Kimberley Browse LNG Project

• The State Government is developing a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Precinct in the Kimberley to enable processing of natural gas from the offshore Browse Basin.
• The Browse Basin has proven reserves of some 30 trillion cubic feet (Tcf) of gas and 600 million barrels of condensate along with probable gas reserves estimated at 60 Tcf, making it comparable to the State’s North West Shelf
• The precinct will be capable of accommodating LNG processing and shipping facilities for at least two proponents developing these resources
• Planning for the precinct will be aimed at minimising the environmental footprint of gas processing in the region while maximising opportunities for local people and businesses to participate in, and benefit from employment and business opportunities.
• Planning will also work to avoid or minimise impacts on significant cultural or heritage sites.
• At stake is investment totaling billions of dollars, a major construction project and up to 400 long term jobs for a resource expected to last at least 30 years.  

Precinct Details

• The precinct will be located in the vicinity of James Price Point, about 60 kilometers from Brome.
• The Department of State Development has been working with consultants Worley Parsons, industry, environmental groups, the Kimberley Land Council and Traditional Owners to identify an area that that meets technical, environmental, social and Indigenous heritage criteria.
• The precinct is being developed to accommodate production of up to 50Mtpa of LNG.
• LNG is produced in parallel processing ‘trains’. The number and capacity of LNG trains will vary depending on technology selected and decisions made by LNG facility proponents, but will be limited by the total precinct operating capacity equivalent.

How much land is required?

• A Draft Master Plan for the precinct and related areas is being completed. This includes preliminary layouts based on a notional concept of two LNG operators, each processing up to a nominal 25Mtpa.
• These layouts provide for up to 500 hectares for each of the proposed operators, as well as key internal infrastructure separation buffers. 
• The precinct is also likely to include infrastructure corridors, laydown areas and an exclusion zone.
• The total fenced area to be occupied by the precinct on land will be around 2000-2500 hectares. The precinct area also includes approximately 1000 hectares of sea.
• The Government will work closely with the Traditional Owners to protect important cultural heritage areas and to minimise the overall area of land and sea required for the precinct.
• Additional areas will be required for worker accommodation, support services, road access and buffer areas in which development, but not access will be restricted.
• Restrictions around any marine installations, jetties or channels will be kept to the minimum required for operational and safety reasons.
• Maintaining public access to the coast and the ocean is an important consideration in selecting the site and its future design.

Why James Price Point?

• James Price Point was chosen through an extensive selection process that initially considered more than 40 different sites in the Kimberley and alternatives such as off shore processing and piping the gas to the Pilbara for processing.
• Eleven sites were subjected to more detailed examination, then four were short listed. Issues taken into account included:
  • the suitability of locations in terms of environmental and indigenous heritage constraints,
  • proximity to the gas fields
  • suitability for heavy industry and shipping
  • impacts on existing communities and on community and industry uses
• The James Price Point location provides:
  • flexibility in locating multiple processing operations and their facilities to meet heritage and environmental requirements
  • ease of expansion for two, or more than two LNG processing operators.
  • no people living within 10 kilometres of the location

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• The studies concluded that James Price Point was the location most likely to work for the Kimberley community, for the environment, for industry and for Western Australia’s future economic development. 
• However, there are substantial Aboriginal title and heritage, environmental, social and economic impacts, including pearling lease and engineering issues that will need to be addressed before development proceeds. 
• There are also significant technical challenges to overcome, in planning for the precinct. 
• James Price Point is subject to large tidal movements and cyclonic winds and rainfall. 
• The area is covered in Pindan - a red, clayey sand up to 10 – 20 metres deep, over limestone formations, with distances from the coastline to deep water between 5.2 and 9.5 km. 
• The location for the precinct must be able to safely accommodate major facilities and offer reasonable access to deep water. 
• Impacts on the local ecology of excavation, dredging and construction need to be carefully managed.
  

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• The Department of State Development is working towards a target of completing its studies and decisions by late 2010. 
• However, development of the precinct will require a commitment from a Browse basin operator to LNG processing at the precinct. 
• Woodside Energy Limited leads the Browse LNG Development joint venture which holds a resource of about 14 trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 370 million barrels of condensate. 
• The Joint Venture is currently considering James Price Point, or existing Woodside operated facilities located near Karratha, some 500km away. 
• A choice of location is expected by the middle of 2009 and a final investment decision late next year, with processing unlikely before 2015-16.
• Kimberley LNG Project Timeline (as of 18 June 2009)
  

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• A "Heads of Agreement" document has been signed by Premier Colin Barnett, Woodside chief Don Voelte and Kimberley Land Council (KLC) CEO Wayne Bergmann. Heads of Agreement signed for Kimberley LNG ProjectAbout 5000 Aboriginal people live in the Shire of Broome, including more than 1000 in communities on the Dampier Peninsula, with many others having close links to the Peninsula. 
• James Price Point is currently unallocated Crown land which has a native title claim over it by the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr Native Title Claimants. 
• The Government is negotiating with the Kimberley Land Council – representing the Traditional Owners – to acquire native title rights and interests and to identify an area of land and conditions of development that minimise impact on traditional uses and Indigenous heritage assets.
  

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• A broad agreement has been reached between the State Government, the Kimberley Land Council, representing the Traditional Owners, and Woodside as a potential proponent of the precinct, about development in the vicinity of James Price Point.  
• The agreement provides a framework and basis for moving towards the development of a detailed Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA), or Agreements (ILUAs), planned for execution by the end of 2009 and registration as soon as possible thereafter. 
• The parties have acknowledged that there are matters of detail to be negotiated and agreed as part of the ILUA process.

The State Government’s commitments as part of this broad agreement include:

• only taking land that is required for the precinct, when it is required and not extinguishing Native Title 
• when the land is no longer needed, returning it fully remediated to the Traditional Owners 
• providing an area of land equivalent to that required for the processing facility, under freehold title, to the Traditional Owners, 
• which could be developed, including by taking opportunities to benefit from the precinct project 
• funding for Aboriginal management of nature and heritage reserves 
• funding support for economic development, better housing and education and cultural preservation. 
• resolving indigenous land title issues on the Dampier Peninsula creating new nature and heritage reserves on the Dampier Peninsula 
• creating new nature and heritage reserves on the Dampier Peninsula 
• funding for a Kimberley Enhancement Scheme that will expand and improve existing government services and facilities in the broader community.

Woodside has also made commitments as part of the agreement and the Federal Government is developing a range of complementary benefits.
All parties have agreed to work together to avoid or minimise overall impacts, especially on heritage and culture.
A comprehensive Heritage Protection Plan will be developed which will outline the measures to be taken to protect culture and heritage.

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• The Federal and State Governments have negotiated a joint Strategic Assessment Agreement (SAA) which incorporates both the site selection and site approval processes and covers both Indigenous and environmental issues. 
• An environmental management and monitoring plan developed as a key part of the SAA will be assessed in accordance with the Western Australian Environmental Protection Act 1986, and the Commonwealth Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. 
• It is proposed that the final SAA Report be submitted to both the Environmental Protection Authority and the Commonwealth Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts in November 2009. It will then take some months to be assessed. Environmental approvals are not expected until mid to late 2010. 
• As part of planning for the precinct a large number of environmental and technical studies have been completed, and more are scheduled. The project will only proceed if it can be demonstrated that environmental impacts can be managed. Very high standards will apply.

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• Providing real long term benefits to local Aboriginal people, as well as the wider community in the Shires of Broome and Derby West Kimberley is a priority in planning the precinct. 
• In addition, a Social Impact Assessment (SIA) - a process to anticipate and manage change - is underway. This focuses on Broome and the Dampier Peninsula. 
• SIA is a process aimed at anticipating the impacts of the development of the precinct and then recommending strategies for mitigating and managing those impacts and maximising opportunities for the local community to benefit. 
• LNG processing is unlikely to greatly change the nature, nor significantly increase the size of Broome but the assessment will estimate the impacts of a potential population increase in areas such as housing, health, education and community facilities and develop strategies to manage these impacts. 
• The SIA will assess potential impacts on Broome’s unique heritage, cultural and lifestyle aspects.
• The SIA will also take into account the impact of the precinct development on local pearling, tourism and fishing industries, on recreational camping and fishing and on infrastructure.
• The Tourism Impact Assessment is now complete. The study looked at a variety of accommodation, land-based tours, aerial scenic flights, tourist-focused retail, indigenous cultural experiences and marine based tourism and how these might be impacted by the development of an LNG precinct. It also looked at the potential impacts and benefits to the tourism and hospitality workforce and accommodation, tourism products, including flights, tours and experiences and the ‘sense of place’ of Broome and the Kimberley.

Additional employment opportunities

• In addition to LNG processing, development of the Browse Basin will lead to a significant increase in supply base size and activity. 
• This will create additional jobs in a range of subcontracted areas including producing, storing and transporting supplies and equipment and recording drilling results. 
• Such additional industry will see more families making the Kimberley their home. 
• Possible future locations for these are being considered, including two In the Derby region, one at Point Torment and the other at Derby Itself, which may create a major opportunity for Derby and West Kimberley communities.
  

Site Assessment for a Supply Base to Support the Browse Basin - Assessment of Broome, Derby, Point Torment, and James Price Point.

For the Department of State Development, WorleyParsons conducted a desktop Site Assessment for a Supply Base to Support the Browse Basin - Assessment of Broome, Derby, Point Torment, and James Price Point.

The focus was on the physical requirements typically required for supply base services and comparing the locations from this base.  The assessment compared the four locations to identify the site that would be optimal for a supply base and ranked, in order of suitability, the remaining locations.  In the case of the greenfield locations of Point Torment and James Price Point, the assessment noted the lack of existing infrastructure and otherwise limited available information for comparative purposes. 

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The coordination of issues related to the development of a precinct for processesing Browse Basin gas in the Kimberley has passed from the former Northern Development Taskforce to the newly established Department of State Development.

Kimberley LNG Precinct Reports and Key Documents

Public Submissions

In October 2008, the Northern Development Taskforce published a Site Evaluation Report which was subsequently open for public comment.  Two hundred and forty six submissions were received. 

The submissions are catalogued in the attached Excel spreadsheet.  To locate a submission, please reference both the volume number and the page number.  The page numbers are hand written in the top right hand corner of the documents.

Submission Catalogue

Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

LNG Precinct Siting Study – November 2008

The NDT commissioned WorleyParsons Services to undertake a precinct siting study on the four short-listed sites.

WorleyParsons – Browse Onshore LNG Precinct Siting Study – 20 November 2008 (PDT 1,158kb opens in new window)

Archived documents

To obtain copies of documents produced by the Northern Development Taskforce between June 2007 and October 2008, or to obtain further information regarding the Kimberley LNG Precinct, please contact Nick Hopkins or Lisa Atkinson on 92220555.

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