Monday, September 04, 2006

Western Australia's Dampier-Bunbury gas pipeline to be expanded

The owners of Western Australia's major gas pipeline have given thego-ahead for a A$700 million ($534 million) expansion project designed toensure the state's long-term security of supply. The Dampier to Bunbury Pipeline connects the major gas fields ofAustralia's North West Shelf to industrial and residential centers in southernWestern Australia. The pipeline is owned by the DBP consortium comprising DiversifiedUtility & Energy Trusts (60%), Alinta (20%) and Alcoa of Australia (20%). DBPbought the pipeline from former owner Epic Energy for A$1.86 billion inOctober 2004. The Stage 5A project is the second major expansion undertaken by DBPsince it acquired the pipeline. As with the Stage 4 expansion, which iscurrently nearing completion, all the additional capacity will be fullycontracted to new and existing shippers under long-term arrangements, DBP saidin a statement Friday. "Combined, the Stage 4 and Stage 5A expansions represent an investment ofabout A$1.13 billion in the pipeline," said DBP Executive Chairman StuartHohnen. "This is nearly three times the size of the financial commitment wegave to the state government and the Australian Competition and ConsumerCommission when we purchased the pipeline." Construction of the Stage 5A expansion is expected to begin in early2007, with the first capacity to be commissioned during the first quarter of2008 and the remainder by the third quarter of that year. The expansion willincrease the pipeline's capacity by around 100 terajoules/day to more than 700TJ/d. The Stage 5A project involves laying additional pipe alongside theexisting pipeline in a process known as looping. The work will involve tenloops totaling more than 570 km (353 miles). The A$430 million Stage 4 expansion, comprising 217 km of looping andinstallation of eight new compressors, is now 90% complete, Hohnen said. OnceStage 5A is finished, about half of the 1,530 km pipeline will have beenduplicated. Stage 5A is the first of a proposed three-part expansion of the pipeline.The timing of Stages 5B and 5C is dependent on a range of issues, includingthe price and availability of gas to support new resource processing and powergeneration developments, DBP said.

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