June 26, 2023 [Energy Intelligence]- Australia’s sole newbuild liquefaction proposal has now penned offtake memorandums of understanding (MOUs) with BP and Shell, giving a boost to the long-stalled LNG buildout prospects Down Under.
Tamboran Resources proposed this month its 6.6 million ton per year Northern Territory LNG (NTLNG) export project in the Middle Arm Sustainable Development Precinct, an industrial area that is already home to the Ichthys and Darwin LNG export facilities.
The project, Australia’s 11th liquefaction plant, would bring the country’s nameplate liquefaction capacity from 87.8 million tons/yr to 97.1 million-99.6 million tons/yr, depending on North West Shelf capacity.
Rapid Acceleration
The MOUs cover the purchase of up to 2.2 million tons/yr of LNG for each of BP and Shell over a 20-year period, representing about two-thirds of total expected plant output.
“BP and Shell are two of the world’s largest LNG portfolio trading and energy companies and provide important and credible counterparties for Tamboran to progress financing discussions to support the sanctioning of the NTLNG project,” said Tamboran Managing Director and CEO Joel Riddle.
The LNG developer intends to progress discussions with both European majors ahead of completing front-end engineering and design work on the plant next year, with finalized LNG sale and purchase agreements ideally in place in 2025.
Riddle applauded Tamboran’s potential offtake partners for showing “significant support” for the project through “accelerated discussions” — efforts he suggested were rooted in serving critical LNG demand growth markets in the wider Asia-Pacific region.
NTLNG is the swift culmination of plans to expand liquefaction capacity in the Northern Territory after the regional government opened the door to shale gas fracking in the Beetaloo Basin last month. Tamboran is the largest acreage holder and operator in the Beetaloo, with about 1.9 million net acres to its name.
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