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Chevron Announces Preferred Site for Wheatstone Project
PERTH, Western Australia, 19 December 2008 – A subsidiary of Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), Chevron Australia Pty Ltd today announced Ashburton North, on the mainland of Western Australia, as its preferred site to locate the Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) and domestic gas project.
Chevron, which has a 100 percent interest and is operator of the Wheatstone Project, selected Ashburton North as the preferred site after a screening and public consultation process which considered a broad range of environmental, social and engineering factors. The site is 12 kilometres west of the town of Onslow in the western Pilbara region and about 200 km south of the Wheatstone natural gas field.
The Western Australian Government has committed to reserving land at Ashburton North for Chevron to further investigate the feasibility of developing proposed LNG and domestic gas processing plants.
Chevron Australia Managing Director, Roy Krzywosinski said, “We have made good progress on the Wheatstone opportunity this year and plan to move into front-end engineering and design in 2009. This is an important step along the project development path and we look forward to the full support and encouragement of governments as we seek to develop the Wheatstone Project in this competitive global LNG market.”
Chevron is seeking approval for a 25 million tonne per annum (mtpa) LNG and domestic gas plant complex, along with associated offshore infrastructure. The initial development consists of two LNG processing trains with a nominal capacity of 5 mtpa each. A separate, but co-located domestic gas plant designed to initially process up to 250 million standard cubic feet per day is included as part of the development plan.
Krzywosinski added, “The Wheatstone Project is set to be one of Australia’s largest resource projects offering significant economic benefits including employment, government revenue, and local business opportunities. In addition, Wheatstone will be a source of natural gas supply - the cleanest of the fossil fuels - for decades to come.
“Chevron intends to work with gas resource owners in the Carnarvon Basin to attract additional gas to the Wheatstone Project, as well as continuing to consult key government and community groups,” said Krzywosinski.
Chevron will continue its consultation with the Onslow community, Thalanyji People, Ashburton Shire, Pilbara regional bodies, various government agencies and environmental stakeholders.
Through its Australian subsidiary, Chevron has been present in Australia for more than 50 years. It operates the planned Gorgon and Wheatstone Projects, the Barrow Island and Thevenard Island oilfields and is a foundation partner in the North West Shelf Venture (natural gas, crude oil and condensate) and in the Browse LNG development. Chevron Australia is a significant investor in offshore north-western Australia exploration, one of Chevron’s four global focus areas for exploration. www.chevron.com/australia