Bechtel reaches milestone at Santos LNG facility

GLADSTONE, Australia, July 10 (UPI) -- U.S. construction company Bechtel said it's installed part of the first half of a liquefied natural gas facility on Curtis Island in Queensland, Australia.

Bechtel said it's completed installation of the first of two so-called production trains for the facility.

"With the modules now in place, work is underway to connect the individual parts of the production train in advance of testing them as part of the overall system," Alasdair Cathcart, general manager of Bechtel's LNG business, said in a statement Wednesday.

Australian energy company Santos leads the $18.5 billion project designed to convert coal seam natural gas to LNG for exports to the global market.

The project is fed by a 260-mile underground pipeline from the Bowen and Surat basins in Queensland. Santos says first deliveries of LNG are scheduled for next year.