Department of Industry and Science Australian Go : Australia Pacific LNG first shipment milestone

I congratulate the Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) team on its first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Curtis Island in Queensland bound for Asian export markets.

APLNG, a joint venture between Origin Energy, ConocoPhillips and Sinopec, expects 10,000 jobs to be provided throughout the life of the project. At full capacity, APLNG will export up to nine million tonnes of LNG a year.

APLNG is the third Queensland LNG project to become operational. The result of more than $60 billion of investment, these projects solidify Australia's position as a leader in the global LNG industry.

The long term outlook for Australia's gas industry remains strong with the International Energy Agency forecasting continued growth in global gas demand over the coming years. Australia is expected to directly benefit from this increased demand with our LNG exports set to triple by 2019-20, when we are expected to become the world's largest exporter of LNG.

The Government is committed to capturing continued investment in the energy and resources sectors. This reinforces the Government's focus on:

• removing $4.5 billion of red tape from the economy, including $546 million per annum through one-stop shops for environmental approvals to minimise project delays and costs;
• opening new and expanding existing market opportunities through our free trade agreements with China, Japan, and Korea and the Trans Pacific Partnership; and
• establishing two Industry Growth Centres dedicated to expanding Australia's excellence in mining equipment, technology and services, and the oil, gas and resources sectors.

Media contact: Mr Frydenberg's office 02 6277 7189