Media release – Full steam ahead for $6 billion compression project at Gorgon

The voice of the oil and gas industry said today’s Final Investment Decision (FID) on the approximately AUD$6 billion Jansz-Io (J-lC) compression project at Gorgon means affordable, reliable and cleaner energy for customers in Western Australia and across the Asia-Pacific region for years to come.

APPEA Chief Executive Andrew McConville said Chevron and the Gorgon joint venture participants will use world leading subsea compression technology to enhance the recoverability of the Jansz-Io field to maintain long-term natural gas supply to the LNG and domestic gas plants on Barrow Island.

“This is great news for the Western Australian economy, Western Australian gas users, local job seekers and the environment,” Mr McConville said.

“For the approximately $6 billion FID to be reached shows the confidence in our industry, the hundreds of thousands of jobs we support both directly and indirectly and how we have a large role to play in a cleaner energy future.

“The announcement guarantees long-term, reliable operations, ensuring Gorgon continues to deliver vital natural gas supplies to customers in Western Australia and Asia for decades to come.”

APPEA Western Australia Director Claire Wilkinson said the project is expected to provide meaningful contracting opportunities for Australian businesses.

“J-IC represents the largest capital investment made by Chevron in Australia since the Gorgon Stage 2 (GS2) Project – currently underway– was sanctioned in 2018,” Ms Wilkinson said.

“It’s expected there will be more than 350 jobs during the construction phase including opportunities for local engineering, onshore construction and offshore installation work, plus longer term contracting and employment opportunities in operations and maintenance.

Key facts on the $6 billion project:

• Offshore installation work associated with J-IC will include approximately 6,500 tonnes of subsea structures.
• Power for the subsea J-IC infrastructure will be distributed via a 27,000-tonne floating platform (Field Control Station) that will be tied to the seabed by 12 mooring lines and will normally be unattended.
• Onshore at Barrow Island there will be 14 kilometres of land cable along an existing infrastructure corridor, connected to a 135-kilometre submarine power cable to the Field Control Station.
• Construction and installation activities are estimated to take approximately five years.
• J-IC follows the Gorgon Stage 2 (GS2) project, which will deliver gas to the Gorgon plant from four new Jansz-Io and seven new Gorgon wells when completed in 2022.
• The Chevron-operated Gorgon Project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (47.3 percent), ExxonMobil (25 percent), Shell (25 percent), Osaka Gas (1.25 percent), Tokyo Gas (1 percent) and JERA (0.417 percent).

Read the media release