Energy giants stampede to Qld coal seam gas supply ...

Excerpt from Inside Business transcript:

Energy giants stampede to QLD coal seam gas supply

8 June 2008
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ALAN KOHLER: How much accessible coal seam gas is there in Australia?

SHAUN SCOTT: Certainly in Queensland as you know there's lots and lots of coal. Coal seam gas is really created at the same time the coal's made. So, you know, coal exploration's been going on for a lot longer than coal seam gas so we know a lot about coal and where it is and the properties of it and we know there's gas in it. So I think, you know. From a resource potential. It's enormous, CSIRO I think estimating in Queensland somewhere between 250 to 300 trillion cubic feet of resource exists in coal seam gas. It's a massive resource. Obviously, there's a lot of work to do and a lot of things that will have to happen to turn that resource into reserves and then modify those reserves into LNG.

ALAN KOHLER: Someone told me that the Queensland coal seam gas reserves are equivalent to the Bass Strait in terms of barrels of oil equivalent. Is that correct?

SHAUN SCOTT: Certainly I've heard those things said before, and people even comparing it to the north west shelf in terms of the gas potential that exists. So, you know, if those things are true then certainly it's an enormous resources, and the great thing about it is that it's all onshore and it's in reasonably accessible areas and close to markets and population bases.

ALAN KOHLER: There has been a lot of deals lately, takeovers and deals like yours, what sort of difference has that made to the value of the coal seam gas?

SHAUN SCOTT: I don't think they've changed anything to the value of it other than giving it recognition, obviously with our deal with Shell we've spent a fair bit of time working with them, they've done a reasonably amount of due diligence looking at the resource potential and what we've got, prior to making that investment decision. And I guess the other thing that it's done is it's awakened investors globally to the potential of coal seam gas companies in Australia.

ALAN KOHLER: Yeah, well it might not have made much difference to your idea of the value of the gas but it made a difference to how investors see it.

SHAUN SCOTT: I think that's right. Certainly it's given people a lot more confidence and enhanced the credibility of the resource.

ALAN KOHLER: So what do you think as you look ahead, the Queensland coal seam methane industry will look like in five years' time, say?

SHAUN SCOTT: Well, I certainty expect that LNG exports will have begun within that time frame. To support that, obviously a significant amount of development to produce the gas that's required to supply all of the LNG projects that are proposed. In terms of an industry, I
think it'll be starting to rival the coal industry in terms of the amount of people that it employs and the value it's creating for the Australian
economy.

See - ABC - Inside Business - Energy giants stampede to Qld coal seam gas supply.