stream later the same year, making the combined nameplate capacity 8.5 MMTPA. The facility has ample provision to add a third train and expand the plant capacity to over 12 MMTPA.

The plant receives CSG through a 340-kilometre underground pipeline from Surat Basin in Southern Queensland. Almost 6000 gas production wells will be harnessed by the project through its lifespan. The company also supplies gas to Australian customers and fulfils more than 10% of east coast gas demand and 40% of Queensland demand. In 2017, Australia built up an LNG export capacity of approximately 44 MMTPA and claimed the status of 2^nd largest exporter of LNG after Qatar.

In the recent years abundant availability of gas has triggered off multiple plants being commissioned in United States and several other countries worldwide. This has led to oversupply in the LNG market, which when compounded with the high capital costs of Australian LNG plants and the excessive operating costs of the CSG fields, has raised serious questions on the competitiveness of LNG exports from Gladstone.¹ Depletion of traditional east coast reserves, which catered to the domestic gas demand, now threatens diverting CSG from export to domestic use.² In July 2017, the Australian Government introduced the Australian Domestic Gas Security Mechanism (ADGSM), which has the power to restrict LNG exports from Gladstone to protect local supply.³

In 2015-16 financial year the company spent $3.9 billion with Australian businesses and together with its contractors employed 4247 personnel, primarily based out of Queensland. QGC promises to benefit its host community by investing in STEM Education (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Enterprise Development and Community Development. This includes programs such as the economic diversification programs with Toowoomba Surat Enterprise Basin (TSBE) that support regional Queensland small businesses and work with agriculture producers to expand into international markets. The company also funds grassroots community initiatives through the QGC Communities Fund and Sponsorship and Donations program, which cover activities such as Sport & Recreation, Education, Environment and Arts & Culture.

Queensland Curtis LNG is committed to sustainable development and respecting the environment. The company has invested in excess of A$2 billion on water-related treatment infrastructure, research, modelling, monitoring and management. Since 2014, two water treatment plants have been operational, delivering 65 mega litres of treated water per day (average in 2016) into two major irrigation schemes on the Condamine and Dawson Rivers. In addition, the company has various environmental management plans approved by the Department of Environment (DoE), including plans for nature conservation, air quality, waste management, noise, flaring, as well as long-term turtle management.