Shell to develop new gas wells for Australia’s QGC

Shell has begun work on new coal-bed methane wells for its Queensland-based gas division QGC, which services domestic customers and exports through its two-train 8.5mn t/yr Queensland-Curtis LNG (QCLNG) project.

Around 138 new wells with an estimated 15-year lifespan will be drilled and connected in the state's Western Downs region, across existing tenements in the onshore Surat basin in the central, southern and northern development areas.

Preparations for drilling will start during October-December with construction planned to be under way for January-March 2025 and take approximately two years.

Federal and state environmental approvals are already in place for the infill and backfill development, a Shell spokeswoman said on 22 May.

Shell reported output rose from a year earlier and the previous quarter for its LNG sector in January-March with 7.58mn t of LNG produced in the first quarter, of which 3.55mn t or 47pc was from its Oceania division. This includes QCLNG and the 3.6mn t/yr Prelude floating LNG offshore northwest Australia, which resumed exports in late 2023 following a major turnaround in the second half of 2023.

By Tom Major