Queensland Premier Anna Bligh today officially opened Santos’ new Gladstone office, the regional base for the world’s first major Coal Seam Gas (CSG) to Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project.
Santos Chief Executive Officer David Knox said the new office was yet another illustration of Santos’ commitment to the Gladstone region, and its leadership position in the development of the LNG industry in Queensland.
“This is a significant commitment by Santos and our partner PETRONAS to Gladstone and Queensland, and an endorsement of our confidence in the business environment in this state as the development of the Queensland’s coal seam gas industry continues,” Mr Knox said.
Santos has an ambitious recruiting target of one person per day as it moves to develop the Gladstone LNG project. The GLNG team has grown from just eight employees in January 2008 to 239 today, with plans for a further 120 new employees on the project in 2009. By the end of next year, Santos and PETRONAS expect to have close to 900 employees throughout Queensland.
The Gladstone office is expected to employ 15 locally-based staff.
The Premier’s press release can be found at http://cabinet.qld.gov.au/mms/StatementDisplaySingle.aspx?id=62894
Background
GLNG is a multi-billion project set to deliver the world’s first major CSG to LNG operation. The project involves extracting gas from the Surat and Bowen Basins in the state’s south west, and piping it 435km to Gladstone where it will be reduced to minus 161 degrees Celsius and liquefied for transport by ship to overseas markets. PETRONAS, Malaysia’s national oil company and third largest LNG producer in the world, took a 40% interest in GLNG (for US$2.5 billion) on 29 May 2008.
About Santos
Santos is a major Australian oil and gas exploration and production company with interests and operations in every major Australian petroleum province and in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, India, Bangladesh, Kyrgyzstan and Egypt. Santos is one of Australia’s largest domestic gas producers, supplying sales gas to all mainland Australian states and territories, ethane to Sydney, and oil and liquids to domestic and international customers. Through its interest in the Darwin LNG project, Santos is a producer of liquefied natural gas which is exported to customers in Japan.
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