It said the 1.131 tcf figure, calculated by Dallas firm Netherland, Sewell and Associates, was equivalent to 1,174 petajoules and meant it had sufficient proved and probable (2P) reserves to meet the needs of its two major 10-year supply contracts as well as two planned power projects.

QGC managing director Richard Cottee said QGC has sufficient 1P (proven) reserves, in its own right, to supply the 114 PJ required for the CS Energy and Incitec Pivot contracts for their 10 year terms.

“Proved, probable and possible (3P) reserves have doubled to 1,174 PJ with QGC’s share totalling 913 PJ. Importantly, since the commencement of the reserves upgrade program and the acquisition of CS Energy’s 50% interest in Berwyndale South, QGC’s share of proved (1P) reserves has increased 13 fold to 132.9 PJ and the Company’s share of 2P reserves more than quadrupled to 354.9 PJ,” he said.

“QGC also has sufficient 2P reserves to underwrite gas supply to the proposed Chinchilla Power Station and proposed power station at the Port of Brisbane for a 10 year period.

“These reserves are based on production data from two tenements (ATP 632P / PL201 and ATP 620P), greatly improved by new completion methods used on production wells at the Berwyndale South, Argyle, Argyle East and Lauren pilot areas and substantiated by the breadth of exploration data acquired by QGC since its inception,” he said.

On the back of the reserves upgrade and outstanding gas flow rates in recent months, QGC is set to commence gas sales of 4-6 PJ a year to CS Energy from its first commercial development in Queensland’s Surat Basin by June 2006.