CANBERRA, Jan. 18 (Xinhua) -- Australia's Northern Territory (NT) is on track to be a global liquefied natural gas (LNG) super power by 2030 according to the regional government.
Paul Tyrell, head of the NT Government's Gas Task Force, said that he is optimistic the territory will be a world-class hub for gas production, manufacturing and services by the 2030 deadline set for him by Chief Minister Michael Gunner.
"The Territory is well on the way and 2019 should see considerable progress and there is good reason to be confident in the Territory's future," he told News Corp Australia on Friday.
"We already have a significant gas industry and we are focusing on the next wave of gas industry developments for the Northern Territory."
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in November officially opened Inpex's 55 billion Australian dollar (39.5 billion U.S. dollar) gas processing facility in Darwin, the biggest project in NT history, while on an official visit.
The plant, which took two decades to plan and six years to build, will see 70 percent of the LNG it processes from the offshore Ichthys gas field exported to Japan.
"This foundation gas industry has a significant supply and service chain," Tyrell said.
"If you look at a map of gas resources within a 500 kilometer radius of Darwin and you can't but see that Darwin is ideally positioned in terms of supply and markets. It will be a growing part of the region's LNG supply solution.
"Broadening the economic benefits to the Territory through the development of gas-based manufacturing is within our reach ... Darwin can be a new manufacturing hub in the North and for Australia."
