SAN RAMON, Calif., June 30, 2005 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX) announced today its decision to move the Australian Greater Gorgon gas development into the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase.
The FEED scope for the Greater Gorgon development includes the establishment of a two-train (10 million tonnes per year) liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility and domestic gas plant on Barrow Island, supplied by gas fields in the Greater Gorgon area. The Greater Gorgon area is one of the largest undeveloped natural gas accumulations in the region.
The Greater Gorgon development is being pursued by an unincorporated joint venture consisting of the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (50 percent) and ExxonMobil and Shell (each holding a 25 percent interest). The partners recently signed a Framework Agreement to align their equity interests and to pave the way for the combined development of Gorgon and nearby gas fields as one world-scale project.
George Kirkland, Chevron executive vice president for upstream and gas, said, "The commencement of FEED is another significant step forward for the development of Greater Gorgon's huge natural gas resources and will create a new legacy asset for our company."
He added, "Greater Gorgon is well positioned to supply LNG to customers in Asia and North America. Chevron has capabilities across the entire gas value chain to bring projects to life by connecting natural gas resources to customers around the world."
The managing director of ChevronTexaco Australia [note: name change to Chevron Australia planned to take effect July 1, 2005], Jay Johnson, said that "the FEED decision is an important step forward that will focus the design of this major project to ensure it can be competitive to meet the growing demand for gas in Asian and North American regions."
In conjunction with the FEED decision, the Gorgon joint venture is awarding two major contracts worth a total of more than USD $75 million (AUD $100 million) to complete the development's Front End Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management activities during the next 12 months.
The upstream contract, which includes all subsea facilities associated with transporting the gas to the processing facility, will be undertaken by JP Kenny/Technip in a 50/50 joint venture involving their Australian entities. Perth, Western Australia will be the central focus for upstream activities.
The downstream contract, which includes the LNG facility on Barrow Island, will be undertaken by the Kellogg Joint Venture -- Greater Gorgon, which includes Australian-based partner Clough Projects Australia Pty Ltd.
ChevronTexaco Australia Pty Ltd is leading the development of, and is a joint-venture participant in, the Greater Gorgon Area licenses; is a one-sixth joint-venture participant in the North West Shelf Venture; and is operator and joint-venture participant in the Barrow Island and Thevenard Island oil fields. All are located off the northwest coast of Australia.
Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading energy companies. With more than 47,000 employees, Chevron subsidiaries conduct business in approximately 180 countries around the world, producing and transporting crude oil and natural gas, and refining, marketing and distributing fuels and other energy products. Chevron is based in San Ramon, California, USA. More information on Chevron is available at www.chevron.com.
Cautionary Statement Relevant to Forward-Looking Information for the Purpose of "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
Some of the items discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements about the planned development of the Gorgon joint venture and Chevron's natural gas strategy. The statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimate, and projections; are not guarantees of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company's control and are difficult to predict. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of the press release. Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
The rules of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) permit oil and gas companies to disclose only proved reserves in their SEC filings. Certain terms such as "probable," "possible," "potential" or "recoverable volumes," "resources," "reserves," or "crude oil in place," among others, may be used in this or certain other company communications that are not permitted to be used in filings with the SEC. U.S. investors should refer to disclosures in Chevron's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2004.
SOURCE Chevron Corporation