Australia Pacific LNG announced it had reached a significant milestone with the arrival of first gas from its coal seam gas fields in the Surat Basin to its liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility on Curtis Island, near Gladstone, Queensland.

The arrival of the first gas into the LNG facility also marks the completion of commissioning of the 530km high pressure gas pipeline, another important milestone for the project.

With the completion of the pipeline and the arrival of the gas, Australia Pacific LNG can initiate the commissioning of the power generation facilities on the island.

The commissioning phase of the LNG facility also includes the verification and testing of each system of the first processing train and the two LNG tanks; part of which has already commenced.

Page Maxson, CEO Australia Pacific LNG, said: “The achievement of two major milestones, first gas to Curtis Island and completion of commissioning of the pipeline, demonstrates continued strong progress by Australia Pacific LNG and paves the way for the commissioning of the power generation facilities on the island.

“These milestones have been achieved thanks to the incredible effort by the many people committed to safely delivering the Australia Pacific LNG project.

“Australia Pacific LNG looks forward to completing the final phase of construction and delivering first LNG in mid-2015.”

About Australia Pacific LNG

Australia Pacific LNG Pty Limited is an incorporated joint venture between Origin Energy Limited (37.5%), ConocoPhillips (37.5%) and Sinopec (25%). The Australia Pacific LNG project includes the development of Australia Pacific LNG’s substantial 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.

See the site of the Australia Pacific LNG project