Woodside Energy has completed the transfer of operatorship of the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture (GBJV) and Kipper Unit Joint Venture (KUJV) from Esso Australia Resources, taking over operation of one of Australia's largest domestic gas-producing asset portfolios.
The transition covers operatorship rather than ownership of the assets. Woodside and Esso Australia Resources each retain a 50% participating interest in the GBJV and a 32.5% participating interest in the KUJV.
The Gippsland Basin assets have supplied energy to Australian homes and industry for decades and currently account for about 40% of domestic gas demand on Australia's east coast.
"Today marks a new chapter for the Gippsland Basin joint ventures as Woodside assumes operatorship of these nationally significant energy assets which play a critical role in supplying gas to Australian homes and businesses.
"As operator, Woodside's focus is on maintaining safe, reliable operations and supporting continued energy security for the east coast.
"Our company was established more than 70 years ago and named after the small town of Woodside in Gippsland, where our founders first began exploring for oil. We are proud to be returning to Victoria as these assets' operator and look forward to continuing to contribute to eastern Australia's energy future.
"One hundred per cent of Woodside's gas production from the Gippsland Basin is supplied to the domestic market," said Liz Westcott, Woodside Chief Executive Officer.
According to Woodside, the Gippsland teams will continue to support operations as the company applies its operating systems, governance and technical capabilities to ongoing production, investment, late-life asset management and decommissioning.
The company also said it will continue assessing development opportunities within the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture, where identified prospects have the potential to supply up to 200 petajoules of additional gas to Australia's east coast market using existing infrastructure.
Approximately 1,200 people support Gippsland Basin operations across offshore and onshore facilities, including the Longford Gas Plant and Long Island Point processing facility.