Chevron has begun operations from the carbon dioxide injection system at its Gorgon natural gas facility on Barrow Island, off the northwest coast of Western Australia. It is “one of the world’s largest greenhouse gas mitigation projects ever undertaken by industry,” Chevron said in a news release.
“We are monitoring system performance and plan to safely ramp up injection volumes over the coming months as we bring online processing facilities,” said Al Williams, Chevron Australia managing director.
Once fully operational, the facility will reduce Gorgon’s greenhouse gas emissions by about 40%, or more than 100 million tonnes over the life of the injection project. In steady-state operations, Gorgon is expected to have the lowest greenhouse-gas-emissions intensity of any LNG project in Australia, Chevron said.
Gorgon is one of the world's largest LNG projects, with a three-train, 15.6-mpta LNG facility. The project develops the offshore Gorgon and Jansz-Io fields. Gorgon gas contains 14% naturally occurring reservoir carbon dioxide.
Gas from Gorgon and Jansz-Io is transported via subsea pipeline to Barrow Island, where carbon dioxide is separated from gas during the liquefaction process. The carbon dioxide is compressed and transported via pipeline for injection into the Dupuy formation, a sandstone reservoir, which is 2.5-km deep. Chevron said injected carbon dioxide is monitored by observation wells, ongoing seismic surveys, and other technology.
The Australian government has contributed $60 million toward the capital cost of the injection project as part of the country’s Low Emissions Technology Demonstration Fund.
The Australian subsidiaries of Chevron operate the Gorgon Project with a 47.3% stake. Partners are ExxonMobil and Shell, each with 25%; and Japanese firms Osaka Gas with 1.25%, Tokyo Gas 1%, and JERA 0.417%.