雪佛龙Gorgon项目天然气供应将提高

据离岸能源网站6月7日报道称，美国石油和天然气巨头雪佛龙的子公司雪佛龙澳大利亚公司及其合作伙伴Gorgon合资公司在西澳大利亚西北海岸的Gorgon二期开发项目中实现了首次天然气生产，预计将为能源市场带来更多液化天然气。

雪佛龙Gorgon开发项目扩大了Gorgon项目现有的海底集气网络，这家美国能源巨头称该项目是世界上最大的天然气项目之一，也是澳大利亚历史上最大的单一资源项目。该项目向亚太地区的客户出口液化天然气，并为西澳大利亚市场生产国内天然气。

Gorgon气田位于西澳大利亚西北海岸约130公里处，巴罗岛西北65公里处，水深约200米。最初的油田开发于2015年投入使用，包括油井和海底基础设施，包括原料气管道。第一批液化天然气货物于2016年3月21日离开巴罗岛，而西澳大利亚市场的国内天然气供应于2016年12月开始。

Gorgon第二阶段(GS2)扩大了该油田的开发，该阶段通过11口外部井、配套的海上生产管道和海底基础设施丰富了Gorgon和Jansz-Io气田，以维持未来对巴罗岛三条现有液化天然气生产线和天然气处理设施的天然气供应。Gorgon天然气开发项目的运行设计寿命预计为50年。

雪佛龙澳大利亚公司总经理Mark Hatfield表示，“Gorgon第二阶段第一批天然气标志着Gorgon项目下一阶段顺利开始，表明我们致力于提供可靠和负担得起的能源，以支持该地区的能源安全。重要的是，该团队完成了复杂的海上安装工作，迄今为止总计超过320万小时，没有发生任何严重伤亡或事故。这一发展支持了Gorgon项目的长久运营，并在未来几十年继续维持当前显著的效益，包括当地高技能岗位的就业、经济活动以及州和联邦政府的收入”。

雪佛龙认为，在未来几十年里，该项目将继续是澳大利亚经济的重要支柱，因此，在美国释放这种能源时，石油巨头的观点是，使澳大利亚处于满足未来需求和提供“国内外清洁燃烧燃料”的首要地位。

雪佛龙运营的Gorgon项目是雪佛龙（权益比47.3%）、埃克森美孚（25%）、壳牌（25%）和大阪天然气公司（1.25%）、东京天然气公司（1%）和日本天然气公司澳大利亚分公司（0.417%）的合资企业。

这并不是雪佛龙在澳大利亚运营的唯一项目，因为除了Gorgon，雪佛龙还担任惠斯通天然气项目的运营商，持有西北大陆架项目权益，并在巴罗岛运营着澳大利亚最大的陆上油田。

王佳晶 摘译自 离岸能源 网站

原文如下：

First gas uplifts Chevron’s Gorgon project to next level, setting the stage for more LNG exports

Chevron Australia, a subsidiary of the U.S. oil and gas giant Chevron, and its Gorgon Joint Venture partners have achieved the first gas production from the Gorgon stage two development off the northwest coast of Western Australia. This supports long-term energy supply as it is expected to bring more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the energy market.

Chevron’s Gorgon development expands the existing subsea gas gathering network of the Gorgon project, which the U.S. energy giant describes as one of the world’s largest natural gas projects and the largest single resource project in Australia’s history. This project exports liquefied natural gas to customers across the Asia Pacific and produces domestic gas for the Western Australian market.  

The Gorgon gas field is located around 130 kilometres off the northwest coast of Western Australia and 65 kilometres northwest of Barrow Island in water depths of approximately 200 metres. The initial field development was commissioned in 2015, consisting of wells and subsea infrastructure, including the feed gas pipeline. This led to the first LNG cargo departing Barrow Island on 21 March 2016 while the domestic gas supply to the Western Australian market began in December 2016.

This field development is expanded by Gorgon stage 2 (GS2), which enriches the Gorgon and Jansz-Io gas fields with 11 additional wells and accompanying offshore production pipelines and subsea infrastructure to maintain future gas supply to the three existing LNG trains and the gas processing facilities on Barrow Island. The Gorgon gas development is expected to have a nominal operational design life of 50 years.

Mark Hatfield, Chevron Australia managing director, commented “Gorgon stage two first gas marks the next phase of the Gorgon project and demonstrates our commitment to providing reliable and affordable energy that supports the region’s energy security. importantly, the team completed the complex offshore installation work, totalling more than 3.2 million hours to date, without any serious injuries or incidents.

“The development supports the longevity of the Gorgon project and the continuation of its already significant ongoing benefits including highly skilled local employment, economic activity as well as state and federal government revenue for decades to come.”

Chevron believes that this project will continue to be an important pillar of the Australian economy for decades to come, thus, unlocking this energy in the U.S, oil major’s view puts Australia in a prime position to meet future demand and provide “a clean-burning fuel, both at home and overseas.”

The Chevron-operated Gorgon project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (47.3 per cent), ExxonMobil (25 per cent), Shell (25 per cent), Osaka Gas (1.25 per cent), Tokyo Gas (1 per cent) and JERA (0.417 per cent).

This is not the only project Chevron operates in Australia, as aside from Gorgon, Chevron also acts as the operator of the Wheatstone natural gas project, holds an interest in the North West Shelf project, and operates Australia’s largest onshore oilfield on Barrow Island.