BG Group (BG.), which has been busy rejigging its asset base, has confirmed that it is moving ahead with its first commercial shipment to China from its huge Curtis Queensland LNG project in Australia.
BG has been loading the Methane Rita Andrea vessel at its Gladstone facility, and a second vessel, the Methane Mickie Harper, is expected at Gladstone for loading in the first week of January. The scale of the project was underlined early in December 2014 when BG sold the pipeline serving the facility to Australia's APA Group for $5bn ($3.2bn) - a $3.4bn premium to book value. BG also announced that it has entered into a $460m sale and leaseback agreement with GasLog Ltd for two tri-fuel diesel electric LNG carriers. The bulk of the proceeds will be utilised to help fund the BG pension scheme.
