Australia approves $50-bn Gorgon gas project

The Australian government today gave green signal to the construction of the Gorgon gas project on Barrow Island worth $50 billion off the West Australian coast on few conditions.

The project is a joint venture of Chevron, ExxonMobil and Shell, and will cost about $50 billion to construct.

According to the ABC report today, environment minister Peter Garret's formal approval of the project was expected after last week's announcement of selling liquified natural gas (LNG) from the yet-to-be developed gas field to China over the next 20 years.

The government had been criticised for announcing the billion dollar China deal before Garrett had officially signed off the project.

 

However, Garrett denies the announcement pressured him into signing off on the deal.

He said an extra 28 conditions have been imposed on the project to ensure that Barrow Island, which is a Class-A nature reserve, is adequately protected.

"I take my job as a regulator very seriously," he said, adding "I want to get the best results for the environment I can, consistent with the regulatory regime that I'm required to observe.

"I've made sure that the matters of environmental significance that I'm required to consider under the national environmental legislation have both been identified and conditions applied to ensure that there are no adverse impacts," he said.

It is expected to generate about $300 billion worth of gas contracts and 6,000 jobs during construction.

The project will also pump $40 billion worth of revenue into the Federal government's coffers.

Concerns have been raised over the project's impact on several species on Barrow Island, including the flatback turtle.

Garrett said, as well as the extra conditions, 20 management plans are also in place.

Several of the conditions imposed on the project are to deal with the potential impact to flatback turtle.

A monitoring program must be set up and the Minister can order action be taken if the monitoring shows the project is having a detrimental effect on turtles.

Other plans must also be put in place to manage and monitor other species such as the spectacled hare-wallaby and golden bandicoot.

Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett said the conditions are stringent.

"I don't believe any project in WA, perhaps in Australia, has the degree of scrutiny and the exacting conditions placed on it that the Gorgon project does," he said.    

The Federal Opposition supports the project's approval.