Arrow Energy hits Surat project targe

Co-owners Shell and PetroChina take FID, against the global trend, to cover looming Australian east coast supply shortfall and feed LNG exports

Arrow Energy has approved the first stage of the Surat natural gas project in the Australian state of Queensland, despite months of low and volatile oil prices that have seen new developments deferred worldwide until business conditions improve. Shell and state-run Petrochina, equal partners in Arrow, reached FID on the joint venture on 17 April, paving the way for the anticipated development of 5tn ft³ (141.6bn m³) of gas over the project’s lifetime. Shell says Surat would produce up to 90bn ft³ (2.5bn m³) /yr of coal-bed methane (CBM) that would be sold locally and exported through QGC, which operates the 8.5mn t/yr Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) terminal. The Anglo-Dutch major owns a 73.75