2000 - Present

    2000

    • Duke Energy’s 800km Eastern Gas Pipeline between Longford and Sydney comes online.
    • Phillips signs Letter of Intent with Multiplex Constructions for construction of gas pipeline from Bayu-Undan field in Timor Gap to Darwin.

     

    2001

    • Woodside finds Thylacine (Tasmania) and Geographe (Victoria) gas fields in offshore Otway Basin.
    • Queensland Gas Company signs agreement for its first commercial sale of coal seam gas from Surat Basin fields to Queensland Government-owned CS Energy.
    • Council of Australian Governments established a Ministerial Council on Energy and initiated a review of energy market directions in Australia.
    • Sydney Gas Company’s Camden coal seam gas field comes onstream in Sydney Basin, NSW.

     

    2002

    • Peat (Origin) and Scotia (Santos) CSG fields begin commercial production.
    • Santos and Strike Oil find Casino gas field in offshore Otway Basin, Victoria.

     

    2003

    • Federal Parliament creates National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority.
    • Australian Energy Regulator to replace 17 State-based regulators from July 2004.
    • Exxon/Mobil confirms a massive 20 trillion cubic feet gas reserve in its Jansz field in deep water off Western Australia.
    • WA Government gives approval for Gorgon gas project using Barrow Island for production facilities.

     

    2004

    • Council of Australian Governments signs the Australian Energy Market Agreement to streamline and improve quality of regulation in national energy market.
    • ChevronTexaco finds Wheatstone gas field.
    • North West Shelf Venture’s fourth train comes online.

     

    2005

    • Woodside makes Pluto gas discovery and soon announces LNG plans. Later in the year, it signs a 15-year supply deal with Tokyo Gas.
    • ChevronTexaco, ExxonMobil and Shell announce new unitisation framework agreement for developing Greater Gorgon gas fields. Project moves into front-end engineering and design.
    • Santos acquires Fairview CSG field via US$466 million takeover of US-listed Tipperary Corp.
    • First Indigenous Land Use Agreement in South Australia designed to streamline negotiations is signed between Stellar Resources and the Antakarinja people.
    • WA becomes the first Australian state to create a legislatively-backed carbon trading scheme using revegetation to offset CO2 emissions.

     

    2006

    • Australia’s second LNG project, Darwin LNG, begins production.
    • Federal Government and APPEA launch strategic plan to boost Australian indigenous oil production, increase domestic gas usage and increase LNG exports.
    • APPEA launches new web-based Safety & Environment Alert System to enhance the rapid spread of practical safety-related information.

     

    2007

    • Apache Energy makes several gas discoveries in the offshore Carnarvon Basin’s WA-356-P permit. More finds follow in 2008.
    • Shell makes Prelude gas discovery, which it says could be developed via floating LNG.
    • First CSG-LNG plans announced. May – Arrow Energy and LNG Limited announce a plan to partner in a 1 million tonne per annum CSG-LNG export facility. July – Santos reveals it is planning to build its own 3-4 million tonne per annum LNG export plant. Both facilities planned for Gladstone, Queensland.
    • Hess Corp wins prime WA acreage – WA-390-P – with a record 16-well work program bid.
    • First reverse osmosis water treatment plant at Origin’s Spring Gully CSG plant
    • Productivity Commission report says Australian petroleum regulatory approvals processes must be streamlined if the country’s energy resources are to be developed with optimal efficiency.

     

    2008

    • The Gorgon LNG partners plan a 50% increase in output by adding a third train of 5 million tonnes per year production capacity.
    • APPEA study of Australian petroleum resources indicates Australia faces a projected $28 billion petroleum liquids trade deficit by 2017. Without major new oil discoveries the country will be only 32% self-sufficient in oil by that time.
    • Chevron announces plans to develop Wheatstone for LNG and domgas with FEED to begin in 2009.
    • UN allows Australia to extend its continental shelf area by 2.5 million sq.km
    • Queensland Gas Company and Origin Energy announce plans for Gladstone-based CSG-LNG operations. QGC plans to partner with UK giant BG Group, while Origin teams up with ConocoPhillips. Santos announces it will partner with Petronas for the GLNG project. Later in the year, BG Group acquires its Queensland Curtis LNG partner, QGC.
    • Inpex upgrades Ichthys gas reserves by 50%. Later in the year, Inpex and Total decide to pipe gas from Ichthys to an LNG plant to be built near Darwin.
    • Hess finds gas in its Glencoe-1 wildcat off WA, the beginning of a string of significant gas discoveries.
    • APPEA opens its Brisbane office.
    • WA Government orders a review into the security of the state’s gas supplies following two supply interruptions (North West Shelf and Varanus Island) in 2008.

     

    2009

    • The Montara oil spill occurs on August 21, finally stopped on November 3.
    • New WA legislation allows a greater range of gas to be used in the domestic market, enabling development of fields such as BHP’s Macedon.

     

    2010

    • The Sunrise LNG joint venture formally opts for floating LNG over Darwin and Timor development options.
    • Queensland LNG hopefuls Shell and PetroChina acquire Arrow Energy.
    • Two major WA oil projects – Pyrenees (operator BHP) and Van Gogh (operator Apache) come online.
    • Two midcap petroleum producers announce Australian shale gas plans. AWE appraises acreage in the northern Perth Basin, while Beach Energy undertakes preliminary work in the Cooper Basin.
    • Two major CSG-LNG projects – Queensland Curtis LNG (BG Group) and Gladstone LNG (Santos-Petronas) – achieve all necessary approvals. BG makes a positive final investment decision for QCLNG.
    • Shell approves development of the Prelude gas field – this offshore Browse Basin project is intended to become the world’s first floating LNG project.
    • Australia wins the bid to host an upcoming instalment of the prestigious triennial International LNG Conference. LNG18 will be held in Perth in 2016.
    • The Montara Inquiry releases its report. It recommends a single national offshore regulator and stronger polluter-pays laws.

     

    2011

    • Santos annnounces the final investment decision for Gladstone LNG in January.
    • The Federal Government approves Australia Pacific LNG in February. Project partners Origin Energy and ConocoPhillips make their final investment decision in July, making APLNG the third Queensland CSG-LNG project to begin construction.
    • Shell Development Australia makes the final investment decision for the Prelude floating LNG project in May.
    • Chevron makes the final investment decision for Wheatstone in September.
    • The Senate passes carbon pricing legislation in November.
    • The Federal Goverment releases the draft Energy White Paper in December.


    2012

    • Inpex and Total make the final investment decision for Ichthys LNG in January.
    • In April, Woodside announces that Pluto LNG has started production.