Western Gas signs gas processing agreements

(Image: Western Gas.)

Western Gas signed a non-binding agreement with participants in the north West Shelf project and Pluto LNG plant to process up to 3 million tonnes of low carbon dioxide gas from the Equus gas project offshore western Australia.

The companies have proposed that Equus gas would be produced on a floating production storage and offloading facility and transported through an approximately 200km pipeline to the Pluto LNG facility.

The Equus gas will be transported via the Pluto-KGP Interconnector for processing and export at the Karratha Gas Plant (KGP) with processing and export via Pluto Train 1 to commence once processing capacity becomes available.

First LNG for the gas processing opportunity is targeted in 2027, with a target aggregate production of 2-3Mtpa of LNG and 50-75 TJ/d of domestic gas.

Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill said that by using existing infrastructure, Woodside would enable Western Gas to access a competitive option to supply Asian LNG markets while providing additional domestic gas security for Western Australia.

“This is an important step in maximising utilisation of our existing infrastructure to deliver domestic gas and LNG to local and global customers and value for our shareholders and community. The proposed gas processing opportunity with Western Gas for the Equus offshore resource demonstrates the flexibility provided by the Pluto-KGP Interconnector, which commenced operations in March 2022, to optimise available capacity at our world-class facilities.”

The Equus Gas Project comprises 11 gas and condensate fields in the Carnarvon Basin, about 200 kilometres north-west of Onslow in Western Australia. These fields contain an independently certified resource of more than 2 Tcf (trillion cubic feet) of gas and 42 million barrels of condensate.

Western Gas acquired the Equus Gas Project from Hess Corporation in November 2017.

Western drilled 17 exploration wells resulting in 15 discoveries, and drilled and tested four appraisal wells and acquired more than nine thousand square kilometres of 3D seismic. Western also drilled and suspended five wells for future production.

Woodside Energy is the operating partner of the North West Shelf Project, with a 33.3% stake. Other partners include BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd (16.67%); Chevron Australia Pty Ltd (16.67%); Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) Pty Ltd (16.67%) and Shell Australia Pty Ltd (16.67%).

Woodside is the manager and operator of Pluto LNG, with a 90% stake. Other participants are Kansai Electric Power Australia Pty Ltd (5%) and Tokyo Gas Pluto Pty Ltd (5%).