Santos making more LNG

Australian energy company Santos said it started producing more liquefied natural gas from a project on Curtis Island that could feed a growing Asian market.

The company announced it started producing LNG from a second train, a liquefaction and purification facility, of its Curtis Island, Queensland, facility. The first train started operations in September and first shipments left port in October.

The company said it was now building a stronger regional footprint in LNG, delivering more than 30 cargos of the super-cooled gas to date.

Santos leads the $18.5 billion project designed to convert coal seam natural gas to LNG for exports to the global market. The Curtis Island LNG project is fed by a 260-mile underground pipeline from the Bowen and Surat basins in Queensland.

LNG offers more delivery options with less geopolitical risks than pipelines, making it one of the more attractive resources for growing Asia-Pacific economies. Chinese gas distributor ENN Group introduced a proposal in March to take in 11.7 percent in the shares in Santos held by Hony Capital. ENN is the largest gas distributor in China.

Struggling through a weakened energy market, the company last year said it was taking the "appropriate steps" to cut costs, saying it planned to explore interests expressed in its various assets across Australia.