LNG growth wave led by Pluto and Wheatstone

LIKE iron ore in the Pilbara, Western Australia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) sector along the state’s north-west coast is experiencing a wave of development and expansion.

Woodside’s 90 per cent-owned Pluto LNG project is due for completion and first cargo in March, substantially increasing the company’s production profile.

The company said in its fourth quarter report that construction of the foundation project: “Is in its final phase with commissioning and production start-up of sections of the offshore and onshore production systems progressing to plan”.

Pluto, 190km north-west of Karratha, will process gas from the Pluto and Xena gas fields into LNG and condensate.

The project will initially comprise five subsea wells on the Pluto gas field connected to an offshore processing platform in 85 metres of water.

An LNG processing train, with forecasted production capacity of 4.3 million tonnes per annum, will service Pluto onshore, along with storage facilities and an export jetty.

Woodside said the project had generated more than 5,000 jobs and, by the end of 2010, had delivered more than $6 billion locally.

The $US29 billion Wheatstone project, majority owned by US company Chevron, was given the all clear for construction last September.

Wheatstone, which will be comprised of two LNG trains with capacity to produce 8.9mtpa and an offshore processing facility, is a joint venture between Chevron (73.6 per cent), Apache Energy (13 per cent), Kuwait’s Kufpec (7 per cent), and Royal Dutch Shell (6.4 per cent).

The proponents claim the project will create 6,500 jobs at the peak of construction and inject more than $17 billion into local goods and services, with first gas planned for 2016.

North of Wheatstone, Chevron’s Gorgon project is the largest-ever resource development undertaken in Australia at more than $43 million.

Given the go-ahead for construction in September 2009, Gorgon is a joint venture between Chevron (47.3 per cent), ExxonMobil (25 per cent), Royal Dutch Shell (25 per cent), Osaka Gas (1.25 per cent), Tokyo Gas (1 per cent), and Chubu Electric (0.42 per cent).

Gorgon includes the construction of a 15mtpa LNG plant on Barrow Island and a domestic gas plant with a 300-terrajoule-a-day capacity.

Meanwhile, the North West Shelf project continues to thrive, providing operator Woodside with record annual revenue of $US3 billion in 2011.

The venture’s six participants (Woodside, Chevron, BP, Shell, BHP Billiton, and MIMI) have agreed to proceed with phase 1 of the Greater Western Flank project, which is designed to sustain gas supply to the existing Karratha gas plant.