Monadelphous to Add Over 200 New Jobs with QGC Services Contract

Australia’s Monadelphous said Friday that it has been awarded a contract by QGC to provide maintenance services at the Queensland Curtis LNG (QCLNG) plant; one of Australia’s largest projects that involves an initial drilling program of over 2,000 gas exploration wells.

The deal, valued at more than $83 million (AUD80 million), will see Monadelphous provide up to 40 workers for daily checks and repairs, and up to 200 workers during scheduled shutdown maintenance, BG Group, the operator for QCLNG said Friday in a statement.

Monadelphous’ contract – which starts from January 2013 and runs for an initial six and a half year term – will see the company undertake multidisciplinary core maintenance and shutdown services to support the operations phase of the plant; which is currently under construction at Curtis Island, near Gladstone in Queensland. The contract comes with an extension option.

QGC’s Operations Director Walter Simpson said in a statement that Monadelphous would employ local people where possible and workers will be based in Gladstone.

“Employing Gladstone workers and using local suppliers of goods and services will create economic and social benefits for the community,” Simpson added.

Monadelphous’ Managing Director Rob Veletri reaffirmed Simpson’s statements.

“The contract will provide new employment opportunities in the region and add to our growing portfolio of liquefied natural gas (LNG) work,” Veletri said in a statement.

Besides a drilling program, the $20.4-billion QGC project also involves constructing 336 miles (540 kilometers) of main pipe network that connects the gas fields to two LNG processing trains on Curtis Island. The two LNG trains have a combined processing capacity of 8.5 million metric tonnes per annum.