BG Group expects gas project nod

BRISBANE: BG Group says it has won approval for an Australian liquefied natural gas project that may cost A$15 billion ($18.34 billion) after the Queensland Government completed a review of the environmental impact statement.

Australian federal Government environmental approval is expected by about mid-year, QGC, the Australian unit of BG Group, said yesterday. Production licences, safety approvals and other environmental permits are required before construction can start, Brisbane-based QGC said.

BG, Santos and Origin Energy are among companies proposing to develop liquefied gas projects in Queensland, converting coal-seam gas into the fuel for export to Asia. BG's Queensland Curtis LNG venture will produce about 8.5 million tonnes of LNG a year and is expected to generate more than 5000 construction jobs.

A development decision will be considered "later this year subject to acceptable fiscal terms and environmental approvals", Catherine Tanna, managing director or QGC, said. First exports are targeted for 2014, QGC said.

Environmentalists are calling for the federal Government to block the Curtis Island project because it threatens groundwater supplies, the reef and rare species.

Greens Senate candidate for Queensland Larissa Waters warned the project was an "environmental disaster waiting to happen".

"The Queensland Government is gambling with the future of our groundwater and the future of our food production for the short-term royalties from gas exports," she said.

A spokeswoman for the conservation group WWF said the area was a sensitive marine environment.

- BLOOMBERG, AAP