Worth Considering - Competitor For East Coast Gas Supply

Western Port News – 25 August 2015 - "New gas to boost Hastings plant" Mike Hast Latest News - "....the chairman of Esso’s parent company ExxonMobil Australia, Richard Owen, told about 80 people the ExxonMobil–BHP Billiton joint venture in Bass Strait had recently finished drilling the Turrum gas field. “We’re spending $5.5 billion offshore and onshore to bring gas from the Kipper Tuna Turrum project,” he said. The so-called KTT field contains the largest volume of uncontracted gas in Australia and is the biggest potential provider of gas for Australia’s east coast market, with enough product to head off predicted supply shortages as global demand continues to exceed supply. Mr Owen said the investment included $1 billion being spent at its plant at Longford near Sale in Gippsland. “This doesn’t increase Longford’s capacity but allows us to treat the KTT gas before putting it into the plant,” he said. Gas from the new field would have to be extracted from deeper than ever before, from smaller pockets and it contained more contaminants than gas previously extracted from Bass Strait, making it more costly."