The Queensland Government said April 6 that Santos, along with its GLNG JV partners and APLNG, are the successful bidders for the 86 sq km (33 sq miles) PRL2016/17-1A Block, located directly west of its Arcadia gas field in the Bowen Basin.

“Being adjacent to the planned Arcadia project means we will be able to leverage existing infrastructure, reduce development costs and produce more gas,” Bill Ovenden, Exploration and New Ventures, executive vice president, said.

Santos is on track to supply about 11% of the ACCC’s expected east coast gas demand in 2018.

“Access to new and existing supply sources in Queensland as well as new supply sources in New South Wales and the Northern Territory is critically important to enable us to continue to deliver competitive gas to the east coast domestic gas market,” Ovenden added

Santos will hold a 22.85% interest in the joint venture along with partners Petronas (20.94%), Total (NYSE: TOT) (20.94%), Korea Gas Corp. (11.42%) and APLNG (23.85%).