LNG says Gladstone gas project to prosper despite glitches with partners
Natural gas producer Liquefied Natural Gas Ltd (ASX: LNG) is unfazed by the delays that plague its Fisherman's Landing project at Gladstone, saying that the company enjoys the same amount of confidence it felt during the initial stage of the Queensland gas exploration.
Construction work on the Gladstone project was suspended early this year when the site's gas supplier, Arrow Energy Ltd, was acquired and opted to crash out of its partnership with LNG while a possible partnership with Bow Energy Ltd was eventually scrapped as talks between the two parties collapsed this week.
However, the company may have stumbled on the right fix this time as LNG managing director Maurice Brand announced on Friday that an imminent deal with a new suppler is in the offing as he expressed confidence that building activities on the Gladstone project could resume within days one the negotiation has been finalised.
Mr Brand admitted that many of LNG contractors were disappointed when construction activities at Fisherman's Landing were frozen in March but he assured that the demobilisation order was undertaken in such a way that resumption of work would be a breeze to re-initialise.
He said that LNG made sure that it would only take them within "six to eight weeks to remobilise, to kick-start again, so that obviously would then leave a short period of construction before we get into operation, that period would only be about 30 months."
Also, Mr Brand gave assurance that LNG would immediately furnish new information on the new partnership with a gas supplier as they develop, even conceding that "it's always difficult in this game on timing because of the approvals and other factors but it's certainly our intention to give some indication within the next few days of one of the parties we have been discussing gas with."