PERTH (miningweekly.com) – US energy major Chevron on Monday announced first liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from the Gorgon project, off the coast of Western Australia.

The $54-billion project this month produced its first LNG and first cargo was now on the way to customers in Japan.

“Departure of the first cargo from the Gorgon project is a key milestone in our commitment to be a reliable LNG provider for customers across the Asia-Pacific region,” said Chevron executive VP for midstream and development Mike Wirth.

“This is also important for our investors as we begin to generate revenue from a project we expect will operate for decades to come.”

The Gorgon project includes a three-train, 15.6-million-tonne-a-year LNG plant on Barrow Island with the capacity to supply 275-million standard cubic feet a day of natural gas to the Western Australian market.

The project includes the world’s largest commercial-scale carbon capture and storage initiative, reducing the project’s emissions by about 40%, or 3.6-million tonnes a year, and it also has the largest subsea infrastructure ever built, with more than 800 km of pipelines installed.

Western Australian Premier and Minister for State Development Colin Barnett said on Monday that Gorgon was expected to generate economic benefits for Western Australia over the next few decades.

“The project is the largest single resources project in Australian history, and is also one of the largest natural gas projects in the world,” Barnett said.

“To date, more than A$34-billion has been invested within the state and Australia, and 455 contracts have been awarded to Western Australian companies for goods and services.”

“As the project moves into production, its long-standing benefits include operational and maintenance jobs, the provision of domestic gas and the payment of state taxes,” he said.

The Western Australian Chamber of Minerals and Energy also welcomed the first shipment of LNG from Gorgon, with CEO Reg Howard-Smith noting that the milestone represented a significant investment in the future of Western Australia.

“The Gorgon project is forecast to add almost A$14-billion each year to Australia’s gross domestic product right through until 2040,” Howard-Smith said.

“It will also boost state and federal government revenues by more than A$70-billion, from 2009 to 2040.”