ALP Broome Branch rejects gas hub

'The ALP Broome Branch does not support the location of a gas processing hub in the Kimberley and surrounding waters.' 16th December 2008

Gas information forum - 27th/28th March

The Shire has endorsed a $30,000 budget line to support and organise a community forum on the Gas issue. This forum will invite all groups including, the Chamber, the Airport, Woodside and other Resource companies, Dept of Resources and non Government Agencies such as environmental groups.
The idea of the forum is to provide the community with a one stop forum to get a range of information on the issue and to have those questions answered.
The forum will be held on 27/28 March and all environmental groups will be invited to participate.
Hopefully this forum will be an opportunity for the people of Broome to hear all sides of the issue.

Other LNG gas options are being considered.

"Given the high level of environmental concern about gas processing developments on the Kimberley coastline, the various Browse Basin (companies) are increasingly considering
either floating development options (like Royal Dutch Shell and Nexus energy) or a tie
back to exisisting infrastructure.

Woodside will decide by the end of June whether to construct a pipeline to link its Browse Basin fields to existing liquefied natural gas plants on the Burrup Peninsula.

Should the WA Govenment proposed Kimberley LNG hub concept fail then (other
companies) would be expected to follow the lead by Inpex and pipe any Browse
Basin gas to Darwin." Source: "The West Australian" Jan 26th 2009

Will Woodside shelve Prices Point?

Interesting that Woodside have blamed souring market conditions for shelving two natural gas projects recently. Natural gas futures in New York have dropped 57% in the past 6 months and crude oil prices have plunged 74%. Woodside Natural Gas - a US unit of Perth based Woodside Petroleum had suspended its proposed natural gas import project for the LA region. "We must acknowledge the impact of the current market ...... we are withdrawing our application for the time being," Woodside Natural Gas president said. Meanwhile, BG group, Britain's third largest natural gas producer has cancelled plans to build a $750 million power plant in Australia. Market analysts are predicting a poor year for Woodside during 2009 due to difficulty in raising capital and the low price of fossil fuels.
Does this mean anything for the development of Prices Point - we can only wait and see.

Where to from here?

Woodside will decide between the Kimberley and Karratha after the 3 month negotiations in 2009 with the KLC and when research is completed into the environmental, heritage and social impacts on the Kimberley. The decision is expected in late June 2009

The two locations currently under consideration for LNG processing by Woodside are:

• James Prices Point on the Dampier Peninsula in the Kimberley; or
  
• Woodside-operated facilities located near Karratha.

http://www.woodside.com.au

Woodside was invited by Indigenous traditional owners to recommence discussions on the possibility of developing an LNG facility in the Kimberley. Woodside are committed to negotiating with the KLC.

An LNG precinct would occupy approximately 3 km of coastline according to Woodside and this is in line with the findings of the Northern Task force.

But let's not forget that with dredging and reclamation the entire 'footprint' at Prices Point is 10 kilometres of shore line and 5 kilometres offshore with a entire footprint zone effect of 5000 hectares (land and sea) which is also included in the Northern Task Force report.

Background information to the LNG proposal

Since 2007, more than 40 possible Kimberley sites were considered and four sites, including James Price Point, were short-listed in October 2008.

“This process has a completion date of March 31, 2009, after which the State Government will begin land acquisition processes.

The Northern Development Taskforce started work on selecting a site for an LNG development in the Kimberley in June 2007. It has produced or commissioned at least 22 reports into environmental, indigenous and other issues surrounding the proposal.

There were also 243 written submissions on the site selection (shortlist) report plus 46 verbal submissions, a three day workshop in Broome in July and an Environmental Protection Authority report and other reports commissioned by the Commonwealth.

Crunch time for Prices Point

No wonder the public is often cynical about politics when we are told just before the festive season about a decision which will change our region irrevocably with a 1000 to 2000 hectare slice of Kimberley coast given over to industrial development of which a large chunk will be on the land. If Prices Point is taken by our State Government for an LNG gas factory, the 4 kilometre long dredging required, will scrape out the grave for the Broome surrounds, and the drilling and pile driving for the construction of 'a significant jetty' will pound at the very heart of our Kimberley coastline. This destruction of our pristine environment is a very heavy price to pay. What’s going to be the effect of the next 50 years of major quantities of waste water from the extraction process, atmospheric pollution and ballast from the tankers? The next three months of consultation is far too short in considering cultural, heritage, environmental and social impacts on Broome and the wider area. The threat of 'compulsory acquisition' is a poor substitute if negotiations get bogged down with traditional owners. The Conservation Council is right by drawing a line in the sand and launching an International campaign against this proposal while arguing that the Browse gas should be piped to the Pilbara instead where the infrastructure is already in place.

Brian Kane Broome.