From the Wall Street Journal, an article saying problems perfecting new drilling techniques, conflicts with landowners and competition from the U.S. shale revolution are threatening returns from six years of investment (totalling around US$60 billion) to pump natural gas from Australian coal seams
- Australia is the first country seeking to convert methane trapped in coal seams into liquefied natural gas, which then could be exported on tanker ships
- Australia does have a “vibrant” LNG industry and is on track to overtake Qatar as the biggest exporter of the fuel by 2017
- But most projects are for conventional natural-gas deposits in deep waters off Australia’s northwestern coast
- The unconventional coal-seam projects, meanwhile, are being closely watched … the first Australian project, expected to go online this year, is 36% over budget, at US$20.4 billion, hurt by such factors as rising labor costs and unfavorable currency swings
More detail at the article, (The Wall Street Journal is often gated, so if you’re unable to access the article try a search of Google news using the headline) : Australian Coal-Seam Gas Projects Blow Past Budgets