UPDATE: ACCC Grants Interim Authorization For Gorgon Gas Project
June 24 2009 - 4:32AM
Dow Jones News
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Wednesday
granted conditional interim authorization to the Gorgon Gas Project
joint venture to engage in joint marketing of natural gas to
customers in Western Australia.
The Gorgon field, which has potential reserves of more than 40
trillion cubic feet of gas, is located off the coast of Western
Australia and is being developed by Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM),
Chevron Corp. (CVX) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN).
Chevron is the largest owner of Gorgon, with a 50% stake, and
Royal Dutch Shell and Exxon hold 25% each. Chevron has won
conditional approval from an Australian regulator for an expanded
Gorgon project and expects to make a final investment decision
before the end of the year.
"The Gorgon Gas Project is a major greenfields project which
will provide a new source of natural gas to the Western Australian
market and will involve a substantial level of upfront investment
by the joint venture participants," ACCC Chairman Graeme Samuel
said.
"The ACCC accepts that the joint venture participants need to
engage with the market before making a final investment decision in
relation to this major capital investment."
Interim approval allows the companies to engage with potential
customers to obtain information relevant to their plans.
-By Cynthia Koons, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4691;
cynthia.koons@dowjones.com