Page 11 - AsianOil Week 36 2022

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Australia awards permits for

evaluation of CCS opportunities

ENERGY THE Australian government has awarded per- emissions in hard-to-abate, energy-intensive
TRANSITION mits for companies to undertake evaluation and industries such as LNG, refining, petrochem-
appraisal work for the potential storage of carbon icals, power, steel and cement,” said Chevron’s
dioxide (CO2) in the country’s waters. vice president of CCUS, Chris Powers. “These
On September 5, Santos announced that it and other ventures also have the potential to help
had been awarded permits G-9-AP and G-11-AP generate higher returns and lower the carbon
to pursue carbon capture and storage (CCS) intensity of our own operations.”
opportunities in the Carnarvon and Bonaparte Santos, for its part, noted that it was working
basins, offshore Western Australia, alongside its towards developing a three-hub CCS strategy
joint venture partners. that spans its operational footprint in Australia
Then, on September 9, Chevron said it was and Timor-Leste.
also participating in those two permits, as well “In the Carnarvon Basin, the permit cre-
as G-10-AP, in which it partners with Woodside ates potential new acreage for CCS beyond our
Energy, BP, Shell and Japan Australia LNG, Reindeer fields. This is particularly significant
which is a joint venture between Mitsubishi and as our plans for a WA CCS hub at Reindeer and
Mitsui & Co. Devil Creek develop,” stated Santos’ managing
Both Santos and Chevron have talked up director and CEO, Kevin Gallagher. “The other
the potential of CCS to help with the decarbon- permit is significant in size, covering more than
isation of their projects, and of Australia more 26,000 square km in the Bonaparte Basin. Its
broadly. proximity to our Bayu-Undan CCS project,
“Under almost every scenario, CCUS is which has the potential to be one of the larg-
expected to be essential for meeting the net- est CCS projects in the world, is important as
zero ambitions of the Paris Agreement and is we look to build our Northern Australia and
poised to play a crucial role in reducing carbon Timor-Leste CCS hub.”™

Woodside signs binding supply

agreements with Commonwealth LNG

PROJECTS & A Woodside Energy subsidiary, Woodside combined capacity of 8.4mn tpy. Thanks to the
COMPANIES Energy Trading Singapore, has converted modular approach, infrastructure for the facil-
its non-binding heads of agreement (HoA) ity would mostly be constructed offsite, which
deals with the US’ Commonwealth LNG into the company says would minimise the cost and
two binding sale and purchase agreements timescale involved.
(SPAs). “Our modular construction approach allows
The SPAs cover the supply of up to 2.5mn Commonwealth LNG to provide greater cost
tonnes per year (tpy) of LNG over a 20-year and schedule certainty to customers as we
period from Commonwealth’s proposed export deliver affordable, reliable, cleaner energy to
terminal in Louisiana, on the US Gulf Coast. meet global demands,” stated Commonwealth’s
The main terms set out in the HoA, which was president and CEO, Farhad Ahrabi.
announced in January 2022, remain unchanged Commonwealth LNG was originally target-
in the SPAs, Woodside said. The volume agreed ing 2020 for an FID, but the global collapse in
is at the upper end of the amount the two com- natural gas demand and prices following the
panies had first agreed to under the HoA, with onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic
Woodside exercising the option to buy 2.5mn caused the project to be delayed. Demand has
tpy rather than 2.0mn tpy. since picked up significantly, however, reviving
First LNG deliveries under the SPAs are antic- the prospects for a new crop of proposed LNG
ipated in mid-2026. However, the deals are still export projects on the US Gulf Coast.
conditional on certain milestones being reached, Woodside also has a supply agreement in
including a final investment decision (FID) on place with another US LNG producer, Cheniere
the Commonwealth LNG export terminal. Energy, and the latest deal suggests that the com-
The terminal would be built using a modular pany is keen to further diversify its sources of
approach, and have six liquefaction trains with a LNG supply.™

Week 36 09•September•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P11