Mr MITCHELL - 2000-11-30
My question relates to the oil and gas projects coming on line to our north and the meeting that was brokered by the Chief Minister with the Prime Minister and executives from Woodside/Shell and Phillips Petroleum. Can he tell us what is going on with those projects after his meeting yesterday?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, yesterday’s meeting in Canberra was an historic meeting for all Australians, an historic meeting for the new emerging nation of East Timor and wonderful news for Territorians. I have in my hand the press release of the notification to the Stock Exchange, a joint press release by Woodside and Phillips 66, which will be the two major producers of gas in the Timor Sea.
Before I mention the discussions yesterday, can I say that any involvement that I have had in the project follows on from an involvement over a number of years - in particular in my time as Chief Minister, the efforts of Mr Daryl Manzie, the Minister for Resource Development, and his staff and the staff of various other organisations cooperating with these private venturers in order to realise this great decision that was made yesterday.
Essentially, and in a nutshell, the third piece of the jigsaw has been put into place in terms of positioning the Northern Territory, and Darwin in particular, as the true gateway to Asia. We have Darwin in a strategic location by virtue of its proximity to the trade routes of Asia and South-East Asia. We now also have the great south-north railway about to begin construction, a $1.3bn development, and a new greenfields port, a $200m investment to date.
But one thing was always holding the Northern Territory back, no matter which way we tried to fix it. We have spoken about the efforts that have been made in the past to get cleaner, more efficient and cheaper fuel into the Northern Territory by virtue of decisions that were made 13 years ago. But whichever way you spun it, in terms of attracting business to the Northern Territory, low-cost, competitive energy was always an issue that had to be determined. That was the issue for Territorians.
The Timor Sea gas province is probably - to put it lightly - another North-West Shelf. I say that in the context of looking at the way Darwin will develop over the very short term. It will be another Perth. It is inescapably now in that position. No longer will Darwin grow in the way that has been modelled in the past. This decision yesterday changes everything, may I say, forever.
The great gas and oil province off the coast has been largely unexplored. The exploration that has taken place to date has been enormously successful, proving gas reserves of 22 trillion cubic feet. To put it in layman’s terms for the children listening, if you supply the customers with a million tonnes of gas every year for 15 years, that is about 1 trillion cubic feet. And there is 22 trillion cubic feet proved in the Timor Sea gas province.
The trouble with gas is that there is a lot of it available in the world, lots of competition internationally. The development of this field, always an expensive proposition, had to work in competition with abundant gas reserves in other locations such as the Middle East. We have now secured a cooperative arrangement between the major venturers who, up until now, were searching for similar customers and in doing so in many respects were working against themselves. That position has been put to rest.
The Timor Sea gasfields will now be developed as one joint venture by the major producers. That joint venture will realise - this is from their own brief, bearing the logos of the three great producers, Phillips, Woodside and Shell – a total investment in 2001-06 of A$13bn in the Timor Sea and in Darwin. Among immediate developments will be the establishment of the Methanex plant in Darwin - a $1.2bn facility on its own – and the establishment of the gas pipeline to Darwin, costing at least $800m, to be followed very shortly by a gas pipeline to Gove to feed the Nabalco refinery and, I believe, an LNG plant at Wickham Point.
Mr Jim Mulva, who is the worldwide chairman and chief executive of Phillips, looked the Prime Minister in the eye yesterday and said: ‘I am bringing gas to Darwin by 2004’. I believe that is, as we approach Christmas, the greatest Christmas present that Territorians could ever wish for, because it realises all of our dreams.
Certainly, if one puts it in the context of the previous question as to whether or not Territorians will pay higher electricity charges in the future, there will be electricity to burn! There will be so much gas-fired power being generated in the Northern Territory, who knows where it will go? And the greatest beneficiary will be the consumer.
There is another success story here, for the emerging nation of East Timor. This is a nation that is about to stand on the world stage on its own. It can stand now, as not a mendicant nation but on its own. It is a nation that will stand with its own royalty flow, its own revenue flow, and the ability to make its own decisions without relying on aid, because of this historic decision of these joint venturers.
It is a great day for Darwin, a great day for the Territory, and a wonderful day, I believe, for Australia, because it positions Australia in such a way that its gas reserves are fed from a number of areas and we are secure as a nation. Issues such as the failing of the Bass Strait fields will never arise again because of alternative supply. It is also, let’s not forget, a great decision for the emerging nation of East Timor.
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, yesterday’s meeting in Canberra was an historic meeting for all Australians, an historic meeting for the new emerging nation of East Timor and wonderful news for Territorians. I have in my hand the press release of the notification to the Stock Exchange, a joint press release by Woodside and Phillips 66, which will be the two major producers of gas in the Timor Sea.
Before I mention the discussions yesterday, can I say that any involvement that I have had in the project follows on from an involvement over a number of years - in particular in my time as Chief Minister, the efforts of Mr Daryl Manzie, the Minister for Resource Development, and his staff and the staff of various other organisations cooperating with these private venturers in order to realise this great decision that was made yesterday.
Essentially, and in a nutshell, the third piece of the jigsaw has been put into place in terms of positioning the Northern Territory, and Darwin in particular, as the true gateway to Asia. We have Darwin in a strategic location by virtue of its proximity to the trade routes of Asia and South-East Asia. We now also have the great south-north railway about to begin construction, a $1.3bn development, and a new greenfields port, a $200m investment to date.
But one thing was always holding the Northern Territory back, no matter which way we tried to fix it. We have spoken about the efforts that have been made in the past to get cleaner, more efficient and cheaper fuel into the Northern Territory by virtue of decisions that were made 13 years ago. But whichever way you spun it, in terms of attracting business to the Northern Territory, low-cost, competitive energy was always an issue that had to be determined. That was the issue for Territorians.
The Timor Sea gas province is probably - to put it lightly - another North-West Shelf. I say that in the context of looking at the way Darwin will develop over the very short term. It will be another Perth. It is inescapably now in that position. No longer will Darwin grow in the way that has been modelled in the past. This decision yesterday changes everything, may I say, forever.
The great gas and oil province off the coast has been largely unexplored. The exploration that has taken place to date has been enormously successful, proving gas reserves of 22 trillion cubic feet. To put it in layman’s terms for the children listening, if you supply the customers with a million tonnes of gas every year for 15 years, that is about 1 trillion cubic feet. And there is 22 trillion cubic feet proved in the Timor Sea gas province.
The trouble with gas is that there is a lot of it available in the world, lots of competition internationally. The development of this field, always an expensive proposition, had to work in competition with abundant gas reserves in other locations such as the Middle East. We have now secured a cooperative arrangement between the major venturers who, up until now, were searching for similar customers and in doing so in many respects were working against themselves. That position has been put to rest.
The Timor Sea gasfields will now be developed as one joint venture by the major producers. That joint venture will realise - this is from their own brief, bearing the logos of the three great producers, Phillips, Woodside and Shell – a total investment in 2001-06 of A$13bn in the Timor Sea and in Darwin. Among immediate developments will be the establishment of the Methanex plant in Darwin - a $1.2bn facility on its own – and the establishment of the gas pipeline to Darwin, costing at least $800m, to be followed very shortly by a gas pipeline to Gove to feed the Nabalco refinery and, I believe, an LNG plant at Wickham Point.
Mr Jim Mulva, who is the worldwide chairman and chief executive of Phillips, looked the Prime Minister in the eye yesterday and said: ‘I am bringing gas to Darwin by 2004’. I believe that is, as we approach Christmas, the greatest Christmas present that Territorians could ever wish for, because it realises all of our dreams.
Certainly, if one puts it in the context of the previous question as to whether or not Territorians will pay higher electricity charges in the future, there will be electricity to burn! There will be so much gas-fired power being generated in the Northern Territory, who knows where it will go? And the greatest beneficiary will be the consumer.
There is another success story here, for the emerging nation of East Timor. This is a nation that is about to stand on the world stage on its own. It can stand now, as not a mendicant nation but on its own. It is a nation that will stand with its own royalty flow, its own revenue flow, and the ability to make its own decisions without relying on aid, because of this historic decision of these joint venturers.
It is a great day for Darwin, a great day for the Territory, and a wonderful day, I believe, for Australia, because it positions Australia in such a way that its gas reserves are fed from a number of areas and we are secure as a nation. Issues such as the failing of the Bass Strait fields will never arise again because of alternative supply. It is also, let’s not forget, a great decision for the emerging nation of East Timor.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016