Australia’s oil and gas industry says the start of construction to expand a major LNG project was another step towards growing the nation’s world-leading gas exports, delivering more economic benefits domestically and helping Asian nations decarbonise.
The Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association (APPEA) today congratulated Woodside Energy on the start of work to build its Pluto Train 2 project near Karratha, in Western Australia, as part of the company’s $16 billion Scarborough investment.
APPEA Chief Executive Samantha McCulloch said: “New investments like this will turbocharge our economy and create thousands of jobs, while providing essential energy for Australians and helping to reduce emissions in our region.
“Pluto Train 2 is the latest major investment from the industry in LNG projects after around $300 billion was invested in export projects across Australia since 2010.
“Providing natural gas supply to the domestic WA market is also critically important. WA consumes more natural gas than any state in Australia, thanks to its role in powering our mines and minerals processing, other industries such as cement manufacturing, and providing electricity needed for our homes and hospitals.”
According to Woodside Energy, Scarborough gas processed through the project will be one of the lowest carbon intensity sources of LNG delivered to north Asia customers.
Ms McCulloch said: “These LNG exports will help our customers in Asia decarbonise by switching to gas from higher emission fuels like coal. The Australian Government has said this has the potential to lower emissions in importing countries by around 166 million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually – equal to more than a third of Australia’s total annual greenhouse gas emissions.
“Exports are also critical to the Australian economy and supporting jobs and they are set to deliver more record earnings this financial year – over $80 billion.
“We saw the value of these exports to our communities recently when state budgets revealed significant petroleum revenue collections, helping governments fund public services and infrastructure like hospitals, roads and schools.”
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