Union says illegal workers on Gorgon gas project

The Maritime Union claims a number of illegal immigrants are working on the Gorgon gas project.
The union claims that a sub-contractor of Chevron is employing crane operators and deck hands on tourist visas and paying them below award wages.

"It's just a cheap grab for labour, cheap labour that it is on these multi-multi-billion dollar projects, it's a joke" said MUA Deputy National Secretary Mick Dolman.

Chevron looking to expand Gorgon gas project

Chevron is aiming to approve an expansion of the Gorgon gas project within 2 years. The news was released by Chevron's vice president of technology and services, Jim Blackwell, at a briefing for analysts in New York. More that $US25 billion worth of contracts have been awarded so far at the Gorgon gas project.

Gorgon gas project delayed

The Gorgon gas project is suffering from construction delays. The delays have already affected Australian contractor AJ Lucas who has warned its first half profits were likely to drop. AJ Lucas is contracted to provide shore crossings to link the upstream facilities for the Gorgon gas project to the onshore infrastructure on Barrow Island.

Clough wins $300m Gorgon contract

Clough Ltd has won a $300 million contract for work on the Gorgon gas project in Western Australia.

"The work involves the transportation and installation of approximately 90km of 50cm pipeline, both offshore and onshore, from Barrow Island to the Dampier Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline," Clough said.

Clough said engineering and procurement would commence immediately. Site work is expected to start and finish in 2012.

Mermaid Marine secures Gorgon contract

Mermaid Marine has secured a shipping contract for the Gorgon gas project. The 3-year contract is worth more than $80 million and includes the provision of a towing tug, barge and landing craft. The barge will be uses to transport fuel from the mainland to the Gorgon site.

Gorgon accommodation ship damaged

The ship used to accommodate workers at the Gorgon gas project site has been damaged. As previously reported by gorgongasproject.com, the cruise liner MS Finnmarken was brought to Barrow Island to house construction workers on the Gorgon site. It is believed the ship pulled away from its mooring at the Gorgon site and continued to sail to Dampier despite damage to its hull. The Western Australian government is now investigating the incident as it may have put the lives of some of the 270 workers on board at risk.

Monadelphous wins Gorgon contract

Monadelphous has won an $85 million contract for the installation of onshore pipelines, cables and tubes at the Gorgon gas project. Managing director of Monadelphous, Rob Velletri, said "This contract supports our objective of sustainable long term growth through expansion of our services with quality customers such as Chevron".

Gorgon and Wheatstone to create over 16,000 jobs at peak

Chevron has said that it expects the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects to create 16,500 jobs at their peak.
The Gorgon gas project is expected to supply 8% of global lng when fully operational.

Environmental Problems with Gorgon

The Greens have accused the WA State Goverment of negligence in protecting the environment on Barrow Island, home of the Gorgon Gas Project. They say that the government is failing to monitor the environment properly and point out the fact that environment officers meant to protect the island have not been employed yet. The government replied by saying that the selection process for six fly-in, fly-out conservation positions on Barrow Island was "now drawing to a conclusion".

Gorgon workers to live on luxury liner

Chevron has announced plans to house Gorgon construction workers on a luxury liner. The workers will live there until a permanent settlement is built on Barrow Island. The liner is called the Finnmarken and is from Norway. The vessel can accommodate 350 workers.

Aker Solutions wins Gorgon contract

Norwegian company Aker Solutions has won a $100 million contract to supply subsea umbilicals to the Gorgon gas project.
Around 264km of steel tube umbilicals will be supplied to Gorgon in order to connect the subsea production system to a liquified natural gas plant.
The umbilicals will be manufactured in Moss, Norway.

Gorgon to push resources salaries higher in WA

Resources salaries are expected to start rising soon as projects such as Gorgon ramp up. Salaries have been flat recently, but the increase in business activity should increase salaries within the next few months. This year has brought renewed confidence to the resources sector in Western Australia.

Unions quick to defend Gorgon job salaries

West Australian Construction union boss Kevin Reynolds has defended the Gorgon pay deal saying workers deserved compensation for the isolated lifestyle. He said "They are locked away on this prison island", referring to the remote location of Barrow Island. The pay deal will see tradesmen paid up to $160,000 a year, with labourers being paid up to $150,000 a year.

Gorgon workers to be paid up to $150,000 a year

Gorgon contractor Thiess has agreed to pay labourers and tradesmen up to $150,000-a-year. Workers will get a 9 day break every 26 days and up to 5 weeks annual leave.
The head of the Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union, Kevin Reynold said @I wouldn't say they're massive pay rises, but it's a reasonable settlement for an agreement for workers who have got to work in some of the harshest conditions in the bloody country and work 70 hours a week to achieve that sort of money.".

New gas find could boost Gorgon

A new gas discovery offshore in Western Australia could be a new supply of gas for the massive Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island. Chevron Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski welcomed the new discovery. The gas find is in the Yellowglen-1 exploration well around 250 kilometres north-west of Onslow.

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.