SK E&S Unlocks Aussie LNG Gold After 14-Year Wait
SK E&S has finally begun liquefied natural gas (LNG) production at its Darwin LNG plant in Australia, after a 14-year wait. The facility is ramping up towards full production, with output climbing rapidly. An LNG carrier loaded with gas produced at Darwin left the port on September 29 for an overseas destination.
The gas supplied to the Darwin LNG plant comes from the Barossa gas field, located about 300 kilometers off Australia's northwestern coast. Natural gas is extracted and processed aboard a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO), then transported to the Darwin plant through a 385-kilometer subsea pipeline.
SK E&S acquired a 37.5% stake in the Barossa gas field in 2012, when the project was still considered a relatively small discovery. The company partnered with Australian energy producer Santos to develop the field and invested $1.6 billion in the project.