Woodside Energy, Australia's largest independent oil and gas company and a key LNG player, says it is looking to raise production at its
Pluto LNG onshore facility in a move that will enable the company to supply to the marine and mining sectors.
"We are evaluating opportunities to maximise our investment in Pluto LNG by undertaking further capacity enhancements and mid-scale or large-scale expansion. In addition, we are planning for the construction of infrastructure that will enable us to supply LNG from Pluto to fuel the local mining and marine sectors. This is part of our broader objective of growing the LNG market," the company said on Wednesday.
Woodside has outlined the creation of a
Burrup Peninsula 'hub' in the
Pilbara region of Western Australia as a key priority for 2017. The area includes the port of
Dampier, which last month witnessed the country's
first LNG bunker delivery to the Woodside-chartered Siem Thiima.
The plan includes the development of facilities that would enable the distribution of LNG in the Pilbara region for use as a marine fuel.
The Pluto LNG project is located around 190 kilometres north-west of Karratha, Western Australia, in the Northern Carnarvon Basin.
The total area of the Pluto onshore facility is approximately 200 hectares, of which the plant and associated infrastructure cover about 80 hectares.
The infrastructure comprises a single LNG processing train with an annual loaded LNG production rate equivalent to 4.9 million tonnes per annum.
On Wednesday, Woodside posted a full-year profit of $868 million in 2016, which included a 3 percent rise in production to 94.9 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe) - the second highest ever for the company.
