Australian APA, Cooper Strike Deal Aimed at Delivering Gas to East Coast from 2019

Australian energy infrastructure business APA Group has made a deal to buy the Orbost Gas Processing Plant in Victoria from gas company Cooper Energy, which will enable some supply of the fuel to the tight market on the country’s east coast, APA said June 1.

The plant, located approximately 375 kilometres east of Melbourne on the Victorian east coast, will be connected to Cooper Energy’s Sole gas field in the Gippsland Basin via a sub-sea pipeline which is to be constructed by Cooper.

APA plans to purchase, upgrade and operate the gas processing plant with total costs expected to be A$270mn ($200mn), it said.

“We are pleased to have reached a binding agreement with Cooper Energy on this transaction, at a time when there are calls for increased gas supply into the east coast gas market,” APA Group managing director Mick McCormack said.

While the completion of the acquisition remains subject to conditions such as the finalisation of Cooper’s debt funding for the Sole gas project, Cooper said the transaction would open up the new source of gas supply for south-east Australia from 2019.

“Sole will bring 249 PJ of gas to south-east Australia, the major share of which has been contracted to a portfolio of buyers including AGL, EnergyAustralia, Alinta Energy and industrial user O-I Australia,” Cooper said.

There is also scope within the agreements for the plant to process gas from the nearby Mantra gas field which Cooper is planning to develop after Sole, it said.

Nathan Richardson