“First gas from the Tipton field will be towards the end of 2006 and it’s planned the Braemer plant will already be in operation by that time,” he said.

Meanwhile, Davies explained that the installation of newer and more accurate electronic flow metres was the reason behind Tipton’s downgrade of its 2P reserves from 143 petajoules to 124 petajoules.

“In our case the economic hurdle flow rate is determined by the reserves certifiers as 200,000 cubic feet a day,” he said.

“[But] the result of these changes meant that we had less wells that had produced over the 200,000 cubic feet a day cut-off.”

Tipton West now has confirmed gas sales of 17.3 petajoules per annum, with another three petajoules per annum under a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with BP, said Davies.

The total figure includes the signing of the recent Braemer Gas Sales Agreement, which will see four petajoules per annum for 15 years delivered to the Dalby area under a contract with Ergon Energy.

Arrow also announced it would will fund about half of the A$60,000 desalination plant that could turn wastewater from its Tipton West coalbed methane field into drinking water for a local southern Queensland community, the company said yesterday.

The Dalby Town Council will fund the remaining A$30,000.

“We are very keen to find constructive uses for our water production, rather than evaporate it,” said Davies.

“The trial will operate for about six months and eventually could supply potable water to Dalby township.”

At the time the project was initially unveiled in July this year, Arrow Energy said it would provide the by-water and contribute A$10,000 in assistance with on-site services such as power and access.

Testing at the pilot plant will continue until the end of the year to determine the feasibility of desalinating CBM by-water for town water supplies.

Yesterday Davies said the purpose of the trial was threefold - to see if the reverse-osmosis process worked; to determine the cost of treating the water; and to find the best treatment method with a view to scaling up at a later date.

“Our base economic plan calls for evaporation dams, but in water-deficient areas, our preference would be to put the water to good use for the community,” he said.

“We are supplying large quantities of water for coal washing purposes and smaller quantities to feedlots, to a power plant during the construction phase, to the Dalby Council for this trial and to the Department of Primary Industry for various agriculture experiments.”