PERTH, Australia--Chevron Corp. (CVX) and partners won the
support of a key regulator Tuesday for a plan to expand the giant
Gorgon gas export project in Western Australia state by eventually
building a fourth processing unit.
The Chevron-led proposal--which would see Gorgon liquefied
natural gas production capacity increase by roughly a third to 20
million tons annually--has been recommended for conditional
approval, Western Australia's Environmental Protection Authority
said in a statement.
The expansion plan, which also needs approval by state and
Federal environment ministers, doesn't guarantee construction will
go ahead. Developers of Australian energy projects have been
scaling back or deferring plans following the plunge in world
energy prices that have lowered returns on those investments.
Recently, Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL.AU) and partners
including Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN) and BP PLC (BP.LN) pushed
back a final investment decision on their Browse gas-export project
to mid-2016, from previous guidance of the second half of 2015.
Construction of Gorgon's US$54 billion first stage is more than
90% complete and the venture, which also counts Exxon Mobil Corp.
(XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell as significant shareholders, is due to
ship its first cargo of liquefied natural gas later this year.
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