On Friday, the Courier Mail quoted Queensland Premier Anna Bligh as valuing the project at up to $5 billion, although LNG Impel commercial operations director Justine Davis said initial costs would "certainly be less than that".
LNG Impel has already negotiated with the Gladstone Port Authority to build the open-access LNG plant, which it proposes to start-up in 2013, on a site on Curtis Island.
It said the site had been scoped for three trains each with a capacity range of 700,000 to 1.3 million tonnes of LNG per annum, which it plans to build in modules.
LNG Impel said its open access proposal "will appeal to producers of varying sizes" and would give junior producers crucial access to international gas markets.
"It widens it for everybody to have an opportunity as opposed to being tied into one company," Davis said.
LNG Impel's corporate strategy calls for its projects to be designed on a toll for service basis. All projects will have 15 to 20 year contracts that will underpin the long term nature of the financing.
According to the LNG hopeful, long-term contracts will be held by highly rated creditworthy counterparties and will generate a steady stream of contracted fee payments with no commodity price risk.
LNG Impel said it also may periodically sell capacity to third parties or purchase, regasify, and sell cargoes of LNG as opportunities arise.
LNG Impel is a subsidiary of Galveston LNG which owns the Kitimat regasification facility in British Columbia, Canada.
Impel is currently developing Galveston's first liquefaction project in Nigeria. The project is expected to reach commercial close by the end of 2008, with first production in 2011. The project will provide up to 1MMtpa.
The other four Gladstone LNG projects are the Queensland Gas Company and BG Group's 3-4MMtpa Queensland Curtis LNG project; the 1.3MMtpa Arrow Energy and Liquefied Natural Gas Limited project; Sunshine Gas and Sojitz's 0.5MMtpa Sun LNG and Santos' Gladstone LNG project, whihc is intended to start with a 3-4MMtpa first train.
Of these, only Santos has yet to line up a technology and/or marketing partner.
