Players short-listed for NT pipeline

Players short-listed for NT pipeline



Bidders: the NT government has short-listed 11 companies to proceed to the next phase of the bid process
AFP/SCANPIX
GDF Suez only supplier - all of a sudden no mention of ENI...

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Josh Lewis
19 December 2014 05:22 GMT
Companies vying for pipeline linking the Northern Territory to Australia's east coast gas market revealed
Australia's Northern Territory government has short-listed 11 companies to proceed to the next stage of the bid process for a pipeline which will link the territory to the east coast gas market.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Adam Giles said the government was contacting the 11 companies on Friday to invite them to proceed to the formal request for an initial proposal stage.
He added further assessment was taking place with one company which could expand the group of short-listed companies to 12.
The initial 11 companies on the government's short-list include – APA Group, Berkshire Hathaway Energy, DDG Operations, Enbridge International, Macquarie Capital, Marubeni, Merlin Energy, OSD Midstream, Quanta Capital, SGSP and GDF Suez.
“The initial expression of interest process has proven the viability of this project, with some of the world’s largest pipeliners and financiers putting their names forward to get involved,” Giles said.
“At this stage the favoured route isn’t clear with different proponents expressing different preferences, as we expected all along.”
He said more detailed proposals from the short-listed companies would be assessed by an expert panel in March, after which a small group would be invited to the binding bid phase of the project.
"We know that this project is time critical so we are hoping the bid process will be finalised in late September 2015, with contractual and financial close shortly thereafter,” Giles added.
One of the short-listed companies, GDF Suez, is currently weighing up options for the development of its Bonaparte gas resource off Australia's north, after earlier engineering and design work had found its previously touted floating liquefied natural gas solution did not meet its commercial requirements.
One of the options under consideration is a subsea development to shore and its interest in the proposed pipeline could mean the company is looking towards the domestic market to monetise its gas.
The Northern Territory and New South Wales governments signed a memorandum of understanding last month to work together on the development of a pipeline to connect Australia's northern and eastern gas markets to help ease a potential east coast gas shortage.