Prime Highlights:
- Chevron’s Gorgon Stage 3 development off Western Australia’s coast has been approved with an A$3 billion ($1.98 billion) investment, boosting LNG production capacity.
- The expansion will support long-term domestic gas supply while strengthening Australia’s LNG export operations.
Key Facts:
- Stage 3 will link the Geryon and Eurytion gas fields to Gorgon’s Barrow Island infrastructure, with six wells planned as subsea tiebacks.
- The Chevron-operated Gorgon Project, a joint venture with ExxonMobil, Shell, Osaka Gas, JERA, and MidOcean, can produce 15.6 million tons of LNG per year and 300 terajoules per day of gas for the domestic market.
Background:
The Australian unit of U.S. oil giant Chevron has announced that the partners of the Gorgon Joint Venture have approved the A$3 billion ($1.98 billion) investment for the Gorgon Stage 3 development off the northwest coast of Western Australia.
Stage 3 will act as a backfill for the existing LNG export operations, connecting the offshore Geryon and Eurytion natural gas fields to Gorgon’s Barrow Island infrastructure. The plan includes drilling six wells across the two fields as part of a series of subsea tiebacks.
The proposal was accepted in November by the offshore environmental regulator after Chevron submitted it for public comment in August 2024.
Chevron Australia President Balaji Krishnamurthy emphasized that, in addition to supporting LNG exports, the project will secure a long-term supply of domestic gas, in line with Western Australia’s 15% domestic reservation policy for LNG projects.
The Gorgon Project has the capacity to produce 300 terajoules of gas per day for the Western Australian market and 15.6 million tons of LNG annually. Chevron plans to drill up to 40 wells across seven fields, with a notional field life extending to 2070.
Other developments in the region include Shell’s approval for drilling at the Crux field, which will supply gas to the Prelude floating LNG vessel, and ConocoPhillips completing its first exploration well in southern Australia.
