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Ground Breaking Ceremony Marks Start of Gorgon Construction
PERTH, Western Australia, 1 December 2009 – Chevron Australia and its joint venture participants, Exxon Mobil and Shell have commemorated the start of construction of the AUD$43 billion Gorgon natural gas project with a special ground breaking ceremony on Barrow Island off the Pilbara coast of Western Australia.
Senior executives from Chevron, Shell and Exxon Mobil were joined on the site of the proposed gas processing facility by the Western Australian Premier, the Hon. Colin Barnett MLA; the Federal Minister for Resources and Energy, the Hon. Martin Ferguson AM, MP; and other invited dignitaries.
The Gorgon Project is operated by Chevron (47.75 percent) in joint venture with ExxonMobil (25 percent), Shell (25 percent), Osaka Gas (1.25 percent) and Tokyo Gas (one percent).
The occasion was marked by a ground breaking ceremony near where the three Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) trains, domestic gas plant, LNG loading facility and CO2 Injection Plant will be built.
President of Chevron Asia Pacific Exploration and Production, Jim Blackwell, said today’s event formally recognised the start of construction of this legacy project for Chevron and Australia’s largest single resource project.
"The Greater Gorgon area is estimated to have 40 trillion cubic feet of natural gas resources and is well positioned to meet the growing demand for natural gas in the Asia-Pacific region," Blackwell said.
Managing Director of Chevron Australia, Roy Krzywosinski, added that construction of the project will take about five years with first gas due in 2014.
"Since the Gorgon Project was sanctioned in September, preliminary site works have commenced. The accommodation complex to house more than 3000 construction workers will be one of the first facilities to be built at the site.
"Major construction activity is expected to commence in the second half of 2010," Krzywosinski said.
The Gorgon Project is forecast to create more than 10,000 direct and indirect jobs and result in more than AUD$33 billion1 being spent on Australian goods and services.
The Gorgon site comprises 300 hectares of land - or about 1.3 percent Barrow Island’s land mass.
Chevron is one of the world's leading integrated energy companies and through its Australian subsidiaries, has been present in Australia for more than 50 years. With the ingenuity and commitment of more than 1,400 people, Chevron Australia leads the development of the Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas projects; manages its equal one-sixth interest in the North West Shelf Venture; and operates Australia’s largest onshore oilfield on Barrow Island and the Thevenard Island oilfields. The company is also a participant in the Browse liquefied natural gas development and is a significant investor in exploration offshore northwest Australia. In addition, Chevron’s Perth-based Global Technology Centre provides technology support and solutions to the company’s operations in Australia and around the world. www.chevronaustralia.com
Note to Editor:
1 ACIL Tasman independent research based on a 30 year project life
Cautionary Statement Relevant to Forward-Looking Information for the Purpose of "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Some of the items discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements about Chevron’s activities in Australia. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects," "believes," "seeks," "estimates," "budgets" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The statements are based upon management’s current expectations, estimates and projections; are not guarantees of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company’s control and are difficult to predict. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are changes in prices of, demand for and supply of crude oil and natural gas; actions of competitors; timely completion of the development of the fields; the potential failure to achieve expected net production from existing and future crude-oil and natural-gas development projects; the company’s acquisition or disposition of assets; the inability or failure of the company’s joint-venture partners to fund their share of operations and development activities; the potential disruption or interruption of production and development activities due to war, accidents, political events, civil unrest, or severe weather; government-mandated sales, divestitures, recapitalizations and changes in fiscal terms or restrictions on scope of company operations; general economic and political conditions; and the factors set forth under the heading "Risk Factors" on pages 30 and 31 of the company’s 2008 Annual Report on Form 10-K. The reader should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.