Australian State Speeds Up Second LNG Import Terminal Review

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The New South Wales government of Australia has announced that it would set the review of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal located at Newcastle port, on a fast track status, reports Reuters.

Project will need no approval?

The $430 million Newcastle GasDock LNG project, planned by South Korean firm EPIK, was declared “critical state significant infrastructure”. 

This means the project will not have to go to the state’s independent planning commission for approval, saving several months in the review process.

Terminal to address decline in supply

New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, needs to boost gas supply from 2023 for both industry and gas-fired power due to declining supply from fields off southern Australia and the planned closure of a big coal-fired power plant.

“This LNG terminal would significantly address this risk,” the state’s acting premier, John Barilaro, said in a statement.

Environmental review

The Newcastle GasDock project will still face a detailed environmental review before a final decision by the state’s planning minister, the government said.

EPIK Executive Director James Markham-Hill said by email said that they are aiming at having all regulatory and planning approvals obtained within the first quarter of 2020. 

“This would enable the project to begin importing LNG in the first half of 2021.”

Competing with two other terminals

EPIK is vying with two other projects to bring gas to the state: 

  1. LNG import terminal, Port Kembla LNG, which has already received final approval, and 
  2. the long-delayed Narrabri coal seam gas project, planned by Santos Ltd.

Overtaking Qatar?

Newcastle GasDock, which could import up to 300 petajoules of gas a year, or about 6 million tonnes of LNG, is one of five proposed LNG import terminals vying to start up between 2021 and 2022 in Australia, even as the country overtakes Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter.

New South Wales said the terminal could supply up to 80% of the state’s gas needs.

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Source: Reuters

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