The Gorgon Gas Fields
The Gorgon gas fields are located offshore, approximately 60km from Barrow Island and approximately 200km west of Dampier, on the Australian mainland. Five fields have so far been discovered - Gorgon, Chrysaor, Dionysus, West Tryal Rocks and Spar. Collectively called Greater Gorgon, these fields have been extensively appraised, including the eight Gorgon wells.
The field is being developed by the Gorgon Venture, a joint venture of ChevronTexaco, Shell and ExxonMobil. ChevronTexaco, with a four-sevenths interest, is the operator of the Gorgon development on behalf of the Gorgon Venture.
Gorgon oil reserves
Up to 13.8 trillion cubic feet of hydrocarbon reserves were certified as proven in the Greater Gorgon area. This includes 9.6 trillion cubic feet of proven hydrocarbon reserves in the Gorgon field - enough for a two-train LNG project.
"First oil from the Gorgon field is expected in 2014."
Proven plus probable reserves in the Greater Gorgon area therefore exceed 17.6 trillion cubic feet, with certified possible reserves increasing that total to 40 trillion cubic feet. The proven reserves in the Greater Gorgon area are the energy equivalent of 6.7 billion barrels of oil. The raw gas contains 12-15% carbon dioxide.
Gorgon field development
Chevron is planning a phased subsea development of the Gorgon field, starting at North Gorgon. Subsea wells will be tied back to a gravity-based platform located in the shallower water depths to the east of the field. The gas will be processed on the platform prior to export via trunkline to the LNG plant site in the Burrup Peninsular.
The current greenfield Gorgon LNG plan is based on three liquefaction trains, each capable of producing 15 million tonnes per year. The $50bn LNG plant was approved by the Environmental Protection Authority in August 2009. Groundbreaking for the LNG plant took place in December 2009.
KBR were awarded the contract to Engineer, Procure and Construction Manage (EPCM) the LNG downstream and logistics portion of the multi-billion dollar Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG Project.
GE won a $400m contract to provide its advanced LNG technology for the production of gas from the Gorgon field.
Matchtech currently provide resource solutions to both of these companies.
If you are interested in either of these projects please send your CV and a contact number to gorgon@matchtech.com