Empire hit by second cost blow-out

Empire Oil & Gas has revealed a 10.9 per cent blowout in the cost of building and commissioning its Red Gully gas plant near Gingin.

The company said today that the total cost of the facility was $38.7 million, up from its previous guidance of $34.9 million, released in April.

Before that, the company had estimated the project would cost $29.1 million.

First gas and condensate was produced at the plant in June.

It is currently producing 8 terajoules of natural gas each day, which is sold to alumina producer Alcoa, which invested $25 million in the project.

The plant also produces 500 barrels of condensate per day, which is trucked to the BP refinery in Kwinana.

At 2:00PM, WST, Empire stocks were steady at 1.3 cents.