The petroleum industry in Western Australia is the largest contributor to the country's petroleum exports. Western Australia's North West Shelf (NWS) is the primary location from which production originates. Oil exports are shipped from Port Hedland.
Based largely on development of the reserves of the North West Shelf and onshore hydrocarbon basins, the industry extracts crude oil, condensate and natural gas from petroleum reservoirs deep beneath the Earth's surface.[1] A large plant located at Withnell Bay near Dampier, produces liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export to Asian customers. Crude oil and most petroleum liquids are exported. Australia's largest petroleum refinery at Kwinana in WA's south-West, closed in 2021.[2] Natural gas is processed at plants located on islands off the WA coast (e.g. The "Gorgon Gas Project" on Barrow Island) and onshore, then transported by pipelines to gas users throughout the state.
In 2007, the industry produced 126 million barrels (20,000,000 m3) of crude oil/condensate, and 30 billion cubic metres of gas. Approximately 65% of the gas was transformed into 12 million tonnes of LNG (all of which was exported), with the remainder of the gas being sold to users in Western Australia.[3] Primary production by the industry was valued at $16.7 billion, accounting for 31% of all natural resources produced in the state.[4]
- ^ "2007 Production Statistics". Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association (APPEA). 24 April 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
- ^ "Downstream Petroleum Report 2007" (PDF). Australian Institute of Petroleum. 15 July 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on 1 October 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2008.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
ABARE2008was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Petroleum Explorers' Guide" (PDF). Department of Mines and Petroleum. 1 April 2008. Retrieved 13 September 2008.