POSCO International celebrated the completed construction of the first gas processing facility at Senex Energy's Atlas natural gas field in the Australian state of Queensland, Sunday, commencing the trial run of the facility.

The Korean trading and energy firm, which holds a 50.1 percent stake in Senex, said on Monday that the new facility has shown that its subsidiary is smoothly getting closer to the increased production of natural gas in Australia.

According to POSCO International, CEO Lee Kye-in attended the celebration along with Sen. Susan McDonald, who serves as the shadow minister for resources, and Gina Rinehart, executive chairwoman of Hancock Prospecting, an Australian mining firm that owns the 49.9 percent stake in Senex.

In 2022, POSCO International and Hancock made a joint investment to acquire Senex with the aim of increasing its annual natural gas production from 20 petajoules to 60 petajoules. The size is large enough to produce 1.2 million tons of liquefied natural gas.

Located on the east coast of Australia, Senex has played a pivotal role in stable energy supply in the region, which has a high energy demand.

However, according to a report published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in June, the region may start facing shortfalls in gas from 2027 at the earliest.

To prevent the shortage and secure profitability, Senex signed long-term contracts with eight buyers in 2023 to provide them with 151 petajoules of natural gas for up to 10 years.

POSCO International explained that the new gas processing facility is a necessary infrastructure to sell natural gas, as it purifies and condenses the gas to send it to a power plant and households in the region through pipelines.

Senex Energy's Atlas natural gas field in the Australian state of Queensland / Courtesy of POSCO International

After completing the facility's trial run by the second quarter of next year, POSCO International will start selling natural gas from the gas field and will open two more processing facilities by the end of next year.

The company expects that the annual production of 60 petajoules of natural gas will cover over 10 percent of the annual domestic natural gas demand on the east coast of Australia.

"When we decided to acquire Senex Energy, we were confident in the value of natural gas, strong economics and political stability in Australia, and today we affirm our decision was correct," Lee said. "Natural gas will continue to play an important role in the energy transition, not only in Australia but also globally."