Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, Mar. 31 -- The Woodside Petroleum-led North West Shelf gas project joint venture has made its final investment decision to go ahead with the North Rankin B platform development off Western Australia.
The $5 billion (Aus.) project is aimed at recovering the remaining low-pressure gas from the North Rankin and Perseus gas fields and includes installation of a second steel platform at North Rankin. The structure, with a topsides weight of 23,600 tonnes, will house gas compression facilities, utilities, and a living quarters module.
The platform will be placed in 125 m of water close to the existing North Rankin A platform and connected by to it via a 100-m bridge and walkway.
The development work will also include systems tie-ins between the two platforms plus a complete refurbishment for North Rankin A, which has been in place since the mid-1980s.
Once the work is completed, both platforms will be operated as a single integrated facility.
The North Rankin B project will extend the life of the North Rankin and Perseus fields and will support the JV's onshore gas commitments to supply customers past 2013. The announcement also follows approval of a fifth LNG train on the Burrup Peninsula fed by the NWS gas project fields.
This train will produce 4.4 million tonnes/year of LNG, bringing the total project output to 16.3 million tpy.
The North Rankin B Project is expected to come on stream in 2012.
