Turning gas into liquid is the key

USING Australia's vast natural gas reserves to produce clean fuels for transport is the next step for the oil and gas industry, said the new chairman of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association, Colin Beckett.
Mr Beckett, Chevron's general manager for the Greater Gorgon Area, was elected chairman last week.
He said yesterday that the industry had to work collaboratively with state and federal governments to develop strategies to offset Australia's growing energy trade imbalance.
Australia is estimated to have 200 trillion cubic feet of gas reserves.
Converting coal or natural gas into liquids is increasingly being used overseas to fuel energy-efficient diesel engines.
"Australia currently is 65 per cent self-sufficient in oil, but by 2015 we'll be only 30 per cent self-sufficient," Mr Beckett told The Australian.
"The energy-trade gap is now around $5 billion a year and growing rapidly.
"This is a significant issue for the industry and we need to work with governments to develop initiatives that will offset the declining production of crude oil."
Mr Beckett said this meant more than just demanding greater incentives for exploration from government.
A key issue was the relative shortage of liquid transport fuel.
The industry had to apply new technologies that recovered more from existing fields.
The new APPEA chief said that because offshore exploration in Australia was so remote, he expected more work to be done on long-distance tie-backs to production facilities so high development costs could secure higher returns.
APPEA was currently focused on more exploration to offset the decline in oil production, quadrupling LNG exports which help offset the high cost of energy imports, and encouraging gas-to-liquid procedures as part of the solution to the energy trade imbalance.
"Australia has large quantities of gas to support a gas-to-liquids program, which would make a substantial contribution to easing the liquid transport fuel issue.
"APPEA is encouraged that Prime Minister John Howard indicated in his new energy policy earlier this year that gas-to-liquids is being considered as part of the future energy mix."
Converting gas into liquids would produce a clean fuel that could address the decline in oil and make a contribution to reducing pollution.
Mr Beckett said APPEA had this year set itself targets in promoting increased safety awareness in the industry and devising further measures to attract graduates and skilled tradespeople.
While there had been no fatalities in the industry in the past year, and the lost-time to injury ratio had fallen, APPEA believed there needed to be proper training in safety leadership.
"The safety incidents are really about education. We need to reduce the number of hand injuries where people are getting their fingers caught in tools."
Mr Beckett said the experience of the drillship NanHai IV, on which an explosion and fire left two workers injured earlier this year, as it was preparing to drill a well in the Timor Sea, was an example of how safety concerns were paramount.
While the injured men had been evacuated rapidly and repairs had been made quickly, the vessel's workforce had been required to demonstrate they met appropriate safety standards before the NanHai IV could resume operations.
"What is important is that we in the industry learn from incidents so that we avoid mistakes in the future," Mr Beckett said.