According to its activities report for the quarter ended June 30, QGC has secured the approvals, reserves and funding to develop coalbed methane gas fields at Berwyndale South and Argyle.

The company announced a major CBM reserves upgrade at its Surat Basin tenements with more than 470 petajoules of gas certified on a 2P basis, equivalent to 452 billion cubic feet of gas and also reached financial close on its 10-year gas supply contracts with CS Energy and Incitec Pivot.

QGC also said it had secured sufficient funding to cover the $80 million costs of the development of the Berwyndale South and Argyle CBM fields. That funding included the shareholder purchase plan that raised $17.1 million and the $7.5 million placement to Energy Infrastructure Trust – both in June.

Work started on the development of Berwyndale South. QGC is the operator of that project and holds 90%.

Ordered equipment for the development includes dehydration vessels, pressure vessels, valves, fittings, generators and the construction camp. The 15-kilometre pipeline route to the Roma-to-Brisbane Gas Pipeline is being prepared and pipe has been purchased for installation starting in August.

QGC’s Argyle operation was shored up with the acquisition of three new petroleum leases and two pipeline licences. With those in place QGC has cleared the regulatory hurdles to getting Argyle and Berwyndale South connected to the Roma to Brisbane Gas Pipeline.

The company is the operator of the project and holds 59.4% with Pangaea Oil and Gas holding the rest.

On the exploration front, the company announced strong gas flows from its Lauren mini-pilot in ATP620P. QGC is the operator of Lauren and has a 59.4% interest in the project. Pangaea Oil & Gas holds the remainder.

The Lauren results indicate QGC’s commercial gas resources could be increased 30% over the current certified reserves.

QGC also signed cultural heritage agreements with both the Western Wakka Wakka and Barunggam peoples, covering all of the company’s Surat Basin tenements.