Gorgon combine to speed Jansz development

April 6, 2005
ChevronTexaco Corp., ExxonMobil Corp., and Royal Dutch/Shell Group agreed to a new ownership structure for the Gorgon gas development off Western Australia, enabling early development of Jansz gas field 50 km north-northwest of Gorgon.

By Rick Wilkinson
OGJ correspondent

MELBOURNE, Apr. 6 -- ChevronTexaco Corp., ExxonMobil Corp., and Royal Dutch/Shell Group agreed to a new ownership structure for the Gorgon gas development off Western Australia, enabling early development of Jansz gas field 50 km north-northwest of Gorgon.

The three Gorgon stakeholders said they agreed to combine their interests in other nearby gas fields into a Greater Gorgon joint venture having reserves of more than 40 tcf. ChevronTexaco will have 50% interest, while Shell and ExxonMobil each will have 25%.

Greater Gorgon involves nearly a dozen fields, including Jansz, Chrysaor, Dionysus, West Tryal Rocks, and Spar. The new arrangement allows Gorgon and Jansz, the two major accumulations, to be developed simultaneously via two LNG trains of 5 million tonnes/year at an LNG liquefaction plant to be built on Barrow Island, which lies between the Gorgon gas fields and the Australian mainland (OGJ Online, Sept. 9, 2003).

ChevronTexaco will operate all the fields except for Jansz field, which ExxonMobil will operate.

It will be necessary to accelerate engineering plans for deepwater Jansz to catch up to Gorgon, but the joint venture partners said they already are moving toward the design of a probable subsea development.