Pre-feasibility study on Bowen Basin Pipeline – Queensland Government

On 20 August 2020, the Queensland Government announced that it will invest $5 million towards a pre-feasibility study of a potential new gas pipeline from the Bowen Basin in central Queensland as part of its broader recovery plan from COVID-19. The Queensland Government will seek a further $5 million in matched funding from the Commonwealth Government for the study.

The study, which is forecast to take approximately 12 months to complete, will examine the feasibility of, and options for, a new 500km transmission pipeline to connect gas reserves in the Bowen Basin to the east coast domestic market and overseas customers. It is proposed that the study will analyse gas prospectivity and sources of fugitive emissions in the area, seek to identify opportunities for industry involvement in the development of the pipeline and determine the best route for the pipeline.

The Queensland Government’s announcement did not give any indication of whether the proposed pipeline might connect to existing infrastructure.

In the announcement, the Queensland Government projected that the pipeline project could create more than 1000 jobs during the construction phase and further jobs in the operational phase.

On 21 August 2020, Small Caps reported that ASX-listed Blue Energy “stands ready to assist” with the study. The emerging gas player noted in its Quarterly Activities Report dated 30 April 2020 that it had recommended the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments initiate what it described as the “Bowen Basin southern gas pipeline project” – the construction of a 500km multi-user pipeline from Moranbah to Gladstone or Wallumbilla. That recommendation followed commencement of Blue Energy’s own pre-feasibility study on a fast-start gas fired power generation plant to be located in the Bowen Basin and which would be aimed at providing peaking electricity generation and frequency and inertia services.