QCLNG on track for Q4 start: BGBritish-based energy firm BG...

QCLNG on track for Q4 start: BG

British-based energy firm BG Group has confirmed its $23 billion Queensland Curtis Liquefied Natural Gas project (QCLNG) is on target for first LNG production in the fourth quarter of the current calendar year.

“First gas was delivered onto Curtis Island in Australia before year-end and the QCLNG project remains on track for first LNG in the fourth quarter of 2014 and within the $US20.4 billion ($A22.9 billion) first phase budget,” BG said in a statement accompanying its latest earnings results.

“Project construction is now in its final stages, which allows commissioning activities to begin in the first quarter of 2014.”

The group expects the second train to come onstream in the first half of next year, around six months after first production.

BG also said its drilling activities in Australia had surpassed expectations, with over 1,900 wells drilled to date, ahead of the firm’s year-end target of 1,750.

Australia represented the largest investment for the company last year, with the gas giant spending $US5.94 billion, over half of its capital investment budget.