Jemena has announced that it has signed an agreement with Tamboran Resources to increase the capacity of its Northern gas pipeline (NGP) and extend it from the Northern Territory to Queensland.
The memorandum of understanding (MOU) will see Jemena expedite plans to invest more than $5 billion in the NGP, while Tamboran, which holds 25 per cent of Santos’ exploration venture for the Beetaloo, will be responsible for upstream activities across the basin.
Jemena managing director Frank Tudor said the MOU demonstrates that the industry is working collaboratively to bring new gas to the east coast to underpin long-term security of supply.
“This is an important step towards delivering on the Commonwealth Government’s plans for the Beetaloo as part of a gas-led recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic,” Tudor said.
“We hope that our partnership with Tamboran is the catalyst the market is seeking to spark the development of the Beetaloo Basin and drive Australia towards energy security, while also spurring economic development across the NT for generations.”
The partnership is also set to bring additional gas to the market and create around 4000 jobs, mainly in regional Australia.
In addition, Jemena plans to progressively increase the NGP’s capacity from around 90 terajoules (TJs) of gas per day to 1,000TJs through a combination of compression and looping.
The NGP will then be connected to the company’s proposed Galilee gas pipeline, which will span around 585km and transport gas from Galilee Energy’s Glenaras gas project near Longreach in the Galilee Basin to the Wallumbilla gas hub.
Tamboran managing director and chief executive officer Joel Riddle said the company is focused on developing early stage, top-decile unconventional gas reserves in the Northern Territory.
“The announcement of our partnership with Jemena represents a key building block in our efforts to bring new supplies of natural gas to energy-starved eastern Australia by 2023-24,” Riddle said.
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