BHP Billiton has begun talks to potentially access the Wheatstone or Pluto liquefied natural gas projects to commercialise the remote Scarborough and Thebe gas fields, 400 kilometres west of Karratha.
BHP’s petroleum division chief, Mike Yeager, this week told reporters that BHP and Scarborough partner Exxon Mobil hoped to commence front-end engineering and design works for the project early next year.
Although a $20 billion standalone development at Ashburton North near Onslow presented some advantages, Mr Yeager said there would also be obvious benefits from teaming with an existing project.
Chevron is already building its $25 billion Wheatstone LNG plant at the Ashburton North industrial estate, and hopes to secure sufficient third party gas supplies to support at least three production trains.
Similarly, Woodside is seeking sufficient gas to support up to five LNG trains at its new Pluto project on the Burrup Peninsula, where production will start late this year.
“What happens now is that there are just more opportunities,” Mr Yeager said, adding that the partners would give both standalone and piggybacking options “a fair shake”.
