Game Changer

OIL and gas giant Woodside discovered the North Rankin gas field about 135km northwest of Dampier just two years after Karratha was gazetted.

The Goodwyn and Angel fields were discovered in 1972 and together, these resources formed the basis of the North West Shelf Project.

The development of these resources required billions of dollars of investment in offshore infrastructure, an onshore processing gas plant and a supply base. During the project’s construction in the 1980s, it was the biggest engineering project in the oil and gas industry.

Offshore and onshore works commenced in 1980. The first domestic gas delivery was made from Dampier to southern WA in August 1984.

The liquefied natural gas (LNG) phase of the project commenced in 1985 with the construction of two LNG production trains. The first export delivery was made to Tokyo in 1989.

Today, the project is comprised of five LNG trains, three offshore production platforms and a floating production, storage and offtake facility for oil production.

To date, project participants have paid more than $26 billion in royalties and excise. The project injects more than $900 million a year into the Australian economy.

In 2012, Woodside commenced production at the Pluto LNG Project, which is located adjacent to the Karratha Gas Plant.

These two projects cemented Woodside as a leading producer of oil and gas, operating six per cent of global LNG supply. Australia is expected to become the world’s biggest exporter by 2020.

StreetWise Media thanks Woodside for supporting ’50 Years’, the digital magazine available at www.streetwisemedia.com.au.