December 15, 2009 - 1:36PM
Chevron Corp., the second-largest US energy producer, made a gas discovery off the coast of Western Australia that may help expand its $43 billion Gorgon liquefied natural gas project.
Chevron found gas at its Satyr-1 well in the Carnarvon Basin, following a discovery in the area in October, the San Ramon, California-based company said in a statement. Chevron said it's investing ''heavily'' in Australian exploration.
''There has been a run of very good exploration success in the Carnarvon and Browse Basins'' off the northwest coast, Graeme Bethune, a consultant at EnergyQuest in Adelaide, said by phone today. ''I would expect discovery rates next year to be at least as good as this year.''
The Gorgon venture with partners Exxon Mobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell Plc is the largest of more than a dozen planned LNG projects in Australia seeking to tap Asian demand for less-polluting alternatives to coal. Gorgon, set to start exporting LNG in 2014 from three five-million-metric-tons-a-year processing units, may add a fourth and fifth train at the Barrow Island site, Chevron said in September.
Satyr, drilled to 4,560 meters, found 130 meters of so- called ``net gas pay,'' the US oil producer said in its statement. Chevron said in October it discovered gas at its Achilles-1 well, about 160 kilometers (100 miles) northwest of Onslow, and was spending ``hundreds of millions of dollars'' on Australian exploration.
Chevron said Dec. 10 that it plans 2010 spending of $US17.3 billion on exploration, production and natural gas projects, including the Gorgon and Wheatstone ventures in Australia.
Gorgon and Wheatstone
''We are investing heavily in Australia on exploration, appraisal and seismic programs,'' Roy Krzywosinski, Chevron Australia's managing director, said in a statement today. The drilling will underpin Gorgon and Wheatstone, he said.
The Satyr-1 well is in a permit area operated by Chevron. Shell and Exxon also have interests, it said. Gas for Gorgon will be piped to Barrow Island for processing into liquid form from fields 130 to 200 kilometers (81 to 124 miles) off the coast, according to the project's Web site.
Woodside Petroleum, Australia's second-largest oil and gas producer and Chevron's rival in securing gas supplies in the state, has started a drilling campaign to find fuel to support an expansion of its $13 billion Pluto LNG project in Western Australia.
Source: http://www.smh.com.au/business/chevron-finds-more-gas-off-wa-20091215-ktgp.html
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