Public invited to comment on Woodside’s Scarborough plan

The Australian offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA has invited public comments for Woodside’s proposed Scarborough development, one of the most remote of the Carnarvon Basin gas resources offshore W. Australia.

Scarborough upstream concept schematic / Image source: Woodside
Scarborough upstream concept schematic / Image source: Woodside

The oil and gas company is proposing to develop the 7.3 Tcf (2C 100%) Scarborough gas resource (Woodside 75%), located around 375 kilometers off the Burrup Peninsula, through the construction of a number of subsea, high-rate gas wells, tied back to a semi-submersible floating production unit moored in approximately 900 meters of water close to the Scarborough field.

Woodside’s proposed Scarborough development targets the commercialization of the Scarborough and North Scarborough gas fields. There are also Thebe and Jupiter gas fields nearby, but, according to Woodside, they provide opportunities for future tieback to Scarborough infrastructure.

The offshore facilities, to be newly built, are proposed to be connected to the mainland through an approximately 430 km trunkline (also refers to as the export pipeline) to an onshore facility. Woodside’s preferred concept is to process Scarborough gas through brownfield expansion of the existing Pluto LNG onshore facility (Pluto Train 2).

Woodside has already found a buyer for a portion of natural gas to be produced from the Scarborough field. The company in November 2018 entered into a long-term gas sale and purchase agreement (GSPA) with W. Australia-based Perdaman for the supply of pipeline gas for a term of 20 years.

Woodside is targeting a final investment decision in 2020 and start-up in 2023.

The first drilling phase is targeted in 2020 followed by the installation of the trunkline in 2022, FPU installation in 2023 and phase 2 drilling (potentially including Thebe and Jupiter) in 2025. Decommissioning is expected to begin in 2055.

Public comments can be submitted until 30 August 2019 via NOPSEMA’s online form.

Offshore Energy Today Staff


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