Thebarton, South Australia-based Strike Energy Ltd. reported that French engineering group Technip Energies has begun the pre-FEED scope work on Strike’s Project Haber ammonia and urea fertilizer project in Geraldton, Western Australia, after completing the project feasibility studies.
Thebarton, South Australia-based Strike Energy Ltd. reported that French engineering group Technip Energies has begun the pre-FEED scope work on Strike’s Project Haber ammonia and urea fertilizer project in Geraldton, Western Australia, after completing the project feasibility studies.
Strike in January announced the launch of the project at Narngulu Industrial Estate, adjacent to Geraldton Port, which includes a 1.4 million mt/y urea plant and an 800,000 mt/y ammonia plant (GM Jan. 15, p. 1). The project would use gas from the company’s Greater Erregulla development in the Perth Basin via a 120-km pipeline.
The pre-FEED work will further refine the capital cost estimate for the 1.4 million mt/y plant, which currently sits at US$1.74 billion, said Strike. In order to maximize the amount of inherent carbon consumed from the natural gas via the manufacturing process, Technip Energies has included chemical process engineering works in its scope.
Strike also reported that it had engaged Subiaco, Western Australia-based-JBS&G Stratgen to start the environmental approvals and planning process, which will be a key pre-FEED long-lead activity.
The company announced on April 16 that it has received firm commitments to raise A$75 million (before costs) though an institutional placement, and that it will also offer a non-underwritten Share Purchase Plan to eligible shareholders to raise a further A$5 million.
In terms of potential offtake interest, the project developer said more than 12 buyers have participated in the process to date, with further expressions of interest received. It said current expressions for long-term offtake vary from 3-10 years and exceed Project Haber’s proposed 1.4 million mt/y supply.
The company has also completed transportation and logistics studies that it said support Project Haber’s positioning as Western and Southeastern Australia’s lowest cost source of urea fertilizer. “Shipping advantages when compared to the main international competitors range between A$5-A$25/mt [approximately US$3.8-US$19/mt at current exchange rates] for deliveries from Geraldton to South Australia and Victoria,” Strike said.
The company reported that it is in discussions with Geraldton-based Mid-West Port Authority with regard to securing its berth and Port Access Agreement for East Coast and international deliveries of urea.
Australia’s urea demand has been growing strongly in recent years, with consumption in 2019 at around 2.1 million mt, according to IFA data. Green Markets estimates consumption reached about 2.5 million mt last year.
However, the country’s domestic urea production has almost completely ceased due to rising energy costs. Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL) currently is Australia’s sole urea producer, with capacity to produce 340,000 mt/y at its Gibson Island plant in Brisbane, Queensland, on Australia’s East Coast, according to Green Markets data. However, IPL has been dogged with gas supply issues to the Gibson Island production site, which also includes ammonia and ammonium sulfate production capacity.
Australian urea demand has been increasingly met by imports, with 2.4 million mt imported last year, up from 1.93 million in 2019, according to Trade Data Monitor. Three-quarters of the import volume came from Middle East producers last year, with China providing around 18 percent of the total. Australia also imports around 300,000 mt of UAN annually.
Strike’s Project Haber is one of a handful of urea production projects at various stages of development in the country.
Perdaman Industries (Chemicals and Fertilisers) plans to establish a 2.14 million mt/y granular urea project near Karratha on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula, a project that has been more than a decade under development. The company signed a 20-year natural gas supply agreement with Woodside Energy for the project in November 2018 (GM Nov. 21, 2018), and inked an engineering, supply of equipment and materials, construction, pre-commissioning, and commissioning contract for the execution of the urea plant in December last year with Clough Group, Perth, and Italy’s Saipem SpA (GM Dec. 31, 2020).
It is unclear whether Perdaman has reached any offtake deals for urea output from the Karratha plant. The company back in 2010 had agreed to a deal with IPL for its then proposed coal-gasification Collie urea plant, also in the state (GM Oct. 18, 2010), but nothing has been reported since.
Perdaman Group is also looking to build a new ammonia production facility in New South Wales, using gas from Australian oil and gas group Santos Ltd.’s proposed Narrabri gas project .The two companies inked an agreement in August 2019 for further study of the proposed production facility (GM Aug. 2, 2019). Perdaman is looking to establish a nearby chemical and fertilizer plant using the ammonia as feedstock. Ammonium nitrate is one of the products reportedly proposed, but urea production is not thought to be part of the plans.
Adelaide-based Leigh Creek Energy (LCK) last month made the final investment decision (FID) to proceed with Stage 1 of its Leigh Creek Energy Project (LCEP) in South Australia, some 550 kilometres north of Adelaide, where it plans to establish a 1 million mt/y urea facility utilizing in-situ gasification (ISG) technologies (GM March 19, p. 1). The Stage 1 commercial development of LCEP, which overlays the Leigh Creek coalfield, will comprise drilling of up to five initial gasification wells to provide feedstock syngas and the construction of a 5 MW power plant.
Another major Australian fertilizer project was announced in January, which proposes to include 4,000 mt/d of urea production. The project’s promoters are a little known Australian consortium that is reported to have the in-principle backing of a large Dubai water and energy company, ARJ Holding Group. The proposed A$4.1 billion project would frack gas in Western Australia’s Canning Basin 150 kilometers southeast of Broome, according to a report by Australia’s Financial Review.
Strike Energy, however, has highlighted “the advantaged location” of Project Haber in Geraldtonand its position at the northern end of Western Australia’s wheat belt region, where about 30 percent of Australia’s total urea consumption occurs, according to the project developer. The company said in January that more than 260,000 mt/y of fertilizer is currently imported via Geraldton port.
Strike previously indicated that it plans to begin marketing equity participation in the project toward the end of calendar 2021, where it expects to retain around a 30 percent carried interest in Project Haber.
Strike in January announced the launch of the project at Narngulu Industrial Estate, adjacent to Geraldton Port, and which includes a 1.4 million mt/y urea plant and an 800,000 mt/y ammonia plant (GM Jan. 15, p. 1). The project would use gas from the company’s Greater Erregulla development in the Perth Basin via a 120-km pipeline.
The pre-FEED work will further refine the capital cost estimate for the 1.4 million mt/y plant, which currently sits at US$1.74 billion, said Strike. In order to maximize the amount of inherent carbon consumed from the natural gas via the manufacturing process, Technip Energies has included chemical process engineering works in its scope.
Strike also reported that it had engaged Subiaco, Western Australia-based-JBS&G Stratgen to start the environmental approvals and planning process, which will be a key pre-FID long-lead activity.
In terms of potential offtake interest, the project developer said more than 12 buyers have participated in the process to date, with further expressions of interest currently being received. It said current expressions for long-term offtake varying between three and 10 years exceed Project Haber’s proposed 1.4 million mt/y supply.
The company in partnership with GHD also has completed transportation and logistics studies that it said support Project Haber’s positioning “as not only Western Australia’s lowest cost source of urea fertilizer, but also South Eastern Australia’s.”
“Shipping advantages when compared to the main international competitors’ range between A$5-A$25/mt [approximately US$3.8-US$19/mt at current exchange rates] for deliveries from Geraldton to South Australia and Victoria,” said Strike.
The company reported that it is in discussions with Geraldton-based Mid West Port Authority with regard to securing its berth and Port Access Agreement for East Coast and international deliveries of urea.
Australia’s urea demand has been growing strongly in recent years, with consumption in 2019 at around 2.1 million mt, according to IFA data. Green Markets estimates consumption reached about 2.5 million mt last year.
However, the country’s domestic urea production has almost completely ceased due to rising input (energy) costs. Incitec Pivot Ltd. (IPL) currently is Australia’s sole urea producer, with capacity to produce 340,000 mt/y at its Gibson Island plant in Brisbane, Queensland, on Australia’s East Coast, according to Green Markets data. However, the producer has been dogged with gas supply issues to the Gibson Island production site, which also includes ammonia and ammonium sulfate production capacity.
Australian urea demand has been increasingly met by imports, with 2.4 million mt imported last year, up from 1.93 million in 2019, according to Trade Monitor Data (TDM). Three-quarters of the import volume came from Middle East producers last year, with China providing around 18 percent of the total. Australia also imports around 300,000 mt of UAN annually.
Strike’s Project Haber is one of a handful of urea production projects at various stages of development in the country.
Perdaman Industries (Chemicals and Fertilisers) plans to establish a 2.14 million mt/y granular urea project near Karratha on Western Australia’s Burrup Peninsula, a project that has been more than a decade under development. The company signed a 20-year natural gas supply agreement with Woodside Energy for the project in November 2018 (GM Nov. 21, 2018), and inked an engineering, supply of equipment and materials, construction, pre-commissioning, and commissioning contract for the execution of the urea plant was in December last year with Clough Group, Perth, and Italy’s Saipem SpA (GM Dec. 31, 2020).
It is unclear whether Perdaman has reached any offtake deals for urea output from the Karratha plant. The company back in 2010 had agreed a deal with IPL for its then proposed coal-gasification Collie urea plant, also in the state (GM Oct. 18, 2010), but nothing has been reported since.
Perdaman Group is also looking to build a new ammonia production facility in New South Wales, using gas from Australian oil and gas group Santos Ltd.’s proposed Narrabri gas project .The two companies inked a heads of agreement in August 2019 for further study of the proposed production facility (GM Aug. 2, 2019). Perdaman is looking to establish a nearby chemical and fertilizer plant using the ammonia as feedstock. Ammonium nitrate is one of the products reported to be being proposed, but urea production is not thought to be part of the plans.
Adelaide-based Leigh Creek Energy (LCK) last month made the final investment decision (FID) to proceed with Stage 1 of its Leigh Creek Energy Project (LCEP) in South Australia, some 550 kilometres north of Adelaide, where it plans to establish a 1 million mt/y urea facility utilizing in-situ gasification (ISG) technologies (GM March 19, p. 1; Jan. 22, p. 1). The Stage 1 commercial development of LCEP, which overlays the Leigh Creek coalfield, will comprise drilling of up to five initial gasification wells to provide feedstock syngas and the construction of a 5 MW power plant.
In January, another major Australian fertilizer project, which proposes to include 4,000 mt/d of urea production, also seemingly look a step forward. The project’s promoters are a little known Australian consortium that is reported to have the in-principle backing of a large Dubai water and energy company, ARJ Holding Group, and is proposing a A$4.1 billion project that would frack gas in Western Australia’s Canning Basin 150 kilometers southeast of Broome, according to a report by Australia’s Financial Review.
Strike Energy, however, has highlighted “the advantaged location” of Project Haber in Geraldtonand its position at the northern end of Western Australia’s wheat belt region, where about 30 percent of Australia’s total urea consumption occurs, according to the project developer. The company said in January currently more than 260,000 mt of fertilizer is imported via Geraldton port annually).
Strike has previously indicated it plans to begin marketing equity participation in the project toward the end of calendar 2021, where it expects to retain around a 30 percent carried interest in Project Haber.