Chevron Australia has lodged an Environment Plan with the offshore regulator to undertake site investigation surveys for future gas developments as part of the next phase of its Gorgon Gas Development off Western Australia’s northwest coast.
The proposal, which is currently before the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) and has not yet been approved, covers geophysical, geotechnical and environmental surveys for the Chrysaor, Dionysus and Chandon gas fields.
The surveys will support ongoing engineering design for the future development of the fields, which form part of the Gorgon Gas Development’s Backfill Fields Development. The backfill project is intended to maintain gas supply to the existing gas treatment plant on Barrow Island and sustain LNG and domestic gas production as existing fields decline.
Chevron’s Gorgon Gas Development began operating in 2015, producing gas from the Gorgon and Jansz-Io fields. Gas is transported via subsea pipelines to the Barrow Island gas treatment plant for processing and export as LNG, or supplied to the Western Australian domestic market.
The proposed survey areas are located about 55 kilometres and 120 kilometres northwest of Barrow Island, in water depths ranging from around 125 metres to 1,370 metres.
If approved, the surveys are expected to begin in late 2026 or early 2027 and would take around four to six months to complete, either as a single campaign or across multiple campaigns. Chevron said the activity could occur at any time during the Environment Plan’s five-year approval period.
The Environment Plan outlines the assessment and management of the potential environmental impacts and risks associated with the proposed survey activities.
