Bass Strait

Bass Strait has played a vital role in supplying energy to Australian homes and industry for decades.

Bass Strait overview and history

The Bass Strait assets consists of numerous conventional oil and gas fields in the well-established Gippsland Basin off the south-east coast of Victoria, Australia. Bass Strait was Australia’s first major offshore oil and gas development and has sold over 11 Tcf of pipeline gas and over 5 billion bbl of oil since first production in 1969.

Gas is produced through these offshore facilities and processed at our Longford Gas Plants. Natural gas is fed into the local domestic gas network directly from Longford. Gas liquids, which are essentially by-products of the gas production process, are sent for further processing to Long Island Point Plant before being provided to customers.

Today, the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture, supplies ~40% of east coast gas demand and 100% of that gas goes to Australia’s domestic market. It also produces condensate and LPG crucial for Australian industrial processes and petrochemical sectors.

The Gippsland Basin’s gas production assets originally comprised 421 wells, 19 platforms, six subsea facilities and more than 800km of pipeline. As these assets have reached the end of their field life, decommissioning activities have been progressively undertaken.

Key stats

1969

first oil and gas production

700 TJ/day

domestic gas plant production

~40 %

of east coast gas demand is supplied by the Gippsland Basin JV

Bass Strait operating assets

Energy security and transition in Victoria

Natural gas plays a key role in powering homes and businesses, supporting renewable energy and powering the State’s manufacturing sector. As recognised in Victoria’s Industry Policy, natural gas supply is essential to Victoria’s future prosperity.

Decommissioning in the Bass Strait

Woodside is committed to executing decommissioning activities with a focus on safety and the environment, coupled with efficiency. Decommissioning is integrated into project planning and operations, from the early stages of development through to the end of field life. This includes conducting assessments to inform our planning and decision making, which is underpinned by science and marine research. In the developing regulatory environment, we continue to listen, learn and respond to our stakeholders, while expanding our global decommissioning experience.

Several of the Bass Strait offshore facilities have ceased production following field depletion and an active program of restoration is underway.

Participating interests

Bass Strait production is primarily from the Gippsland Basin and Kipper Unit Joint Ventures. Kipper Unit production is processed by the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture under a processing agreement.

Participant	Gippsland Basin Joint Venture¹	Kipper Unit Joint Venture²
Woodside (operator)	50%	32.5%
ExxonMobil	50%	32.5%
Mitsui	-	35%

^{1 Gippsland Basin fields lie in permits Vic/ L1-L11 and Vic/L13-19}

^{2 Kipper field lies in permits Vic/L9 and Vic/L25}

Phone:

1800 634 988

Email:

[email protected]

Street Address:

664 Collins Street
Docklands Victoria 3008
Australia