The company said the facilities will use the same 500,000 tonne per annum LNG trains being developed at the Sengkang LNG plant in Sulawesi, Indonesia, and LNG production is expected to start in 2012 or earlier if the required licences and permits can be obtained.

Each plant will have initial capacity of 1MMtpa and can be expanded up to 5MMtpa.

EWC's plans include building a pipeline to connect Abbot and Hay Points to the Bowen Basin and eventually through to the Cooper Basin, allowing the company to develop its coal seam methane assets in ATP 549P and the Gilmore gas field (PL 65) as well as giving gas exploration companies in the two basins a possible market for their gas.

EWC added that it would fund the estimated $1.5 billion capital cost of the first phase 2MMtpa facility and the associated pipeline with a mixture of equity and project finance debt.

The company is also hoping to leverage modern technology and improved horizontal drilling techniques to commercialise the tight gas reserves at Gilmore, and believes it is viable to develop a program to extract gas from the coal seams in ATP 549P, which are up to 23m thick.

Meanwhile, EWC said it has agreed with seismic contractors and Indonesian Government authorities on the seismic program for the Sengkang gas field. Mobilisation onsite is expected in August 2008.

It added the seismic will allow the company to come up with a development plan for the field to prove up additional reserves in the Sengkang production-sharing contract.

Drilling under this program is expected to be carried out in 2009 and 2010.