It has been more than a decade since ConocoPhillips announced approval of the final investment decision for the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project in 2011. At the time, ConocoPhillips recognized the longstanding potential for this project. APLNG held one of the largest coalbed methane reserve positions in Australia and was ideally positioned to deliver safe and reliable energy to help meet the growing demand for LNG in Asia, as well as the demand of the East Coast domestic gas market.
Fast forward to 2024 and this long-term thinking has resulted in the creation of a world-class LNG facility that has built a solid export supply to Asia, reaching 1,000 LNG cargos on April 17, 2024.
Australia Pacific LNG
- Joint venture between ConocoPhillips Australia (47.5%), Origin Energy (27.5%), and Sinopec (25%)
- First LNG cargo shipped in January 2016
- 1,000th LNG cargo shipped in April 2024
- Two processing trains, each with a nameplate production capacity of 4.5 MTPA using the ConocoPhillips Optimized Cascade® Process
- Two 20-year export offtake agreements in place for LNG — 7.6 MTPA to joint venture partner Sinopec and 1 MTPA to Kansai Electric
APLNG is now the largest gas producer, domestic gas supplier and LNG exporter on the east coast of Australia, producing coalbed methane from the Bowen and Surat basins in Queensland. As a joint venture, it brings together three major energy businesses: ConocoPhillips Australia, Origin Energy (Australia) and Sinopec (China).
“The path for this project has been remarkable,” said APLNG CEO Dan Clark. “Through long-term planning and determination, we have built a world-class export scale business providing critical energy supply to Asia and Australia, while sharing benefits with the communities where we operate.”
Since its inception, APLNG’s supply contribution has seen 3,700 Petajoules (PJs) shipped to international customers and a further 2,100 PJs supplied to the domestic market in Australia. The project attracted 20-year commercial commitments from two key customers in Asia.
“Throughout its eight years of operations, Australia Pacific LNG has served as a reliable and efficient supplier of natural gas to the growing Asia Pacific market and to Australia’s East Coast gas market,” Clark said.