Source: Australian Mines and Metals Association – AMMA
AREEA today welcomed Chevron Australia and the Gorgon Joint Venture’s A$3 billion Stage 3 expansion, describing it as a major win for Western Australian jobs, domestic gas security and national economic strength.
AREEA CEO Steve Knott AM said the investment reinforces Gorgon’s status as one of Australia’s most important economic assets.
“Gorgon has long been an economic powerhouse for Western Australia and the nation and Stage 3 ensures hundreds more construction jobs in the near term, thousands of long-term skilled roles, and continued energy supply for households, industry and key trading partners. This is exactly the type of nation-building project Australia must continue to attract,” he said.
Mr Knott said, however, that the decision should serve as a wake-up call to the Federal Government, following recent environmental law reforms that excluded oil, gas and coal from a streamlined fast-track approvals pathway.
He said the exclusion undermines investor confidence and risks diverting major projects, and the jobs and revenue they bring, to more competitive jurisdictions.
“It is deeply disappointing that these reforms shut out the very industries that underpin Australia’s economic prosperity,” Mr Knott said.
“Denying oil and gas proponents access to an efficient approvals process sends the wrong message at the wrong time.
“If we want more projects like Gorgon Stage 3 and the billions in wages, exports and government revenue they generate, Australia must have approvals systems that encourage productivity and investment, not impede it.”
Stage 3 will unlock new supply from the Geryon and Eurytion fields, sustaining Gorgon’s 15.6 million tonnes of LNG per year and up to 300 terajoules per day of domestic gas for WA. The project will further boost WA industry and regional economies, creating about 800 jobs during construction, installation and commissioning and with about half of spending to occur locally.
Mr Knott said major backfill projects like Stage 3 safeguard long-term employment across subsea engineering, fabrication, maintenance and logistics.
“Australia needs a regulatory framework that recognises the economic reality – gas is fundamental to our energy system, our exports and our high-wage jobs,” he said.
“When governments get the settings right, Australian workers, communities and the economy all benefit.”
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