Australia's LNG Ltd. Secures Site for Gas Plant in Queensland

By Angela Macdonald-Smith

Aug. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd., an Australian developer of LNG projects too small for major suppliers, secured a site for a proposed project in Queensland state, bringing the venture closer to reality.

The license agreement with Gladstone Ports Corp. allocates an area at Fisherman's Landing at Gladstone port on the Queensland coast, Perth-based LNG Ltd. said today in a statement to the Australian stock exchange. The accord also provides a framework to negotiate arrangements for the use of the port, dredging, wharf modifications and other services, it said.

LNG Ltd., partnered by Norway's Golar LNG Ltd., is scheduled early next year to approve investment in an initial 1.5 million metric-ton-a-year production unit that will start deliveries in 2011. This month it awarded a construction services contract to SK Group's engineering and construction arm and said it expects to conclude an LNG sales accord this quarter. The project is one of five rival ventures planning LNG plants near Gladstone based on gas from coal seams.

LNG Ltd. fell 2 Australian cents, or 2.2 percent, to 91 cents in Sydney trading at 2:43 p.m. local time, giving it a market value of about A$131 million. The company has yet to arrange financing for the first phase of the project, to cost about $400 million.

To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net