darwin to be full of gas as new plant deal....

NIGEL ADLAM

August 21st, 2009

DARWIN'S Wickham Point gas plant is likely to undergo a massive expansion following a deal between two energy companies.

Adelaide-based Santos has sold 60 per cent of its Petrel, Tern and Frigate fields in the Timor Sea to France's GDF Suez.

They will jointly build the world's first floating gas processing plant at the fields and use Darwin as a supply base.

Santos said it would now look at opening three other fields - Evans Shoal, Barossa and Caldita, which are only 130km northwest of Melville Island - and piping the gas to the ConocoPhillips-operated LNG plant at Wickham Point on Darwin Harbour.

This would entail building another "train" at the plant - a job that would cost more than $1 billion and create hundreds of jobs.

Production at Wickham Point would double under the plan.

Santos yesterday defended its decision not to pipe gas from the Petrel cluster of fields to Darwin.

Company vice-president John Anderson said it would not be commercially viable to bring the gas onshore.

He said the resource was too small and didn't have enough highly profitable liquids.

There are fears that if the Federal Government approves the Santos offshore processing plants, other gas fields off the north Australian coast will follow suit - depriving the country of billions of dollars from the building of LNG plants.

The Australian and Miscellaneous Workers Union said the decision not to bring the gas onshore would cost 2000 construction jobs.

Union NT secretary Andrew Dettmer said: "Australian workers are likely to see little benefit from this project, either during the manufacturing or operation of the plant."

He said the platform would probably be built in Asia and manned by foreign workers.

Chief Minister Paul Henderson said he had talked to Santos about piping the Petrel gas to Darwin.

"But the only way to commercialise this field is offshore," he said.

"It isn't just about LNG plants onshore, as exciting as they are.

"It's also about developing Darwin as a service base.

"There will be job opportunities for Territorians and huge business opportunities.

"I see Darwin becoming a real competitor to Perth as a resource centre."

Santos is an acronym for South Australia Northern Territory Oil Search.

http://www.ntnews.com.au/article/2009/08/21/77351_ntnews.html