Australian Property News

Major expansion of Bowen Basin gas project

Posted on Monday, August 13 2012 at 2:54 PM

Arrow Energy has announced plans for a significant expansion of its coal seam gas (CSG) operations in the Bowen Basin region in Queensland.

The energy company has flagged its intention to develop up to 7000 new gas wells in a staged development over the next three to four decades.

Arrow Energy has been producing CSG in the area since 2004. Under the plan, production will grow at exploration tenements around Moranbah and from Glenden in the north to Blackwater in the south, according to chief executive officer Andrew Faulkner.

Property investment expert Michael Yardney of Metropole says the expansion news is another boost for the region’s long-term prospects.

“This announcement shows that despite what some are predicting, Australia’s economic boom will not be over in a year or two,” Yardney says.

The Bowen Basin is already home to dozens of resource industry projects with many more on the way.

There are more than $100 billion worth of projects either planned, in progress or recently completed. Based on projections, at least 30,000 extra workers will be needed by 2020.

Today’s announcement will also be reassuring news for Moranbah property investors who’ve faced a tougher year as a result of falling rents.

While yields are still as high as 10 per cent in many cases, demand for housing has eased as a result of the long-running industrial dispute between project operators BHP Billiton-Mistubishi Alliance (BMA) and unions, coupled with the indefinite closure of the Norwich Park mine.

Faulkner says the Bowen Gas Project will supply gas via a high-pressure pipeline to Gladstone, where it would be processed before being transported to nearby Curtis Island for export.

“This project area is a crucial part of Arrow’s LNG (liquefied natural gas) project which consists of two gas areas in the Bowen and Surat basins, linked by two major pipelines and a (LNG) plant on Curtis Island,” Faulkner says.

As more planning projects enter development and operation stages, Yardney believes Australia will transition to “the next phase” of the resources boom.

“We’re entering a new economic stage – not a resources boom, because they come to an end, but a time of (continued) prosperity that’s underpinned by our resources sector.”