Organised by Great Southern Press (GSP), the FutureGAS Conference and Exhibition was held from 22–24 March 2011 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Queensland.

FutureGAS is Australia’s only event that focuses on the entire natural gas industry, from top to bottom and everything in between. Held every year in Queensland (the burgeoning hub of Australia’s gas industry), the conference focuses on conventional and unconventional gases, developments in LNG, transmission pipelines, distribution networks and power generation. FutureGAS challenges the industry to address current pressing issues that impact on our industry’s future, and the future use of natural gas. Event partner MWM worked closely with GSP to ensure that FutureGAS 2011 was the most comprehensive and well attended event in its three-year history.

Forging new connections

The conference kicked-off with Opening Cocktails on Tuesday night, sponsored by Tremco Pipeline Equipment where delegates and exhibitors got their first chance of many to network and explore the exhibition.

Wednesday evening featured the Engineers at the Exhibition Drinks, giving engineers a chance to visit the exhibition after work and enjoy a glass of wine or beer.

The FutureGAS Gala Dinner, sponsored by CNC Project Management, was a highlight of the conference, held in the Queensland Museum’s Dinosaur Room, where guests were dwarfed by great dinosaurs on display.

The dinosaur theme extended to the guest speaker, Dr Steve Salisbury, a lecturer in palaeontology from the University of Queensland. Dr Salisbury discussed the chance meetings of gas exploration and production, and palaeontology. Dinosaur tracks have been found at the site of the Browse LNG Development in Western Australia, and parts of the largest dinosaur ever found in Australia, the Rhoetosaurus, were discovered at the site of the country’s first gas source – near Roma, Queensland.

Talking gas

Queensland Gas Commissioner Kay Gardiner officially opened the FutureGAS conference program with her keynote presentation on the outlook for natural gas in the state. The room was packed with delegates keen to hear Ms Gardiner discuss forecasted gas demand, unconventional sources of gas, global LNG markets, and domestic gas use versus export concerns.

Tech talk

A successful new innovation in 2011 was the technical stream of the conference’s speaker program, which was popular with delegates involved in the technical side of gas developments. The technical program was opened by TPWS Inc’s Bob Teale, who discussed the history and possible future of automated pipeline welding.

After morning tea, focus turned to unconventional gases with presentations on a new code of practice for coal seam gas (CSG) gathering lines, CSG plant design principles and tight gas drilling technology.

Highlights included Queensland Chief Petroleum and Gas Inspector Stephen Matheson’s outline of the safety regulations and legislation in the state, and discussion of a range of unconventional gas technologies.

Business program

The business stream of the conference’s speaker program was a particular success, with presenters across both days providing valuable insights into project, personnel and production issues.

Following Ms Gardiner’s keynote presentation, Day One presentations covered a range of current developments in the gas industry from an update on exploration in New Zealand, to growth in Australia’s domestic gas demand and distribution, to coal seam gas exploration and supply projects in Australia and internationally.

Carter Newell Lawyers’ James Plumb presented an overview of overlapping coal and CSG tenures and the draft Mines and Petroleum Legislation Amendment Bill 2011.

Landholder liaison issues were an emerging theme from many of the presentations, and this discussion came to a peak during the Landholder Liaison Panel Session on Wednesday afternoon.

CNC Project Management Director Dave Maloney, Australian Pipeline Industry Association Policy Adviser Steve Davies, Queensland Farmers’ Federation Chief Executive Dan Galligan and Carter Newell’s James Plumb worked through the complex topic of community-company relations.

On Thursday, the second day of business stream presentations began with DomGas Alliance Executive Director Gavin Goh tackling Australia’s domestic gas challenge. Australian Mines and Metals Association Chief Executive Steve Knott reviewed Australia’s new industrial relations laws, highlighting challenges for resource industry employers. Freehills’ Amanda Cochrane offered attendees five keys to making a project work, from an employment perspective.

The costs and benefits of gas-fired power generation were thoroughly addressed by MWM Energy Australia’s Simon Helps, and O’Donnell Griffin’s John McCarl’s case study on embedded distribution demonstrated the use of fuel cell technology for non-network power generation.

Energy Skills Queensland Chief Executive Glenn Porter opened an afternoon session on skills with a discussion of potential skills shortages in the CSG–to–LNG industry and strategies to minimise them.

Deloitte’s Lisa Barry gave an overview of effective strategies to protect operational continuity and growth when securing future workforces. Peter Robinson from the Industry Capability Network (ICN) talked of how the ICN develops capabilities to support the oil and gas industry in Australia and New Zealand.

Unparalleled opportunities at the Exhibition

Featuring all of the latest products and services, the FutureGAS Exhibition held a number of opportunities to find out about developments, trends and ideas in the gas industry.

Attendees were able to expand their business network by speaking first hand with company representatives who could provide tailored advice to specific queries.

Along with delegates, trade visitors ensured the exhibition was always buzzing. Turn to pages 58–60 to see who was there.

Social events promoted relaxed and informal networking with access to representatives of the entire gas vertical. A special thank you to Nacap, Finlease, GHD, Tremco Pipeline Equipment, and CNC Project Management for sponsoring the refreshment breaks, as well as additional sponsors, Murphy Pipe and Civil and Enerflex.

Next year

Planning is already underway for FutureGAS 2012, which will return to the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, from 27–29 March 2012.

The team at Great Southern Press looks forward to seeing you there.