Chevron announced today that they will begin their Australian whetstone project that they have been mulling over.
Whetstone Project Details: It is a processing platform down about 240 feet in the water off the coast of western Australia. From the platform base will be a pipeline that will run to an onshore processing facility at Ashburton North. The pipeline will have the capability of transporting gas and liquids. The initial volume expected to be funneled through the pipeline will be two trains of 8.9 million tons on a yearly basis with the potential to be increased to 25 million tons.
In a company statement, John Watson, chairman and chief executive officer, Chevron Corporation, said, “The Wheatstone Project is a legacy, value-creating investment that will provide Chevron with significant reserves and production growth.”
Since every platform requires a foundation, the company said that the base will cost about $29 billion dollars USD to complete and consists of two LNG processing trains. Further necessities that will be made are a domestic gas plant, required offshore infrastructure, the processing platform itself, subsea equipment, drilling and an export trunkline.
Gas is expected to be drilled, funneled through the pipeline, and processed by 2016 according to Chevron.
In another company statement, George Kirkland, vice chairman, Chevron Corporation, said, “Wheatstone will be a strong pillar of the Australian economy for decades. We have achieved this important milestone with the close support and cooperation of the Australian federal, state and local governments along with the local community, our partners and customers.”
The whetstone project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (operator 73.6%), Apache (13%), Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC 7%) and Shell (6.4%).
