ConocoPhillips announced that the first cargo of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has departed from the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) facility on Curtis Island in Queensland, Australia.

“This is a significant milestone for our company and we are proud to have safely loaded the first cargo from APLNG,” said Ryan Lance, chairman and chief executive officer. “The project is expected to deliver long-term, stable production, which will sustain the company’s base production for more than 20 years.”

Construction of the APLNG facility began in 2011 and consists of two production units, each with the capacity to deliver 4.5 million tonnes per annum of LNG.

“Since the establishment of ConocoPhillips Australia East, our focus has been to establish a world-class operations team to safely start up and operate two LNG production units for decades to come,” said Warwick King, president, ConocoPhillips Australia East. “We would like to acknowledge the combined efforts of our APLNG joint-venture partners, Origin and Sinopec, for their ongoing support in reaching this major milestone.”

Construction on the second production unit is nearing completion, with expected first LNG in the second half of 2016. The project is expected to be self-funding once the second unit comes on line, which will further increase the company’s capital flexibility.

About ConocoPhillips

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) is the world’s largest independent E&P company based on production and proved reserves. Headquartered in Houston, Texas, ConocoPhillips had operations and activities in 25 countries, $31 billion in annualized revenue, $106 billion of total assets, and approximately 17,800 employees as of Sept. 30, 2015. Production, excluding Libya, averaged 1,586 MBOED for the nine months ended Sept. 30, 2015, and proved reserves were 8.9 billion BOE as of Dec. 31, 2014.