By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Sept. 9 -- Partners developing the Gorgon natural gas project off Western Australia reported Monday that they received approval for their project from the Western Australia state government.
Gorgon partner ChevronTexaco Corp., with 4/7 interest, confirmed that the JV developing the giant Gorgon project has received approval in-principle from Western Australia for the restricted use of Barrow Island for a foundation development.
The proposal to develop the Gorgon project centers around the establishment of an LNG facility on Barrow Island, which lies between the Gorgon gas fields and the Australian mainland. "The island is both an internationally recognized nature reserve and the location of Australia's largest onshore operating oil field," ChevronTexaco explained.
"I believe this decision by the Western Australian government demonstrates confidence in our industry's ability to plan and implement projects in harmony with environmental considerations," said George Kirkland, president of ChevronTexaco Overseas Petroleum. "Protection of this nature reserve will be taken into account at each step in the development process," he added.
The next phase of development for the Gorgon project will involve "preparing detailed environmental plans that will allow the project to manage the proposed development on Barrow Island while continuing to care for, and fund, the protection of the island's environment," ChevronTexaco said. The JV partners also will continue to pursue marketing opportunities and progressing engineering and design studies.
Other Gorgon JV partners are Royal Dutch/Shell Group, 2/7, and ExxonMobil Corp., 1/7.
