Chevron Corp said yesterday it plans to develop a liquefied natural gas (LNG) export venture based on its 100 percent-owned Wheatstone field off northwestern Australia.
Chevron aims to start engineering and design work for an initial 5 million tonnes per year natural gas facility next year, the San Ramon, California-based company said in a statement.
The facility will be built on the northwest coast of mainland Australia, it said, ruling out a location on Barrow Island, the nearby site of Chevron's Gorgon LNG venture, which has been delayed well beyond its original 2006 go-ahead date because of lengthy environmental approvals and cost pressures.
The announcement may signal further holdups at Gorgon -- a joint venture with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp -- as Chevron focuses on its new 100 percent-owned venture.
Roy Krzywonsinski, the managing director of Chevron Australia, said the company was "committed to both projects."
"In our view Wheatstone will not have an impact on Gorgon and, quite frankly, will not change our sense of urgency to move Gorgon forward," Krzywonsinski told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview. "We believe that we've got enough gas resources to support two Chevron-operated LNG facilities."
There has also been persistent speculation of dissent among the joint venture partners as costs continue to rise.
Gorgon's last cost estimate of A$11 billion (US$10.2 billion) was made more than four years ago and some analysts say a revised figure would be roughly double.
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