Chevron starts Wheatstone domestic gas supplies

US energy giant Chevron said Tuesday it started supplying natural gas to the domestic market from its Wheatstone LNG project near Onslow, Western Australia.

With capacity to supply 200 terajoules of natural gas per day (Tj/d), Wheatstone domestic gas will supply local households and businesses through contracts with WA customers for decades to come, Chevron Australia, a unit of Chevron said in a statement.

“Our investment in the Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas facilities are a major contributor to Australia now being one of the world’s largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers and has enabled the development of a secure domestic gas supply for the State’s industrial, commercial and household users,” said Chevron Australia managing director Al Williams.

“As a reliable and cost-effective way to generate electricity, cleaner- burning natural gas is a vital energy source for current and future energy needs. Importantly for WA, domestic gas will power local jobs, local industry, local communities and provide government revenues for decades to come,” added Williams.

At full capacity, the Chevron-operated Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas facilities will be able to produce 500 terajoules per day of domestic gas for the WA market – enough to generate electricity for 4.3 million households, according to the statement.

The high penetration of natural gas in WA’s electrical power generation is the reason WA’s electricity generation has some of the lowest greenhouse gas emissions intensity in Australia, around 15 percent below the national average, the statement reads.