Australia is expected to witness the commencement of 118 oil and gas projects’ operations across value chain during the period 2021-2025, accounting for 6% of the total project starts in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region. Of these, new-build projects lead the upcoming projects count constituting around 74% of the total starts across the value chain, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s report, ‘Asia Pacific Oil and Gas Projects Outlook to 2025 – Development Stage, Capacity, Capex and Contractor Details of All New Build and Expansion Projects’, reveals that of the 118 projects during the outlook period, upstream projects would be 53, midstream projects would be the highest with 56 projects and petrochemicals at nine.

Teja Pappoppula, Oil & Gas Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Australia is heavily focusing on natural gas production, transportation and export projects to reinforce its position as one of the leading global exporters of LNG. The investments also help the country to meet the growing gas demand in the country.”

In the upstream (fields) segment, GlobalData expects 53 projects to start operations in Australia during 2021 to 2025. Natural gas projects dominate the upcoming projects count accounting for about 55% of the total projects. Some of the notable projects include Barossa, a shallow water conventional gas field, presently in the construction stage and is expected to start operations by 2025.

Midstream projects constitute around 47% of all oil and gas projects in Australia by 2025. Pipeline projects constitute bulk of the upcoming midstream projects with the Amadeus Basin–Moomba gas pipeline being one of the key projects with a length of 950 kilometres (km). The project is presently in FEED stage and is expected to start operations by 2024.

Among the upcoming petrochemical projects in Australia by 2025, Leigh Creek Energy Leigh Creek Urea Plant and Perdaman Chemicals and Fertilisers Karratha Urea Plant are the key petrochemical projects during this period, each with a capacity of 2.00 million tonnes per annum (mtpa). Both the projects have been approved and is expected to start operations by 2024.