Thebarton, South Australia-based Strike Energy Ltd. late last month provided several key updates on its Project Haber adjacent to Geraldton Port, Western Australia, which includes the development of a 1.4 million mt/y urea plant and an 800,000 mt/y ammonia plant (GM Jan. 15, p. 1).
The company said it has concluded the first round of its urea offtake process, and has received expressions of interest from “numerous” potential offtakers for both Australian and international sales. According to Strike Energy, it received expressions of interest totaling more than 3.5 million mt/y, or 2.5x of the plant’s 1.4 million mt/y planned capacity.
The company said it will now move into a formal “Request for Proposal” process with the proposed offtakers with a view to converting initial expressions of interest into binding long term offtake agreements.
Through this process, Strike Energy said it has continued to attract “significant” unsolicited interest for equity participation, “particularly from Australian and north Asian counterparts.”
The company reminded that as indicated previously, it intends to formally commence marketing equity in Project Haber in the fourth quarter of 2021.
Strike said it has secured a Cooperation Agreement with the Mid West Ports Authority. Under the agreement, the parties have agreed to work together to investigate how Project Haber’s non-locally consumed urea may be handled at and shipped from the port of Geraldton, and subject to completion of that work, a framework for future negotiations for a Port Access and Services Agreement.
Strike Energy said the use of Geraldton Port, which currently imports significant quantities of fertilizer products, will be critical in ensuring Project Haber has a reliable and low-cost supply chain for consistent urea deliveries to further afield customers.
The company is looking to sell and distribute its non-locally consumed urea into both the East Coast of Australia and potentially into Asian markets, when seasonality requires.
Strike also reported that it has entered into a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding with Australian Gas Infrastructure Group for the provision of approximately 8GL of water per annum from AGI Operations Pty Ltd.’s proposed Mid-West desalination plant, with supply starting in 2025.
The company has engaged Australian firm Strategen-JB&G to assist with securing environmental and planning approvals required for the project. The work started in early 2021 to identify the most efficient approvals’ pathway and supporting studies required to deliver the project, it said.
Strike said French engineering group Technip Energies, which is carrying out the pre-FEED scope work on the project (GM April 16, p. 1), remains on track to have pre-FEED close-out and the report on the updated cost estimate finalized by the end of August 2021.
The Project Haber will use gas from the company’s Greater Erregulla development in the Perth Basin via a 120-km pipeline.