Macmahon awarded Gladstone LNG civil works contract on Curtis Island

Following the final investment approval announced in January by Santos for its US$16bn two train Gladstone LNG (GLNG) project, the first of the work packages has been awarded.

The project will create 5,000 construction jobs and another 1,000 during operation.  Bechtel Australia has been appointed the Engineering, Procurement and Construction contractor for the GLNG Plant project and this week, awarded the Civil Works subcontract to Macmahon Holdings Limited.

The subcontract, which is in excess of $150 million, involves the site preparation for the liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant and includes clearing, bulk earthworks, pavements, roads and drainage for a 144 hectare greenfield site on the south west side of Curtis Island near Gladstone in Queensland.

This will see the first of the jobs come online with Macmahon’s work on the project to start immediately.  Work is scheduled for completion in late 2012.  Jobs will appear with Bechtel and Macmahon.

Other Employment Details for the project include:

Coal Seam Gas Fields:  the construction workforce is expected to be up to 2,000 who will be accommodated in onsite facilities.  The peak operational workforce will be about 1,000 based on two fly in, fly (FIF) out rosters of 14 days on, 14 days off.  On site accommodation facilities will be provided for the FIFO workforce.

Gas Transmission Pipeline: up to 1,000 construction workers will be accommodated in a number of main and satellite self-contained accommodation facilities along the pipeline route.  When operational, 15-20 operations and maintenance workers will be employed.

LNG Facility: up to 3,000 workers will be employed over four years for Train 1 using stick-built.  If pre-assembled modules are used, this number could reduce to 2,000.  Rosters may be ten days on, four days off and self-contained accommodation will be provided on Curtis Island.

When operational, the workforce is expected to reside in Gladstone with a daily commute to Curtis Island.

Estimated Schedule:

Train 1:  2010 – 2014

Train 2:  2014 – 2017

Train 3:  2018 – 2021

The GLNG project is a joint venture between Santos and three of the world’s largest LNG companies, PETRONAS, Total and KOGAS and will process coal seam gas (CSG) into LNG.