Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
PERTH, Apr. 12 -- Woodside Energy Ltd. has given high priority to development of its recent Pluto gas discovery in the Carnarvon basin of Western Australia as well as to the older Browse basin discoveries further offshore to the northwest.
CEO Don Voelte told the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA) conference Apr. 11 in Perth that he hopes the projects will be on stream or well into development within 5 or 6 years.
Woodside has 100% of Pluto, where preliminary estimates suggest gas reserves in excess of 2.2 tcf. The field lies about 60 km from the Goodwyn field platform and 90 km from North Rankin platform on the North West Shelf.
Voelte said the development could be tied into these production facilities for transmission to the coast or treated as a separate project. Another possibility is a joint development with the large nearby Wheatstone gas-condensate discovery, wholly owned by ChevronTexaco Corp.
The Browse basin fields include the 1971 Scott Reef find and 1980s discoveries like Brecknock and Brewster. Overall estimates of reserves in this region top 20 tcf of gas and 300 million bbl of condensate. Although water depths are 50-350 m, the bar to development in this province so far has been the distance from shore (around 380 km out into the Indian Ocean) and the lack of markets.
Voelte said Woodside wants to accelerate development with a plan that includes offshore platforms and a pipeline to shore-based LNG facilities to be built at Broome on the northwest coast of Western Australia. The plant would potentially comprise two LNG trains with 6-7 million tonnes/year total capacity.
He said gas marketing probes began in 2004, and there has been interest from China, the US, South Korea, and Japan. The aim is to secure an agreement as soon as possible with a view to delivering gas by 2010-11.
The Woodside CEO acknowledged that the timing is tight and that the region requires further appraisal. Three wells are planned for the Browse basin fields beginning later this year along with a 3D seismic survey to clarify field outlines. Any memorandum of understanding negotiated for gas sales would be contingent on results of the appraisal program.
Woodside has an aggregate of about 50% interest in the region, which covers four separate permits, while ChevronTexaco and BP PLC have about 16.75% each.
Smaller interests of 8.375% each belong to Royal Dutch/Shell Group and BHP Billiton. All four of these other interest holders are also keen to put the Browse project on a fast track.
