Explosion to hit WA gas supplies

An explosion at Varanus Island, a majr gas processing facility off the Pilbara coast, is expected to disrupt gas supplies to the Western Australian market for "a number of days".

Varanus is managed by US company Apache Energy, which said there have been no injuries.

An Apache statement is pasted below:

Apache Energy earlier advised that an explosion occurred on Varanus Island at approximately 13.40 hrs today. There have been no injuries, all personnel have been accounted for and evacuation procedures are underway.

Emergency response procedures have been activated and the company is currently directing all its efforts to evacuate personnel, stabilise the situation and manage any environmental effects.

The explosion and fire have affected gas export pipelines that deliver gas from Varanus Island to the domestic gas market. It is anticipated that gas supply will be affected for a number of days.

Tim Wall, Managing Director of Apache Energy Limited stated "we are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of personnel and minimise the impact of the incident. We have notified government authorities and also gas customers who will be affected by the disruption in gas supply."

Further information will be made available as we appraise the situation.

We anticipate being able to issue an update at approximately 17.30 hours Perth time