Two U.S. independents have signed new contracts to sell their natural gas production in Australia to end-users in that country. Apache Corp. expects to supply 73 million cubic feet of gas per day for 25 years, from its Harriet joint venture in northwest Australia, to a new ammonia fertilizer plant that will be built starting in 2003. Gas supplies will begin flowing to the plant in 2005 when construction is finished. Total supply will amount to 600 billion cubic feet during the life of the contract, Apache reports. Apache operates Harriet with a 68.5% interest. Partners are Kufpec and Tap Oil. This contract will more than double the joint venture's daily gas production, which is now about 60 million cubic feet per day. It allows Apache to monetize some of its gas production in Australia's Carnarvon Basin. The new contract enhances the value of Apache's processing and transportation hub at Varanus Island nearby. It also permits Apache and its partners to continue exploration in the basin and to book the reserves, because of confidence that there will be a market, said John Crum, Apache executive vice president, Eurasia. Separately, Denver-based Tipperary Corp. has a contract to sell production in Australia from its coalbed-methane gas project, which is under way in Queensland, eastern Australia, at Comet Ridge. The gas will be sold to Origin Energy Retail Ltd. from 2007 to 2020 at the rate of 15 billion cubic feet per year. Tipperary's share will be 25 million cubic feet per day. -Leslie Haines

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