Santos to invest $301.48m in Queensland’s Arcadia gas project

Santos and its Gladstone LNG (GLNG) partners have approved the A$400m ($301.48m) development of the Arcadia coal seam gas project in the Bowen Basin, Queensland, Australia.

The planned project investment comes after the parties’ announcement in February to make a capital investment of A$900m ($678.33m) in upstream developments in the Maranoa, Western Downs, Central Highlands and Banana regions of Queensland.

The investments will enable Santos to increase supply to its GLNG processing facility.

Santos managing director and CEO Kevin Gallagher said: “The Arcadia gas project will create up to 300 construction jobs and local business opportunities in the Central Highlands region, helping to sustain and boost the benefits of Santos’ and GLNG’s earlier investments.

“This initial phase of the Arcadia development will at its peak deliver in excess of 75TJ/day to the gas supply for the GLNG project. This is great news for both the domestic gas market and our LNG exports.”

A total of 137 new wells are to be drilled at the project, which is located near Injune, approximately 680km north-west of Brisbane.

Other infrastructure to be constructed at the project will include a 140km gas and water gathering network, two 4G communication towers, a new compression station, a 4Ml a day water treatment plant, a 5MW gas-fired power station, and associated roads and infrastructure.

The decision to approve the project comes after a successful 13-well pilot programme, which was undertaken to test changes to the planned well design and operating philosophy.

Gallagher added: “Santos will apply our low-cost operating model, and a well design and water management approach tailored for the Arcadia field, to extract more gas for less money.”