Energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie predicts that Australasian liquefied natural gas export capacity will double by 2017.

“We believe there is now sufficient momentum behind PNG LNG, Gorgon and Queensland Curtis LNG, to give the participants confidence to sanction investment which will more than double Australasian LNG capacity, to over 50 mmtpa by 2017. This will require over $60 billion of capital investment, whilst creating up to 15,000 jobs in Australia and Papua New Guinea during the construction phase,” said Wood Mackenzie’s lead upstream analyst Richard Quin.

Wood Mackenzie estimates that sanctioning these projects will generate over $14 billion a year in revenues for the project participants. The biggest share will be attributable to ExxonMobil, which is a participant in both Gorgon and PNG LNG.