Mr Knox said that the progress on the project has been steady and substantial, with the downstream front-end engineering and design (FEED) conducted by Bechtel approximately 90 per cent complete.

Meanwhile, upstream FEED conducted by Foster Wheeler and Fluor is approximately 75 per cent complete.

Mr Knox also said that Santos and joint venture partner Petronas are in “detailed and advanced” discussions with a number of Asian LNG buyers for offtake from trains 1 and 2, as well as the option of an equity stake in the project.

Addressing a Melbourne Mining Club function, Mr Knox said “We remain confident that the GLNG Project remains economically robust across the range of our capital expenditure estimates. In short, GLNG is on track for an FID in the middle of this year and first LNG cargoes in 2014.”

He also said that while he had previously been in favour of consolidation of the various coal seam gas projects proposed at Gladstone, it is probably too late.

"Any consolidation or collaboration partner would like to be involved in the design of the house," he said.

"The opportunity for consolidation was really until the end of the year, last year."

The GLNG Project includes an initial 3.6 MMt/a LNG processing train and associated infrastructure as well as a 435 kilometre pipeline linking a compression station at Santos’ Fairview and Roma coal seam gas fields in the Surat Basin to the liquefaction plant to be located at Gladstone.

Train 2 is expected to commence operation one year after the first GLNG train. A gas supply of approximately 1,200 terajoules per day will be required for the two LNG trains. The company has also identified three other sites within the proposed GLNG precinct for the development of additional LNG trains. The precinct could contain up to five LNG trains if required.