- Empire Energy (ASX:EEG) picks up the Rosalind Park gas plant from AGL (ASX:AGL)
- It will use the asset in its own Carpentaria gas project
- Rosalind Park was formerly part of AGL’s Camden project which shut down earlier this year
- The 2023 shutdown date is 12 years earlier than AGL first predicted in the 2010s
- EEG shares last traded at 16.5 cents
Empire Energy (ASX:EEG) has announced its acquisition of the Rosalind Park gas plant from AGL (ASX:AGL) for $2.5 million.
The company said on Monday the asset pickup will “significantly accelerate” the progress of its Carpentaria Pilot Project (CPP).
The investment appears to be a smart one – Empire expects it could cut overall capex by more than $30 million.
While a final investment decision (FID) on the CPP remains pending, Empire’s acquisition is a fairly solid indication of sentiment.
Gas plant ready to go
Rosalind Park has a nameplate capacity of 42TJ/d and has been a working asset for AGL’s Camden gas project.
That project shut down earlier this year – 12 years earlier than what AGL earlier estimated in the 2010s.
Empire said the gas plant is project-ready and that the asset passed its own diligence inspections.
“The Rosalind Park Gas Plant has been very well managed by AGL during its time processing gas for supply into the Sydney market,” Empire chief Alex Underwood said.
Gas plant’s new home
The company disassembled the gas plant at the end of the Camden project, and those parts have now been moved to Roma, QLD, by Empire.
Australia’s east coast gas pipeline network is interconnected, allowing for the porting of gas from the NT down the eastern seaboard to NSW via QLD’s Walumbilla Hub.
Not that this isn’t feasible. Carpentaria will overlie the NT’s Beetaloo Basin, which Canberra and the NT State Government are confident could be Australia’s next major gas resource.
Prime landholding
Empire holds the largest acreage position in the Beetaloo, which is exploitable for frackers as a shale play.
Up to 100 trillion cubic feet are thought to potentially be contained within the Beetaloo, though, this estimate has its critics and not all of the read sits in high-confidence rankings.
“Although yet to be proven, the scale of this estimated resource compares favourably with the scale of resources at Australia’s Northwest Shelf,” Empire previously wrote of its asset.
EEG shares last traded at 16.5 cents.