Browse

Total has filed an application to drill three exploration wells next year in the Browse basin off Australia’s North West coast. Total will drill the three wells on exploration permit WA-408-P, and 475 kilometres north of Broome. The three wells will be called Astrolabe, Crozet and Dufresne are being set to target Jurassic Plover with depths up to approximately 5000 metres below the seabed. Each well will be permanently plugged and abandoned and subsea equipment removed following the completion of each drilling campaign.
The company named six species each of whales and turtles that may pass through the area but said that none of these were likely to be affected. “The nearest turtle nesting site is 60 kilometres away at Browse Island and thus artificial lights or vessel activity will not affect the reproductive cycle of this listed turtle species,” Total stated.

Browse

Potential liquefied gas development could be developed from ConocoPhillips (COP) venturing on a major drilling program on its Browse gas project. It is expected to cost US$500 million, and expected to take 18 months to two years to conclude. Depending on the size of the gas find, the company will consider several LNG options including a development at James Price Point onshore Western Australia, piping the gas to Darwin and floating LNG, Creeger said

Wheatstone

GE Oil & Gas has signed a contract from Bechtel International to supply compression technology for two LNG refrigeration trains for the Chevron-operated Wheatstone Project in Western Australia. The contract will include four drive generators and 12 mechanical drives. Wheatstone natural gas projects have sealed a major gas supply deal, on the same day Tokyo Electric Power Co stated it may have to back out of a plan to purchase a stake in one of Chevron Corp. We are hoping to buy these stakes, but we are not sure if we can, give the worsening of our financial position," said Yukio Kani, Tepco's Fuel Department general manager.

Gorgon

CB&I has been awarded a $2.3bn contract to carry out mechanical, electrical and instrumentation work on the Gorgon Project on Barrow Island by Chevron Australia. Three LNG trains with a total capacity of 15millions tonnes per annum will support the construction which entails electrical, instrumentation, mechanical, piping and structural support.

Subsea 7 has been handed a huge contract for work on its mammoth Gorgon LNG project off Australia. This particular project will involve 15 spools, 48 tie in spools, 20 subsea structures and numerous electrical and hydraulic and umbilicals leads. In 2013operastions for the project are set to kick off. Gorgon’s development comprises of three liquefaction trains with total capacity of 15 million tonnes per annum which Chevron is targeting to come onstream in 2014. Chevron holds a 47% stake in the project along with ExxonMobil (25%), Shell (25%), Osaka Gas (1.25%),Tokyo Gas (1%) and Chubu Electric Power (0.417%).

Ichthys

Australia's planned carbon tax will have a very small impact on Inpex Corporation's proposed Ichthys LNG project, the companies managing executive officer and vice president, said in an interview last week. “We have been closely monitoring what has been developed in Australia regarding this legislation," Itano said. "The impact ... under the proposed system, to our Ichthys project is very limited." This amount is certainly some volume and we have always said that we will follow what is required of us under the legislation, whatever it be," Itano said. "So far we have studied every potential measure to cope with the emissions from the project, including planting trees and carbon capture and storage to collect CO2 at the production site, but we haven't made a decision as yet," he added. "So we will do offsetting methods ... and then some tax will be applied."

Prelude

Royal Dutch Shell is building a floating liquid natural gas plant called Prelude FLNG Project. It includes the building of am enourmous vessel with the goal of reaping offshore natural gas fields. The Prelude facility will process up to 110,000 barrels of oil equivalent daily and super-cool natural gas to –162°C, reducing its volume by 600 times in order for it to be shipped to customers around the world. The vessel is going to built by Samsung Heavy Industries, aiming to be launched by 2017 and Emerson Electric Co has signed on to do front-end work.

Pluto

Two months ago there was a huge project cost and timetable blowout caused by major damage to a pipe insulation at Woodside Petroleum’s. This incident troubled $14.9billion in Pluto LNG Development on the Burrup Peninsula. Woodside confirmed to West Business that problems with the pmnts insulation were part of the reason. The insulation is the latest technical hiccup for Pluto's engineering, construction, procurement and management contractor WorleyParsons Foster Wheeler, which also oversaw the installation of inappropriate flares.