Hydro-testing on one of Santos GLNG’s two liquefied natural gas (LNG) storage tanks at its Curtis Island site in Queensland has been completed, marking another progress milestone in plant construction.

Hydro-testing is a 24 hour-a-day operation that involves filling the giant structures with 100 million litres of water and conducting pressure testing to ensure their ability to safely store LNG.

Santos Vice President Downstream GLNG Rod Duke said the hydro-testing phase was critical in the development of the Santos GLNG plant.

“When you take a step back and look at these storage tanks, which are as tall as 16-storey buildings and can each hold the equivalent volume of 56 Olympic-size swimming pools, the magnitude of our project and the exceptional work being done is very clear,” Mr Duke said.

“The storage tanks have been built with two inner tanks composed of four layers of insulation and a layer of protective steel plates.

“Once our plant is in operation, the tanks will each be capable of storing up to 140,000 cubic metres of LNG before it is loaded to specially designed ships for export to our customers in Malaysia and Korea.

“This is an exciting step for us and brings our world-class LNG plant closer to completion. Construction on the second LNG tank continues to progress well.”

Santos GLNG has achieved several recent milestones, including the installation of all 82 modules for its first LNG processing train. Only nine modules remain to be shipped for GLNG’s second processing train, while elsewhere on Curtis Island the product loading facility is over 95 percent complete. In the gas fields, commissioning is underway on the pipeline compressor station in the Fairview field, near Roma in Queensland.

Santos GLNG is more than 80 percent complete and remains on track for first LNG in 2015.

About Santos

An Australian energy pioneer since 1954, Santos is a leading oil and gas producer,supplying Australian and Asian customers.
With over 3,000 employees across Australia and Asia, Santos’ foundations are based on safe, sustainable operations and working in partnership with host communities, governments, business partners and shareholders.

See the site of Gladstone LNG Terminal