Chevron Australia has reported the start of Stage 2 of the Gorgon LNG project off Western Australia.
The $5.1-billion (Aus.) program will include 11 new wells—7 in Gorgon field 150 km north of Onslow and 4 in Janz-Io field another 70 km offshore. There also will be new subsea installations and pipelaying work.
The drilling program is expected to begin in 2019.
The announcement ensures the overall $69-billion (Aus.) Gorgon project will maintain target production of 15.6 million tonnes/year of LNG.
The massive project comprises offshore field facilities feeding gas and condensate into three LNG trains and a domestic gas plant on Barrow Island. It came on stream early in 2016 with the first LNG cargo departing in March of that year.
Since then more than 250 cargoes have been shipped to Asian markets.
The domestic gas plant came on stream in December 2016, supplying 200 terajoules/day of gas into Western Australia through the Dampier-Bunbury trunkline. There are plans to increase output to 300 terajoules/day.
Th Gron project is among the largest resources developments in Australia’s history. Chevron, as operator, has 47.3%. Partners include ExxonMobil Corp. 25%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC 25%, Osaka Gas 1.25%, Tokyo Gas 1%, and JERA 0.0417%.
