The Gorgon Gas Project will be among the world’s biggest LNG producers. First gas is due in 2014 with the foundation project having capacity to produce 15 million tonnes per annum of LNG from three trains.

Gas will be sourced from Western Australia’s offshore Greater Gorgon area, which will be developed by the installation of a subsea gathering system and pipelines from the Gorgon and Jansz fields to Barrow Island.

The development is operated by Chevron Australia in a joint venture with ExxonMobil, Shell, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and Chubu Electric Power.

Get ready At peak construction, the project is anticipated to generate approximately 10,000 direct and indirect jobs within Australia. This represents a dramatic increase in population on Barrow Island, which means that construction of the 3,000-plus bed Gorgon Construction Village has been among the first major tasks onsite.

A joint venture of Thiess, Decmil and Kentz is constructing the village, which includes two fully-equipped gyms, three large swimming pools, tennis courts, soccer fields and even bocce courts.

Basic amenities come first, however – Osmoflo has already delivered the first of four reverse osmosis plants to the island, which will provide clean water for construction, drinking and LNG plant usage. Work on a second 2.4 million litres per day capacity containerised plant is well advanced. Also required to meet construction needs, this plant will be commissioned early next year.

In addition, Leighton Contractors was awarded an $800 million contract to deliver the civil and underground works package for the LNG project.

The contract scope includes earthworks, in situ and precast concrete and underground services, including drainage, piping and electrical and instrumentation cabling, which will be installed within the LNG plant site.

Work has already commenced and is expected to be complete by mid-2013.

Work on Barrow Onsite at the moment are about 1,800 workers, including crane operators, concrete workers, labourers, marine-based workers, pipe fitters and carpenters.

Training workers to deal with the unique conditions that Barrow Island presents has been a key feature of this early construction phase. Chevron Australia Managing Director Roy Krzywosinski said that about 10,000 workers have undergone the Barrow Island induction course to date.

This is no small commitment on the part of the developers; Mr Krzywosinski notes that “this course is compulsory if you’ve got any involvement in Gorgon construction activity on Barrow Island.”

Barrow Island is a Class A nature reserve and strict quarantine regulations must be met before any equipment can be taken there. All plant and equipment going to the island has to be fumigated, inspected and tagged prior to delivery.

Domestic gas supply The Gorgon development also includes the construction of a domestic gas plant, supplying to the Western Australian market via the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP). The plant would eventually have capacity to supply 300 terajoules per day of gas, commencing at approximately the same time as ready-for-start-up of the third LNG train.

Enerflex Process has been contracted by Chevron to provide the engineering, procurement, construction and pre-commissioning of the Gorgon DOMGAS custody transfer meter station.

The meter station will control and measure gas from the LNG plant prior to its delivery to the DBNGP via a 96 km offshore pipeline.

Enerflex is planning to commence site works in September 2011, targeting practical completion in June 2012.

Industry growth The Gorgon project is set in the middle of an exciting time for the natural gas industry.

“Gorgon redefines what technically complex, environmentally responsible projects will look like,” says Chevron Executive Vice President, Global Upstream and Gas George Kirkland.

“The project is big and it’s also coming at the right time, but Gorgon’s destined to become an iconic project for generations to come.”