MEO Australia said Thursday that its Tassie Shoal projects proposed for offshore Northern Australia have received updated environmental approvals that extend the approvals period for the LNG project to 2052, and increase the flexibility to process gas of varying qualities into LNG.
The potential Tassie Shoal projects, comprising one LNG plant (TSLNG) and two methanol plants (TSMP1 & TSMP2), are located on a shallow water shoal within the North West Australian hydrocarbon precinct, approximately 275 km from Darwin, and surrounded by “significant discovered” but undeveloped high CO2 gas fields, currently held under retention leases.
TSLNG has a design capacity of 3Mtpa and provides “significant cost savings relative to other LNG development options,” MEO said in its statement.
The updated environmental approvals clarify the potential for TSLNG to accept all gas qualities and compete on an even footing with other development options, the company said.
Under full development the two methanol plants would use 440 Mscf/d, or 4 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of raw gas over 25 years. The plants can accept raw gas with a CO2 content of up to 30%.
MEO had previously said that in conjunction with potential equity partners, it had offered to purchase raw unprocessed gas (including CO2) for US$3.15MMBTU, an offer which was rejected by producers at the time.