North West Shelf (NWS) operator Woodside Petroleum said project participants have approved the Greater Western Flank Phase 2 (GWF-2) development off the northwest coast of Australia.
GWF-2 will develop 1.6 Tcf of raw gas from the combined Keast, Dockrell, Sculptor, Rankin, Lady Nora and Pemberton fields using subsea infrastructure and a 35km, 16in pipeline connecting to the existing Goodwyn A platform.
The total investment for the project is expected to be approximately US$2 billion, with initial project start-up expected in 2H 2019.
Gas delivery will initially commence from five wells in the Lady Nora, Pemberton, Sculptor and Rankin fields, followed by the remaining three wells in the Keast and Dockrell fields in 1H 2020.
GWF-2 is the fourth major gas development for the NWS project in the past seven years. NWS represents an investment of more than $34 billion and is a joint venture between six major international companies.
This includes Woodside 16.67%, BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf) (16.67%), BP Developments Australia (16.67%), Chevron Australia (16.67%), Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) (16.67%), and Shell Australia (16.67%).
Woodside’s CEO Peter Coleman said GWF-2 is an economically robust project that will deliver significant value.
“The GWF-2 project continues a series of NWS project subsea tiebacks that are commercializing its gas reserves in a timely and efficient manner to extend plateau production,” he said.
The Greater Western Flank Phase 1 (GWF-1), which received approval in 2011 includes the development of the Goodwyn GH and Tidepole fields, via a subsea tieback to the existing Goodwyn A platform too. According to Woodside, the project remains on schedule for start-up in early 2016.
In 2014, NWS celebrated 30 years of domestic gas production in Western Australia and 25 years of liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the Asia-Pacific region. It has delivered more than 4000 LNG cargoes since 1989.