That plan covers the industry out to 2034.

Released by Energy Skills Queensland, the plan bases its workforce estimate on an industry with six LNG trains and 45,000 wells.

However, that workforce peak could grow to 17,000 workers in 2024 under the alternative scenario based on the same number of trains, but 59,000 wells.

The report found the upstream workforce would require the largest workforce numbers and was anticipated to consist of about 35% direct employees of gas companies. The majority of the workforce is expected to be a contracted workforce through the supply chain contractors.

Not surprisingly, gas field and facility development will be the biggest employer over all, expected to head north of 5000 employees around 2018 – based on a 45,000 well industry.

That will start to tail off about 2024.

Well servicing is another big area, growing steadily to just under 5000 employees around 2028 before starting to tail away again.

CSG drilling and well completions is expected to grow to about 3800 employees around 2020 before falling away sharply around 2026.

Well site shutdown will start to grow from about mid-2026 to maintain a steady rate of 500 or so employees. The report does point out that some well site shutdown workers are already being employed because some wells dry-up early or underperform.

Operations staff are expected to reach about 1300 or so and stay at the level fairly constantly through the period.

On the downstream side, Energy Skills Queensland predicts the workforce will be about 800 over the period.

Where those staff will come from is interesting because, looking around the nation the main employer of LNG operations staff is Woodside.

Indeed, Woodside CEO Peter Coleman raised that issue after the company’s annual general meeting earlier this month.

“Staffing is quite a challenge for us,” he said.

“We put out our employee value proposition. It’s not just about who pays the highest wages and salaries, it’s about what we do as a company.”

Having said that, Coleman said the company was “very competitive in the marketplace in relation to our wages”

“It is putting pressure on us,” he admitted.

“It makes us focus on the things that are important and that is our people. How do we attract, train and retain our best people?”

Coleman said the company started heading down this path three years ago.

“As all these projects open up, where do you go and get good Australian operators?” he asked.

However, it also points out that as well as the core operational workforce there also will be about 600 workers needed per LNG train for scheduled maintenance shutdowns.

Hopefully there may be some discussion across the industry nationally around those schedules.

Critical skills identified for the Queensland CSG-LNG industry upstream are: lease hands, floor hands, motormen, derrick hands, assistant drillers, drillers, tool pushers, rig managers, electrical fitters and mechanics, cable jointers, high voltage switching electricians, telecommunications technicians, SCADA professionals, health, safety and environment officers, specialist oil and gas trainers and assessors, project managers, CSG technical trainers, engineers, geologists, and geophysicists.

At the downstream end the wanted notices are going up for field technicians and operations technicians, LNG plant operators and superintendents, electrical fitters and mechanics, instrumentation and control technicians, telecommunications technicians, health, safety and environment officers, procurement managers, project managers, LNG technical trainers, engineers, specialist oil and gas assessors and trainers, and operations technicians.

Energy Skills Queensland has made nine recommendations.

The first is that workforce planning initiatives for the CSG-LNG supply chain, particularly in drilling, well servicing, electrotechnology, telecommunications and camp operations are prioritised.

Secondly, a CSG-LNG training fund should be established to develop the skills needed fo a flexible and competent workforce.

Employment and training programs for Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islander people need to be supported, particularly those focused on long-term career options.

Funding for well service training has to be prioritised to ensure workers in this area are appropriately qualified.

Training provider support for the CSG-LNG industry has to be increased, too.

The training body called for an LNG operator training centre to be established in Gladstone for the use of the whole industry.

Competency assurance management systems for supply chain contractors have to be reviewed to reduce the risks associated with a predominantly “green hands” workforce.

Access to support and funding for training in health, safety and environment for small and medium-sized supply chain contractors has to be improved.