WA rezoning yields windfall
Colin Barnett is targeting a second billion-dollar windfall from a massive Browse Basin gas field after a surprise rezoning of exploration acreage off the Kimberley coast gifted the State part of the Poseidon find.
It remains unclear how much of Poseidon, a field permit partners ConocoPhillips, Origin Energy and PetroChina believe could contain as much as 7.6 trillion cubic feet of gas, actually lies in State waters. Poseidon was discovered in 2009 but the partners are yet to fully define the size of the field.
But the rezoning could complicate development options for the Poseidon partners, who are thought to be favouring a plan to send the gas to the ConocoPhillips-run Darwin LNG plant.
ConocoPhillips would not comment last night though sources close to the Poseidon venture said the partners had been consulted by the WA and Federal Governments about the acreage boundary changes.
The surprise inclusion of Poseidon is another boon for the Barnett Government since Geoscience Australia in May discovered new outcrops on the Seringapatam and North and South Scott reefs, classifying them as islands and therefore in WA, not Commonwealth, waters. It means the State has a degree of control over development of gas fields in those waters even if the projects do not include a WA mainland-based processing plant. The rezoning had a spectacular effect on ownership of the Torosa gas-condensate field, the biggest of three that make up the Woodside Petroleum-led Browse LNG project. From an initial interest of just 8 per cent, the State now claims at least half of Torosa, and with it a massive royalty flow once the field is developed.
State Parliament on Tuesday night passed the Petroleum Titles (Browse Basin) Bill 2014 which ratified the boundary changes.
Confirming the Bill's passing yesterday, Mines and Petroleum Minister Bill Marmion said the Torosa rezoning could increase the State's royalty collection by up to $2.9 billion.
He also revealed for the first time that the rezoning had ensnared Poseidon and the nearby Kronos field.
"It is too early to speculate on the royalty potential of the Kronos and Poseidon fields but it could be significant," Mr Marmion said.
