- Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and partners win the support of Western Australia state's environmental regulator for a plan to expand capacity at the giant Gorgon liquefied natural gas export project by a third to 20M tons/year by eventually building a fourth processing unit.
- The expansion plan, which also needs approval by state and federal environment ministers, does not guarantee construction will go ahead, as developers of Australian energy projects have been scaling back or deferring plans following the plunge in world energy prices.
- But construction of Gorgon's $54B first stage is more than 90% complete and the venture, which also counts Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A, RDS.B) as significant shareholders, is due to ship its first LNG cargo later this year.