Key points:
• Comet Ridge and Orica have executed an MOU for long-term gas offtake by Orica.
• Initial gas supply from Mahalo North would be scaled to meet Orica’s gas feed requirements at its
Yarwun ammonium nitrate manufacturing facility, located approximately 9 km west of Gladstone.
Comet Ridge Limited (ASX:COI) is pleased to advise that the Company has executed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with Orica Australia Pty Ltd (Orica) to progress commercial arrangements on a long-term gas offtake as part of
Comet Ridge’s Mahalo North (ATP 2048) gas project.
Orica is the global leader in ammonia related products supplied to the mining and infrastructure industries and has
been a long term and reliable buyer of natural gas in Queensland and New South Wales for its facilities at Yarwun
(near Gladstone) and Kooragang Island (near Newcastle). The MOU positions Orica to assist Comet Ridge in gas
production from Mahalo North to initially support Orica’s Yarwun facility (see map on following page). The agreement
contemplates growth in supply over time to feed Orica’s manufacturing operations in Australia as Comet Ridge
expands production across all of its Mahalo Gas Hub permits.
Under the MOU, the parties will commit in the coming months to progressing an initial gas sales agreement and
development funding structures through term sheet and binding documentation phases. A key element in the
development of Mahalo North (and a condition of the commercial arrangements with Orica) will be finalising
infrastructure access to connect Mahalo North to the Queensland Gas Pipeline (QGP). Comet Ridge’s recently
announced MOU with Jemena will provide one option for a pipeline connection into the QGP, as well as providing for
gas haulage arrangements via the QGP into Gladstone.
Comet Ridge Managing Director, Tor McCaul, said: “Following our very successful production test from Mahalo North
last year, followed by 2P and 3P Gas Reserves certification in November, we have had a lot of inbound interest for gas
sales from our Mahalo Hub projects. We are very pleased to be forming this long-term relationship with a blue-chip
gas buyer, with a strong gas market reputation, in Orica. Orica’s Yarwun project is close to the Mahalo Gas Hub and
will operate well into the future, given the enormous need for natural gas for manufacturing for the next several
decades. We welcome Orica alongside CleanCo, as high-quality foundation customers for Comet Ridge.”
Comet Ridge will update the market as arrangements with Orica are progressed
