Chevron launches new gas project in Australia

As reported in the International Herold Tribune, Chevron Chevron Corp. has announced plans to develop a liquefied natural gas export venture based on its Wheatstone field off northwestern Australia. The facility will be built on the northwest coast of mainland Australia, the company said, ruling out a location on Barrow Island, the nearby site of Chevron’s Gorgon LNG venture with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. There is still uncertainty as to when Chevron and its partners will approve Gorgon, which would be Australia’s biggest resource development, the Tribune reported, and there have been been persistent speculation of dissent among the joint venture partners as costs on that project continue to rise. Wheatstone, in contrast, is much smaller, with Chevron planning to tap an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. A Chevron team of roughly 100 people will conduct further appraisal drilling on both Wheatstone and the adjacent Iago field this year, along with design studies and site evaluation.