Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has suggested that the state could become the world’s largest producer of LNG within ten years.

The Federal Government has more conservative projections, setting Australia at number two behind Qatar.

However, despite weather delays, the threat of reduced foreign investment, and impending tax reform, natural gas activity at the North West Shelf (NWS) continues to flourish.

North West Shelf Gas Project Arguably the most significant gas project in the area is the Woodside Petroleum-operated NWS Gas Project, which involves both a domestic gas facility and LNG for export terminal.

Representing an investment of $A27 billion, the NWS project facilities constitute Australia’s largest oil and gas resource development and currently account for more than 40 per cent of Australia’s oil and gas production. Since 1989, the project has shipped more than 3,000 LNG cargoes to international markets.

In 2008, the NWS joint venture partners reached a final investment decision on the North Rankin 2 Project, including the construction of the 23,600 tonne North Rankin B Platform and refurbishment of North Rankin A. Upon completion, both platforms will be operated as a single integrated facility. This project is expected to extend the field life of the North Rankin and Perseus gas fields to approximately 2040.

The $A5 billion project is expected to be completed and operational in 2013. At the time of writing, the project is facing delays due to slower than expected progress on topside fabrication. The project is now 69 per cent complete and remains on budget.

Woodside has begun the environmental approvals process for the development of 14 gas fields in the Greater Western Flank area of the NWS, located west of Goodwyn, Western Australia, and positioned as an expansion of the NWS Gas Project.

Planning has begun for the Greater Western Flank development including a five-well subsea development, GWF-1, that will tap the Goodwyn H and Tidepole natural gas fields, which will be tied back through a 16 km pipeline to the existing Goodwyn A production platform.

Goodwyn A has a capacity of approximately 3 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and approximately 100 million barrels (MMbbl) of condensate.

Pluto Gas Project Woodside Petroleum’s Pluto Gas Project is, at the time of writing, very close to completion. The project began commissioning in March 2011, and first gas is expected in the second half of 2011.

The initial project phase involves a single LNG production train at the Burrup LNG Park with forecast production of 4.3 million tonnes per annum (MMt/a) of LNG. The train is connected via a 180 km, 914 diameter mm offshore pipeline to a platform in 85 m of water, which in turn will be connected to five subsea big bore wells on the Pluto field.

A second and third LNG train, producing by 2014, are expected to be added, in addition to a domestic gas facility for the WA market.

The Woodside-operated project is underpinned by 15-year sales agreements with Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas for up to 3.75 MMt/a of LNG, and an agreement with Petronas for the delivery of up to 19 cargoes of LNG through to 2014. Kansai Electric and Tokyo Gas became project participants in January 2008, each acquiring a 5 per cent interest in the foundation project.

Gorgon LNG Development The Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG Development also presides in the NWS, and is one of the world’s largest natural gas projects and the largest single resource project in Australia’s history.

The Gorgon LNG Development is based on the installation of a subsea gathering system and pipelines from the Gorgon and Jansz fields to Barrow Island. Three 5 MMt/a LNG trains to be located on the central-east coast of Barrow Island will process the gas. Reservoir CO2 will be removed and reinjected into deep saline reservoirs beneath the island. LNG will then be shipped to international markets, while compressed domestic gas would be delivered via a 90 km long, 508 mm diameter subsea pipeline to the WA mainland, interconnecting with the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP).

Construction began in December 2009, and first gas is due in 2014. More than 9 MMt/a of output LNG has been contracted to a number of Asian customers.

Wheatstone LNG Development Chevron Australia’s other major project in the area is the Wheatstone LNG Development. A couple of years behind the schedule of Gorgon, first gas from Wheatstone is expected in 2016.

Chevron has proposed a two-train, 8.6 MMt/a LNG project, to be located at Ashburton North on the Pilbara Coast.

Approval is also being sought for an additional three trains that would extend the project’s capacity to 25 MMt/a. Gas for the project would be sourced from the company’s Wheatstone and Iago gas fields, located 145 km off the Pilbara coast, in water depths of approximately 200 m, as well as from joint venture partners Apache Corporation and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company’s Brunello and Julimar fields.

LNG offtake contracts have been signed with Kyushu Electric Power Company, Tokyo Electric Power Company and Korea Gas Company.

Scarborough Gas Field More recently announced was the development of the Scarborough Gas Field into an LNG project. An equal joint venture between ExxonMobil subsidiary Esso Australia as operator, and BHP Billiton, the Scarborough field is estimated to contain around 8–10 Tcf of gas. The field is located approximately 285 km offshore from the Pilbara town of Onslow in 900 m of water.

BHP has said that a number of options to commercialise the field are being considered, including the construction of an offshore LNG facility, a standalone facility at Onslow, or the possibility of working with other projects such as Wheatstone or Pluto.

WA Premier Colin Barnett has suggested that the Scarborough field should integrate with existing LNG facilities instead of operating as a separate new facility, citing the NWS Gas Project or Pluto Gas Project as potential options. Mr Barnett said that he shared concerns, voiced by the NWS joint venture participants, that the capacity of the NWS Gas Plant and other Western Australian-based LNG projects might be under-utilised in 20 years’ time.