SAN RAMON, Calif. and PERTH, Australia, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Chevron Corporation today announced that its Australian subsidiary has successfully bid for the rights to a deepwater exploration permit with gas potential offshore Western Australia. Chevron Australia Pty Ltd will be the operator and will hold a 50 percent interest, and Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd will hold the remaining 50 percent interest.
Permit area WO5-13 is located 100 miles (160 kilometers) northwest of the Western Australian coast in the Exmouth Plateau region. The plateau is the deepwater frontier of the Carnarvon Basin, Australia's premier petroleum basin, which also includes the North West Shelf and the Greater Gorgon Area.
"The permit adds to Chevron's position as the leading holder of gas resources in Australia and demonstrates progress on our strategy to achieve superior exploratory success from a focused, high-impact exploration program," said John Watson, president, Chevron International Exploration and Production.
"Our successful bid for this acreage reflects Chevron's increasing investment in Australia's hydrocarbon resources," said Jay Johnson, managing director, Chevron Australia. "Western Australia is a cornerstone of Chevron's plans to build an internationally competitive gas business to supply energy to Australia and the Asia-Pacific region."
The award of this new acreage follows the award of four large blocks to Chevron Australia in the Exmouth Plateau last year.
The work program for the 1,390-square-mile (3,600-square-kilometer) block includes geotechnical studies and seismic data acquisition and interpretation. The initial six-year work commitment includes the acquisition of 930 miles (1,500 kilometers) of seismic survey data. Seismic reprocessing will commence immediately, and a seismic survey will be conducted in 2007-2008.
Headquartered in Perth, Western Australia, Chevron Australia is operator and 50 percent joint-venture participant in the Gorgon Project, joint-venture participant in the North West Shelf Venture, operator and joint venture participant in the Barrow Island and Thevenard Island oil fields, and operator of significant exploration acreage located off the northwest coast of Australia.
Chevron Corporation is one of the world's leading energy companies. With more than 53,000 employees, Chevron subsidiaries conduct business in approximately 180 countries around the world, producing and transporting crude oil and natural gas, and refining, marketing and distributing fuels and other energy products. Chevron is based in San Ramon, Calif. More information on Chevron is available at http://www.chevron.com/ .
Cautionary Statement Relevant to Forward-Looking Information for the Purpose of "Safe Harbor" Provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.
Some of the items discussed in this press release are forward-looking statements about Chevron's activities in Australia. Words such as "anticipates," "expects," "intends," "plans," "targets," "projects," "believes," "seeks," "estimates" and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. The statements are based upon management's current expectations, estimates and projections; are not guarantees of future performance; and are subject to certain risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond the company's control and are difficult to predict. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are changes in demand for, and prices of, crude oil and natural gas, the results of drilling and testing, local political events, civil unrest, weather and general economic conditions. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Unless legally required, Chevron undertakes no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
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