An integrated $6 billion gas development project was underway, consisting of upstream development, gas treatment and compression facilities, gas transmission pipelines, and an LNG facility. To maximise the project’s economic performance, additional gas trains at the LNG facility required supplemental Coal Seam Gas (CSG) and Shale Gas supplies. A maximum of 1,400 TJ/day of gas production was being sought from new development areas near existing gas fields and infrastructure.
The development primarily focused on CSG over a 4,300 km² area. As part of the gas field development, a number of gas treatment, compression and support facilities had to be constructed and approved as part of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). This included:
- Nodal Compression Facilities: Each with a capacity of <100 TJ/day.
- Hub Compression with Gas Treatment: Three facilities, each with 450 TJ/day capacity.
- Water Management Facilities: Distributed systems handling up to 150 ML/day of water, including gathering, storage, and treatment.
- Infrastructure Corridors: Over 4,200 km of roads, tracks, and gathering line networks.
- Construction Camps: Accommodating 4,200 full-time workers across three areas.
- Operational Facilities and Camps: For 500 personnel, including permanent accommodation and administration buildings.
- Gas Transmission Pipelines: Spanning 500 km to connect compression facilities to transmission pipelines.
EHS Support played a central role in the project, helping to develop a comprehensive EIS for every component of the expansion. The team’s responsibilities included:
- Project Definition: Collaborating with concept and execution teams to define the scope.
- OptimiSing Development Plans: Cutting CAPEX and maximising alignment with existing infrastructure.
- Field Development Protocols: Creating a Constraints Planning Process and identifying facility locations.
- Impact Studies:
- Groundwater and surface water effects.
- Land, soil, and vegetation disturbances.
- Air emissions and impacts on flora and fauna.
- Visual, social, and traffic implications.
- Community health and safety hazards.
- Environmental Management Protocols: Designing guidelines to manage environmental impacts.
- Offsets Planning: Estimating total vegetation clearance requirements for offset provisions.
Through strategic planning and execution, EHS Support identified significant cost and environmental synergies, reducing the project’s CAPEX and environmental impacts of the project. Using triple bottom line assessments, a framework of environmental and regulatory trade-offs was developed, paving the way for optimised outcomes. The final EIS received regulatory approval in 2014, with ongoing work incorporating intensified activities in existing production areas.
EHS Support’s successful management of this project underscores the integration of efficient planning with environmental and economic sustainability.