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Australia set to export LNG to India from Gorgon

Australia is all set to export liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India from the Gorgon project. Josh Frydenberg, the Australian Energy Minister, said this while welcoming his Indian counterpart, Piyush Goyal, and his delegation in Parliament House, Canberra, on Wednesday, an official press release said.

According to the release, the Aussie energy minister said: “While both nations have $15 billion worth of annual two-way trade, Australia exports some $5 billion worth of coal to India and Australia has just signed it first export contract of LNG to India from the Gorgon project.”

It is to be noted that energy giant Chevron is developing the Gorgon and Jansz-Io gas fields, located within the Greater Gorgon area, between 130 and 220 km off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

The Gorgon and Jansz-Io gas fields contain around 35.3 trillion cubic feet (1,000×10⁹ m³) of natural gas and may have a lifespan of 60 years. The project also includes a domestic gas component. Once completed, it will become Australia's fourth LNG export development project.

The project includes construction of a 15.6-million tons per annum (mtpa) liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant on Barrow Island and a domestic gas plant with a capacity to supply 300 terajoules of gas per day to Western Australia.

Gorgon LNG will be offloaded via a 2.1 km long loading jetty for transport to international markets. The domestic gas will be piped to the western Australian mainland. The Gorgon Project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (47.3%), ExxonMobil (25%), Shell (25%), Osaka Gas (1.25%), Tokyo Gas (1%) and Chubu Electric Power (0.417%).