Shell's QGC (formerly, QGC Pty. Ltd.) (initials for "Queensland Gas Company") is one of the largest of several Australian

coalbed methane ''Coalbed methane'' (CBM or coal-bed methane), coalbed gas, or coal seam gas (CSG) is a form of natural gas extracted from coal beds. In recent decades it has become an important source of energy in United States, Canada, Australia, and other co ...

companies developing

methane Methane ( , ) is a chemical compound with the chemical formula (one carbon atom bonded to four hydrogen atoms). It is a group-14 hydride, the simplest alkane, and the main constituent of natural gas. The abundance of methane on Earth makes ...

reserves within the Bowen and

Surat Basin The Surat Basin is a geological basin in eastern Australia. It is part of the Great Artesian Basin drainage basin of Australia. The Surat Basin extends across an area of 270,000 square kilometres and the southern third of the basin occupies a larg ...

s of

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The company has an estimated value of around A$13 billion.

BG Group BG Group plc was a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in Reading, United Kingdom. On 8 April 2015, Royal Dutch Shell announced that it had reached an agreement to acquire BG Group for $70 billion, subject to regulatory an ...

acquired Queensland Gas Company in November 2008. QGC was included in the February 2016 acquisition of BG Group by

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

Operations

Coal seam gas extraction within the Surat and Bowen Basins of Queensland, Australia forms the basis of the company's main operations. QGC has constructed a coalbed methane liquefaction plant on Curtis Island off the coast of

Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British politican, starting as Conservative MP for Newark and later becoming the leader of the Liberal Party (UK), Liberal Party. In a career lasting over 60 years, he ...

Central Queensland Central Queensland is an imprecisely-defined geographical division of Queensland ( a state in Australia) that centres on the eastern coast, around the Tropic of Capricorn. Its major regional centre is Rockhampton. The region extends from the Cap ...

. The company has built a , diameter pipeline from

Miles The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of length; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English f ...

to Gladstone, making it the longest buried pipeline of its type in Australia. Work was delayed after QGC was found to have contravened state environmental laws. About 20% of Queensland's natural gas was produced by QGC in 2009. The company has a gas plant called Kenya, which is located near

Tara, Queensland Tara is a rural town and locality in the Western Downs Region, Queensland, Australia. In the , the locality of Tara had a population of 1,980 people. Geography Tara is on the Darling Downs. The town is at the centre of the locality. Immedia ...

. Three coal seam gas fields Lauren, Codie, and Kate are associated with the Kenya plant. Leakage testing conducted in April and May 2010 found more than half of the wells in these gas fields were leaking extremely low level concentrations of methane.

Environmental protests

In 2011,

Bob Irwin Robert Eric Irwin (born 8 June 1939) is an Australian natural history, naturalist, animal conservation movement, conservationist, former zookeeper, and a herpetologist known for his conservation and husbandry work with apex predators and reptil ...

the Australian environmentalist and founder of

Australia Zoo Australia Zoo is a zoo in the Australian state of Queensland on the Sunshine Coast near Beerwah/ Glass House Mountains. It is a member of the Zoo and Aquarium Association (ZAA), and is owned by Terri Irwin, the widow of Steve Irwin, whose ...

, was arrested after protesting against QGC and refusing to obey an order from police to move on. This was part of a long running protest by Tara protestors to disrupt the gas infrastructure being forced on them without their consent.John McCarthy (10 August 2010)
Tara residents blockade Queensland Gas Company to stop seismic testing

The Courier-Mail ''The Courier-Mail'' is an Australian newspaper published in Brisbane. Owned by News Corp Australia, it is published daily from Monday to Saturday in tabloid format. Its editorial offices are located at Bowen Hills, in Brisbane's inner norther ...

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

Four Corners Four Corners is a region of the Southwestern United States consisting of the southwestern corner of Colorado, southeastern corner of Utah, northeastern corner of Arizona, and northwestern corner of New Mexico. Most of the Four Corners regio ...

current affairs program produced several investigative reports on what has been described as the great Australian land grab and the environmental dangers of coal seam gas.

References

External links

*
Former website
(archived) {{Shell plc Natural gas companies of Australia Natural gas in Queensland Shell plc