BG Australia has appointed Les Guthrie as President, LNG, to manage the company's interests in the Queensland Curtis LNG Project.

Mr Guthrie will oversee planning, environmental assessment, design and construction of the proposed LNG plant at Gladstone, about 500km north of Brisbane, and will be responsible for its ongoing operations and growth for and on behalf of BG Australia and Queensland Gas Company Ltd (QGC).

Mr Guthrie, 54, has significant worldwide experience in project management and was previously BG Group's General Manager, Projects, based in the United Kingdom, where he was responsible for project execution across the Group's global portfolio.

Before joining BG Group, he held several senior positions with the major international engineer and constructor, Aker Kvaerner, latterly as Senior Vice President, based in Houston, with responsibility for operations in the United States, India, China, South-East Asia and Australia. He was previously Managing Director for Aker Kvaerner in Australia.

Mr Guthrie was born in Scotland and moved to Australia 27 years ago. He holds British and Australian citizenship.

Queensland Curtis LNG, an alliance between BG Group plc, of the UK, and QGC of Australia, will process and produce LNG from coal seam gas from the Surat Basin in Queensland. Under the alliance, BG has acquired a 20 per cent interest in QGC's coal seam gas assets in the Surat Basin, interests in the Condamine Power Station project, and a 9.9 per cent equity stake in QGC.

BG will also acquire a further 10 per cent interest in QGC's coal seam gas and other assets on the parties meeting certain other commercial conditions.

The LNG plant is being designed with one production train initially to supply 3 to 4 million tonnes of LNG a year for export markets, with potential expansion, via additional trains, to up to 12 million tonnes a year, subject to additional gas reserves.

Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals, Inc. has been appointed to work on front-end engineering design for the LNG plant. A seamless transition into procurement and construction will follow a final investment decision on the project, scheduled for early 2010.

Media inquiries

Rob Millhouse, BG Australia
W: +61 7 3837 8997
M: +61 419 588 166

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