Western Gas picks Pluto LNG, North West Shelf for Equus gas processing
Western Gas on December 20 said it has teamed up with North West Shelf project participants and Pluto LNG to process up to 3mn metric tons/year of low CO2 gas from its Equus gas project offshore Western Australia (WA) for LNG export and the local market from 2027.
“The agreements provide Western Gas with a competitive gas processing solution using existing infrastructure to backfill existing LNG plants and strengthening domestic energy security,” the company said.
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Equus gas will be supplied via a floating production storage and offtake facility (FPSO) and new offshore pipeline connecting the Equus fields to the existing offshore Pluto A Platform in Commonwealth waters. Equus gas will then be transported onshore via the existing Pluto trunkline to the Pluto LNG facility and via Woodside’s Pluto to Karratha Gas Plant (KGP) Interconnector to KGP.
Western Gas said it has received WA government support for the Equus development and LNG export using existing infrastructure subject to the application of WA’s 15% domestic gas policy. The final investment decision on the Equus project is planned for 2024 and first gas in 2027.
Woodside CEO Meg O’Neill in a separate statement said that by leveraging existing infrastructure, Woodside would enable Western Gas to access a competitive option to supply Asian LNG markets while providing additional domestic gas security for Western Australia.
“This is an important step in maximising utilisation of our existing infrastructure to deliver domestic gas and LNG to local and global customers and value for our shareholders and community,” she said. “The proposed gas processing opportunity with Western Gas for the Equus offshore resource demonstrates the flexibility provided by the Pluto-KGP Interconnector, which commenced operations in March 2022, to optimise available capacity at our world-class facilities.”
The North West Shelf project participants are Woodside (Operator; 33.33%); BP (16.67%); Chevron (16.67%); Japan Australia LNG (16.67%) and Shell (16.67%).
Woodside Burrup is the manager and operator of Pluto LNG. The Pluto LNG project participants are Woodside (90%); Kansai Electric Power (5%) and Tokyo Gas (5%).