AJ Lucas won the $A95 million contract to use horizontal directional drilling to construct nine holes as part of the Gorgon LNG Project in Western Australia.
The project includes the drilling of shore crossings to connect the upstream facilities for the Gorgon project to the onshore infrastructure on Barrow Island, located off the coast of northern Western Australia.
The project comprises nine HDD landfalls: eight for gas flow line and umbilical connections and one ‘water-wining’ hole to bring ashore the water needed for drilling fluid.
Minimal impact on the environment is extremely important for the project as the landfalls come ashore under North Whites Beach, one of the principal rookeries for the green turtle (Chelonia mydas), which has a conservation status of vulnerable.
The trenchless technique will be used in order to minimise any environmental impact. AJ Lucas has ordered two new Herrenknecht HDD rigs, along with two new custom-built Brandt mud systems and five new Gardner-Denver PZ8 mudpumps. The equipment will be made soundproof and site carefully designed to reduce the impact on local fauna and marine life.
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AJ Lucas CEO Allan Campbell said “Lucas prides itself on its horizontal directional drilling capability to minimise any environmental footprint.”
In January AJ Lucas was recognised for their eco-friendly technologies and received the Special Award for Infrastructure at the Ethical Investor’s ninth annual Australian Sustainability Awards.
Engineering work is already underway, and site works are expected to begin in May 2010.
Gorgon facts
The Gorgon Project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron as operator, ExxonMobil and Shell to develop the Greater Gorgon gas fields and includes the installation of a subsea gathering system and pipelines from the Gorgon and Io/Jansz fields to Barrow Island.
Gas will be processed on Barrow Island via three LNG trains before being shipped to international markets or delivered domestically via a 90 kilometre subsea pipeline to the Western Australian mainland, interconnecting with the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline.
The Greater Gorgon gas fields are Australia’s largest-known gas resources, containing about 40 trillion cubic feet of gas. It is expected that the 40 year project will produce about 15 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas every year.
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