LNG boom to test service industry
With massive liquefied natural gas projects moving from the construction to the operating phase, Australia’s LNG service industry will be stretched and tested as never before.
Chevron Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski told delegates at this week's Australia Petroleum Production & Exploration Association conference in Melbourne that it was up to the LNG services industry to maximise reliability and extract maximum value from the facilities.
He added industry needed to grow the availability of the highly specialised skills needed for plant turnarounds, which could take thousands of people and last for weeks.
Krzywosinski said Australia needed to regain its competitiveness, not just to attract future projects, but to ensure the success of the projects that were already locked in.
“We need to continue finding innovative solutions to drive down our costs.”
He said the industry needed to redouble its efforts to co-operate in non-competitive areas such as logistics.
Independent research commissioned by Chevron showed that nearly 19,000 people were employed last year on the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects.
Together they contributed a total of about half a trillion dollars to Australia’s gross domestic product, “equivalent to the size of the economy of NSW,” he said.
As Gorgon and Wheatstone move into the operations phase, tens of millions of dollars will be spent with Australian suppliers.
“The challenge now is to prove to the world that when it comes to operating and maintaining these facilities, we’re best in class," Krzywosinski said.
“Developing a capable and responsive world-class services sector will help us demonstrate Australia is investment-ready for the next wave of opportunity."
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