Waitsia Stage 2 is an under-construction project that involves further development of the onshore Waitsia gas field in the Perth Basin, Western Australia.
The Final Investment Decision (FID) for the project was taken in December 2020 by the partners Beach Energy and Waitsia operator Mitsui E&P Australia.
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The construction of the project officially began in October 2021 with a groundbreaking ceremony.
The Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2 will involve addition of new wells and the development of production facility with a capacity of 250TJ/day of gas.
At the time of FID, the gross development cost of the project was estimated to be A$768m ($529.62m).
Production from Stage 2 is expected to commence in the second half of 2023.
The delivery of Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2 will enable maximising the potential of the Waitsia gas field. It will also help in stabilising Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production amid increase in global demand as well as maintain domestic supplies for Western Australian manufacturers and consumers.
Location details
The Waitsia gas field is located approximately 330km north of Perth within the Perth Basin in Western Australia.
It is said to be one of the largest gas fields to have been discovered onshore in the country with estimated recoverable reserves of 1,111 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of gas (Waitsia & Beharra Springs total).
The development of Waitsia Gas Project Stage 2 will involve clearing of up to 17ha of native vegetation to accommodate a new gas processing plant, new production wells, a gas gathering system and flowline.
Project details
The development of the Waitsia Stage 2 Gas Project includes the drilling of production wells and construction of a new gas processing plant with a capacity of 250TJ/d.
The gas processing plant will receive gas from up to eight production wells. For this, a series of flowlines and gathering hubs will be used to connect production wells to the new processing plant.
The draw-up from production wells will be phased over a 15-year life cycle.
The produced gas will be exported to the North West Shelf LNG via Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline (DBNGP), the main gas pipeline in Western Australia.
The gas will be liquefied for exports.
The project is expected to export 1.4 million tonnes of LNG per year from 2023 to the end of 2028. Following the export period, the produced gas will be sold in the domestic market.
No approval for fracking has been taken as the project does not include Hydraulic Fracture Stimulation.
Employment
Waitsia Stage 2 is expected to generate new employment opportunities in the state.
An average of 70 design and management Perth based personnel will be hired during the execution phase.
During the construction phase, an average of 150 personnel will be employed. This will increase to nearly 200 at peak.
The project will open 25 permanent jobs once it begins operations.
Contractors Involved
Engineering company Clough secured the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) contract for Waitsia Stage 2 project. As part of the works, the company is providing an optimum technological solution for the new gas processing plant.
In February 2023, Beach Energy reached an agreement with Webuild to complete the delivery of the Waitsia Stage 2 project. This is subject to approval from Clough, which was placed into administration in December 2022.
In a statement, Beach Energy said that the company and joint venture partner Mitsui E&P Australia have worked with Clough administrators to ensure payments to subcontractors and employee wages to allow the Waitsia Gas Plant construction.
ASCO, a global integrated logistics and materials management company, received two five-year contracts in January 2022 from Mitsui E&P Australia to offer logistics, storage, and camp management provision for the project.
Local firm Gnarla Barna Civil & Mining secured the bulk earthworks contract.
As part of the Pre-FEED Waitsia Gas Plant development Stage 2, OGS was engaged to carry out an independent Operability, Reliability and Maintainability Assessment to evaluate process configuration, operational and maintenance philosophies, redundancy/sparing philosophy and overall reliability, availability and maintainability aspects received the pre-FEED contract for the project.
In July 2021, GF Engineering won the contract for the fabrication of process piping for the project.
