The government of Australia's Northern Territory Monday signed a A$104 million ($111 million) contract for the construction and operation of a marine supply base to serve the burgeoning oil and gas industry in the region.
The supply base is located at East Arm in the Northern Territory capital Darwin, which is already home to a 3.6 million mt/year LNG plant operated by ConocoPhillips. Darwin will also host Inpex's 8.4 million mt/year Ichthys LNG project, currently under construction.
Northern Territory Chief Minister Paul Henderson said ConocoPhillips had agreed to use the supply base for its existing operations in the Timor Sea and Inpex had confirmed it would make use of it for the Ichthys project. In addition, Shell will use the base to service its massive Prelude floating LNG facility, to be located in the Browse Basin.
Under the terms of the contract, local company Macmahon will build the base and ShoreASCO will operate it for up to 20 years. Construction will start in April 2012 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2013.
"The base will be the first in northern Australia and provide a purpose-built facility for vessels that supply offshore oil and gas projects," Henderson said.
"We are fast becoming the oil and gas capital of Australia and are about to undergo a significant economic boom," he added. "I've made it a priority of my government to provide the infrastructure necessary to lure new investment into Darwin and make Darwin an attractive option for companies looking to invest."
