Chubu of Japan to buy part of Gorgon LNG project

Japanese utility Chubu Electric Power Co is to 0.417% of Australia's Gorgon LNG project from U.S. oil giant Chevron. The stake is said to be worth around $170 million.

Chubu also said it would buy 1.44 million tonnes of LNG per year from the project's operator Chevron for 25 years from 2014.

$60m Gorgon contract won by Monadelphous

Monadelphous Group Ltd has won a $60 million contract for facilities management services at Chevron's massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas project on Barrow Island in Western Australia.

Monadelphous is scheduled to commence work on site at Barrow Island in February. The contract is initially for three years, with the option for two further one-year extensions.

Gorgon project could get bigger: Chevron

Chevron has said that it would like to expand its recently announced Gorgon liquefied-natural-gas project in Western Australia, but that will depend on the available reserves and completion of third production train.

"From Day One, we've always looked at a master plan that would allow us to put five trains on the island," Chevron's George Kirkland said on the sidelines of the World Gas Conference.

In addition to Chevron's operating stake of 50% in Gorgon, Exxon Mobil Corp and Royal Dutch Shell PLC each hold a 25% share.

Gorgon to generate 10,000 jobs

The massive Gorgon Gas Project in Western Australia is expected to create up to 10,000 direct and indirect jobs. Already around 1,000 people are already working on Gorgon's design and procurement. Chevron has already received a number of unsolicited applications from jobseekers for all operations, engineering, supply chain and logistics areas.

Gorgon logistics services contract won by DB Schenker

The Integrated Logistics Services (ILS) contract for the Gorgon Gas Project has been won by DB Schenker. The contract is worth around AU$590 million.

Ron Koehler, CEO Schenker Australia Pty Ltd, commented: "We have a successful track record in upstream and downstream oil and gas projects given our ability to deliver services on time and in budget. We are proud to be part of such a significant project as Gorgon and committed to deliver a best in class service. Already we have in place a core project team, whose numbers will be growing significantly following the commencement of operations on the 15th of September 2009."

Contractors vie to secure Gorgon gas deals

The Gorgon gas project has contractors lining up for a slice of the $43 billion it is expected to cost to build. Already $2 billion has been signed-off and about 1,400 new jobs created.
One of the contractors who has recently secured a Gorgon deal is Compass Australia, which won a 150 million three-year contract to feed workers on the gas project.
The company is planning to hire 1,000 people in WA during the next 8 months.

The Gorgon project, Australia's all time biggest resources project, is due to start producing gas for sale in 2014.

Korea Gas Corp agrees to buy Gorgon gas

Korea Gas Corp has agreed to buy 1.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas a year from Chevron. The gas will come from the Gorgon gas project. It is the largest long-term LNG deal ever signed between Australia and South Korea and is estimated to be worth 30 billion Australian dollars ($26 billion). The South Korea government-owned buyer has an option to extend the 15-year agreement for a further five years.

Clough Wins 20% Share of Gorgon Construction Contract

Clough has won a 20% share of a A$2.7 billion engineering and construction contract for the Gorgon gas project in Western Australia. The Perth-based company was awarded the contract by Chevron. Chevron and partners Exxon Mobil and Shell signed an agreement yesterday to build the A$43 billion Gorgon venture.

Gorgon Gas Project gets final approval

The partners in the Gorgon gas project in Western Australia officially gave the project the final go ahead in Perth on Monday.

Chevron, Shell and Exxon Mobile have all now approved final investment in the project. The decision was welcome by the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, who said:

"The Gorgon investment will be Australia's largest-ever resources development and is expected to generate $300 billion in Australian export earnings".

At the signing ceremony, WA Premier Colin Barnett said "The project will create about 10,000 jobs during the peak construction phase with more than 3,500 direct and indirect jobs sustained throughout the life of the project".

Chevron to give official go-ahead for Gorgon next week

Chevron are expected to give the official go-ahead to the Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island next week. The company will approve an investment of about A$42 billion. California-based Chevron currently owns 50% of the project with Exxon and Shell each owning 25%. With the help of Gorgon, Australia may jump to first or second among global LNG producers within 10 years.

Chevron signs $70 billion Gorgon gas deal with Japan and South Korea

Chevron has announced it has signed deals to sell $70 billion worth of LNG from the Gorgon gas project to Japanese and South Korean companies.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has told Parliament that the 20-25-year deal will provide 3 million tonnes of LNG to the companies every year.

The record trade deal smashes ExxonMobil's $50 billion deal last month to sell gas to PetroChina.

Gorgon may be world's biggest CO2 storage project

The Gorgon Gas Project could become the world’s biggest carbon capture and storage (CCS) project. The Gorgon Project aims to extract natural gas from the Gorgon and Jansz fields over a 40 year period. It is Australia’s largest energy resource project, forecast to generate more than $200 billion in sales and to double Australia’s annual production of Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).

Australian steel industry worried about being locked out of Gorgon gas contracts

The Australian steel industry is worried about not getting access to the contracts for the Gorgon Gas Project on Barrow Island in Western Australia. The Australian Steel Institute recently complained to the WA premier Colin Barnett. In their complaint, the institute said that Australian companies were not being given the opportunity to compete for work on the massive gas project. The reply from the premier provided little encouragement to Australian steelmakers.

The chairman of the institute, Ian Cairns, said "These are Australian resources. These major projects are on Australian soil. We're going to be operating them and taking advantage of them but we are certainly not getting a fair crack at the construction work involved in them, which is massive".

World-class team required for Gorgon Gas Project - Citigroup Analyst

A Citigroup analyst has said that the majority of work on the Gorgon Gas Project will be given to international companies with expertise in gas projects.

The analyst, Julian Bu, said that "much of the expertise seems to reside offshore, not in Australia".
Bu also said that downstream, domestic contractors’ roles are mostly limited to earth-moving, completing civil works and mechanical and electrical engineering.

The Gorgon Gas Project is a joint venture between Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell.

Chevron believed to be talking to China about Gorgon gas

Chevron is believed to be in talks with China Petroleum & Chemical Corp and China National Offshore Oil Corp to sell some of its uncommitted 3 million tons of gas in the Gorgon Gas Project.
The uncommitted gas is believed to be valued at over $65 billion over 20 years.

The talks come after Exxon signed a $50 billion deal with PetroChina Co. to provide gas from the Gorgon Gas Project.

Rudd to visit Gorgon site

The Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, will today tour the site of the proposed $50 billion Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island.

Australia's largest proposed resources project is being built on an A-class reserve in the north-west of Australia.

Last week Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett gave Gorgon the final approval needed to make the project a reality.

WA Premier welcomes approval of Gorgon Gas Project

Colin Barnett, the Premier of Western Australia, has welcomed the decision to approve the Gorgon Gas Project by Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett.

The Premier said today "I don't think any project in Western Australia has had the degree of scrutiny of the Gorgon project'. He also said he was pleased that federal and state governments could agree on the project.

The Gorgon Gas Project is worth around $50 billion.

Gorgon Project Approved by Peter Garrett

The Australian Federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett gave the go-ahead to the Gorgon Gas Project on Barrow Island today. Garrett travelled to Barrow Island with Chevron representatives to assure himself that the environment would be taken care of during all phases of the project.

In doing so, Garrett imposed nearly 30 further environmental conditions on the project (Barrow Island is home to a number of endangered species and is often referred to by environmentalists as Australia's Ark).

Construction is now due to start on the project later this year.