VZCZCXRO2078
RR RUEHDT RUEHPB
DE RUEHPT #0040/01 2390505
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 270505Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL PERTH
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0416
INFO RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA 0422
RUEHBN/AMCONSUL MELBOURNE 0314
RUEHPT/AMCONSUL PERTH 0448
RUEHDN/AMCONSUL SYDNEY 0318
RUCNARF/ASEAN REGIONAL FORUM COLLECTIVE
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0011
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0011
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0007
RUEHJA/AMEMBASSY JAKARTA 0011
RHMFISS/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHINGTON DC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 06 PERTH 000040 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EEB MONOSSON 
DOE FOR JEFF SKEER 
USDOC FOR 3132/USFCS/OIO/EAP/JRULAND 
USDOC FOR 4530/MAC/EAP/OPB/GPAINE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ENRG EINV EPET AS
SUBJECT: INFRASTRUCTURE KEY FOR AUSTRALIAN LNG PROJECTS 
 
REF: A. A.  CANBERRA 758 
     ¶B. B.  PERTH 38 
     ¶C. C.  PERTH 39 
     ¶D. D.  CANBERRA 630 
     ¶E. E.  PERTH 36 
     ¶F. F.  CANBERRA 724 
     ¶G. G.  2008 CANBERRA 1279 
 
PERTH 00000040  001.2 OF 006 
 
 
THIS MESSAGE IS SENSITIVE BUT UNCLASSIFIED. 
 
 
 
¶1. (U) SUMMARY: Australia's conventional liquefied natural gas 
(LNG) industry is set to take a significant step forward over 
the next 18 months when a third LNG project, Woodside's Pluto, 
becomes operational and the massive Gorgon Gas project in 
Western Australia (WA) receives the widely-anticipated go ahead. 
 Infrastructure will be a key factor for the slate of other LNG 
projects seeking to exploit Northwest Australia's large, 
off-shore natural gas reserves.  There are likely to be fewer 
stand-alone LNG processing plants, especially in the Kimberley, 
and more third-party supply arrangements, long-distance 
pipelines, and floating LNG facilities.  The Australian Federal 
government's possible new, tougher "use it or lose it" policy 
toward exploration leases, and pressure from environmental 
concerns, are also likely to favor consolidation of LNG 
infrastructure.  Conventional LNG, unlike rival coal seam 
projects in the east, will receive some benefits from 
Australia's proposed emissions trading scheme. End Summary. 
 
 
 
Massive Gas Reserves, But Remote 
 
 
 
¶2.  (U) The vast majority of Australia's estimated 150 trillion 
cubic feet (tcf) of conventional natural gas reserves are 
located in the country's remote northwest region off the Western 
Australian and Northern Territory (NT) coastline.  Until 
recently, only a handful of known reserves have been 
commercialized because of deep water, lack of markets, and 
minimal infrastructure in the region's small, remote coastal 
towns. With global demand for LNG expected to increase rapidly 
over the next two decades, and technological advances in 
deep-water exploration and production, the Australian LNG sector 
represents a major growth opportunity (Ref A). 
 
 
 
Two operating LNG plants:  Northwest Shelf and Darwin 
 
 
 
¶3.  (U) Australia has two producing LNG plants, the Northwest 
Shelf Joint Venture (NWSJV) in WA, and Darwin LNG in NT.  The 
NWSJV began operating in 1989, underpinned by long-term supply 
contracts to Japanese utility companies, and a domestic gas 
pipeline financed by the WA state government.  The venture 
currently produces 16.3 million tons per year (mtpa), and has 
shipped over 2700 LNG cargoes, mainly to Japan, South Korea and, 
recently, China.  Woodside Energy operates the facility, and is 
one of six equal partners (see Table 1).  ConocoPhillips' Darwin 
LNG began shipments in 2006, and currently produces 4.3 mtpa, 
again mainly for Japanese utility customers. 
 
 
 
Slate of LNG Projects 
 
 
 
¶4.  (U) At least ten other conventional LNG projects worth an 
estimated A$187.5 billion (US$150 billion) are underway or under 
consideration in Northwest Australia (see Table 2).  Woodside 
Energy, Australia's largest independent energy producer, expects 
global LNG consumption to grow by seven percent a year through 
¶2020.  The company has fast-tracked construction of its 
 
PERTH 00000040  002.2 OF 006 
 
 
90-percent-owned A$12 billion (US$9.6 billion) Pluto project, 
soon to be Australia's third operating LNG facility when it 
begins producing 3 - 4 mtpa in early 2011.  Woodside maintains 
that the Pluto site -- located literally across the road from 
the NWSJV with good access to port and other infrastructure -- 
can be expanded to accommodate up to five processing units 
(trains), and is therefore ideally suited to be the centerpiece 
of a Pilbara LNG infrastructure hub.  With insufficient gas 
reserves as yet, Woodside has been in discussion with third 
parties in the region such as Apache and Hess to supply gas for 
Pluto's expansion. 
 
 
 
Gorgon Gas Likely Fourth LNG Plant 
 
 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The massive A$50 billion (US$40 billion) Chevron-led 
Gorgon Gas Project in WA is poised to be Australia's fourth 
operating LNG project.  Partners Chevron (50 percent), Shell and 
ExxonMobil (25 percent each) plan to construct a 15-mtpa 
three-train plant on protected nature reserve Barrow Island, 60 
kilometers off the WA Pilbara coast.  The project will undertake 
the world's largest carbon sequestration effort, injecting 
excess CO2 from the gas into an underground aquifer on the 
island.  In later stages, Gorgon will supply natural gas to the 
domestic market via a pipeline to the mainland.  The project is 
underpinned by plentiful gas supplies (40 tcf, a quarter of 
Australia's known gas reserves), and off-take agreements are in 
place with Japanese utilities, India's Petronet and, most 
recently, ExxonMobil's A$50 billion (US$40 billion) 30-year 
agreement to supply PetroChina (Ref B).  Despite massive gas 
supplies, project officials told us during a visit to the island 
in April, expanding the Gorgon facility's future production will 
be constrained by land-use restrictions on the protected nature 
reserve. 
 
 
 
Market Says Gorgon Investment Decision Imminent 
 
 
 
¶6.  (U) The Gorgon project partners are expected to make a final 
investment decision by mid-September.  The WA government granted 
the project final environmental approval August 10, followed by 
federal environmental approval on August 26 (Ref C).  Chevron 
has awarded AU$1.7 billion (US$1.36 billion) worth of services 
contracts in the past six months in advance of final project 
approval.  The project is so large that Federal Resources 
Minister Martin Ferguson recently called it a "stimulus package" 
in itself, with up to 6000 jobs during construction, an 
estimated A$33 billion (US$26.4 billion) worth of locally 
purchased goods, and government revenue forecast to be A$40 
billion (US$32 billion) over the life of the project.  Both 
analysts and spokespersons from rival producers have told us 
that when the Gorgon project gets into full swing, they expect 
the ensuing large demand for labor, supplies, and services will 
constrain the timelines of stand-alone LNG projects that follow. 
 
 
 
Chevron's Wheatstone: Fifth Conventional LNG Plant? 
 
 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Chevron is also fast-tracking development of its 
wholly-owned Wheatstone project, announcing its intention 
earlier this year to build a stand-alone LNG plant at Ashburton, 
a small fishing port near Onslow.  Underpinned by gas from 
Chevron's Wheatstone and Iago gasfields, as well as from 
third-party suppliers, Wheatstone will produce LNG for export 
and natural gas for the WA domestic market.  Significant 
questions remain over whether and how the project will unfold: 
several exploration leases involved in the project may be 
subject to the federal government's new, tougher "use it or lose 
 
PERTH 00000040  003.2 OF 006 
 
 
it" policy (Ref D); rival Woodside has argued that Wheatstone 
gas could be more efficiently developed through third-party 
supply arrangements with an expanded Pluto plant; and one 
industry insider confided to us that the WA state government 
"isn't happy" with the proposed site at Ashburton.  According to 
a senior resources lobby group official, Chevron officials 
themselves have admitted the timeline for Wheatstone, 18 - 24 
months behind Gorgon, is likely to slip once Gorgon is underway. 
 
 
 
Woodside's Pluto Expansion: Third-Party Supply Options 
 
 
 
¶8.  (U) Third-party gas supplies are likely to be how Woodside 
will begin expanding its Pluto LNG plant.  The company, pursuing 
an avowed corporate ambition to build a new LNG processing train 
every two years, wants to retain the advantage of having a 
skilled-up construction workforce already on site at Pluto to 
fast-track a second and third processing train.  The expansion 
plans have come under pressure from the imminent go-ahead for 
the Gorgon project, and Chevron's decision to build its own LNG 
plant for Wheatstone rather than supply gas to Pluto.  In a 
significant move on August 20, Woodside announced it intends to 
go forward with the front end engineering and design stage 
(FEED) for the expansion.  While no agreements with third-party 
gas suppliers have been made public, a company insider told us 
that the move to FEED "presumably means that at least one of 
these third-party gas supply deals has been sealed." 
 
 
 
 
 
Browse Basin: No Infrastructure 
 
 
 
¶9.  (U) Woodside is also pushing to establish an on-shore LNG 
plant near Broome to process gas from its Browse project, in 
which is it one of five partners (see Table 1), located off the 
state's Kimberley coast.  The remote Browse Basin is rich in 
known off-shore gas reserves, some 60 tcf, but the nearby 
coastal region has few roads, no commercial port, and limited 
services.  The area is also subject to complex Indigenous land 
rights, and strong environmental concerns - it is considered one 
of the world's last pristine wilderness regions.  WA Premier 
Colin Barnett has proposed developing an LNG "precinct" just 
north of Broome to accommodate several LNG plants and associated 
services, bring benefits to local Indigenous groups, and limit 
the LNG on-shore footprint. 
 
 
 
Pipelines, FLNGs 
 
 
 
¶10.  (U) However, other gas stakeholders, including some of 
Woodside's Browse project partners, believe it could make more 
sense to transport Browse Basin gas by pipeline for processing 
at either the Pilbara to the west, or Darwin to the east, where 
infrastructure and services are relatively developed.  The idea 
that long-distance pipelines could be commercially feasible was 
underlined last year when Japan's Inpex decided to pipe gas from 
its Ichthys field in the Browse Basin 480 kilometers to Darwin, 
rather than to the WA mainland.  Floating LNG facilities (FLNGs) 
offer another alternative to on-shore processing plants.  The 
FLNG technology enables development of smaller gas fields, and 
would potentially limit the involvement of the state 
governments.  Shell recently announced its intention to pursue 
this option to develop its Prelude field in the Browse Basin, 
with a possible tie-back to the Ichthys pipeline.  The WA state 
government adamantly opposes these options for Kimberley gas. 
Barnett put it bluntly while on a recent visit to China to 
encourage Chinese investment in the Browse Basin:  "Kimberley 
 
PERTH 00000040  004.2 OF 006 
 
 
gas will be processed in the Kimberley" (Ref E).  The main 
reason behind WA's objection to offshore processing is not about 
royalties, which go directly to the federal government, as they 
control operations in "Commonwealth Waters" more than 3 km from 
the coast, but about the spin-offs from an on-shore facility, 
including regional development, jobs, and the potential supply 
of natural gas to the domestic market. 
 
 
 
Inpex: Darwin Expansion 
 
 
 
¶11.  (SBU) Like WA's Pilbara, the Darwin LNG precinct is seen to 
offer advantages for additional LNG developments in terms of 
infrastructure availability.  Econoff was told by a Japanese 
government official that Inpex will announce its final decision 
on the Darwin LNG plant by the end of the year, possibly as 
early as October.  According to the Inpex official, the company 
has decided to avoid investment in WA because of the long delays 
and poor regulation the company experienced under the previous 
Carpenter administration.  However, Inpex is under pressure to 
have a kind of "base camp" established near Broome to provide 
goods and services to its LNG exploration facilities in the 
Ichthys Basin, an option that will provide jobs for WA. 
 
 
 
 
 
Some Emission Trading Concessions 
 
 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Unlike rival coal seam projects in the east (Ref F), 
the conventional LNG projects under consideration in Northwest 
Australia will receive some protection from offshore competition 
under Australia's proposed Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme 
(CPRS). The LNG sector was initially not going to receive 
assistance, but has been granted access to the emissions 
intense, trade exposed compensation system (Ref G) and this has 
provided enough certainty that major gas programs are going 
forward.  Woodside CEO Don Voelte, who was an early and vocal 
opponent of the CPRS, has been largely quiet on the subject 
since April and the industry appears, unlike coal, ready to 
accept the future emissions trading scheme. 
 
 
 
Comment:  Good Prospects for Development 
 
 
 
¶13. (SBU) Notwithstanding the well-publicized jockeying among 
rival oil and gas producers, at least some of Northwest 
Australia's well-endowed conventional natural gas resources are 
likely to be developed soon.  Company officials from Woodside 
and ExxonMobil told us recently that producers are all vying to 
lock in forward sales contracts before a possible oversupply of 
LNG in 2014 - 2016.  Both the federal and state governments are 
looking to LNG projects, and the Gorgon project in particular, 
as potential "recession busters" during the downturn in the 
global mining sector.  Significant doubt remains over the 
commercial viability of an on-shore LNG hub in WA's Kimberley 
region, but developing LNG hubs in the Pilbara and Darwin, 
third-party supply agreements, pipelines, and floating 
facilities are all likely to come into play to develop the 
region's stranded gas reserves. End Comment. 
 
 
 
 
 
¶14.  This cable was prepared jointly with Embassy Canberra. 
 
 
 
PERTH 00000040  005.2 OF 006 
 
 
 
 
Table 1: LNG Projects in Northwest Australia, by company 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
 
 
Project              Consortium partners 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
North-West Shelf     Woodside Energy, BHP Billiton, BP, 
 
                     Chevron, Shell, Japan Australia LNG 
 
Browse Basin         Woodside Energy, BHP Billiton, BP, 
 
                     Chevron, Shell, 
 
Gorgon               Chevron, Shell, ExxonMobil 
 
Ichthys              Inpex, Total 
 
Prelude              Shell 
 
Pluto train 1        Woodside, Tokyo Gas, Kansai Electric 
 
Pluto train 2        Woodside 
 
Sunrise              Woodside, ConocoPhillips, Shell, 
 
                     Osaka Gas 
 
Scarborough          ExxonMobil, BHP Billiton 
 
Wheatstone           Chevron 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
 
 
Source: Company statements, July 2009. 
 
 
 
 
 
Table 2: LNG Projects in Northwest Australia 
 
 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
 
 
Project                         Expected  Estimated 
 
                                start     cost (A$) 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
North-West Shelf redevelopment  2013      $6.5 billion 
 
Browse Basin (off Broome)       tbc        $30 billion 
 
Gorgon (Barrow Island)          2014       $50 billion 
 
Ichthys (off Broome)            2015       $26 billion 
 
Prelude (off Broome)            tbc        $ 3 billion 
 
Pluto train 1 (off Karratha)    2011       $12 billion 
 
Pluto train 2 (off Karratha)    2013       $ 5 billion 
 
PERTH 00000040  006.2 OF 006 
 
 
 
Sunrise (off Darwin)            tbc        $13 billion 
 
Scarborough (off Onslow, WA     tbc        $12 billion 
 
Wheatstone (off Dampier, WA)    2015       $30 billion 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
 
 
Source: Company statements, July 2009. 
 
 
 
CHERN