In 2008, LNG production capacity from the North West Shelf’s onshore gas processing facility at Karratha, 1500km north-west of Perth, will increase to 16.3 million tonnes a year with the start-up of a fifth, 4.4 million tonne-a-year LNG production train.

The start-up of the new LNG processing train will make the $20 billion North West Shelf project at Karratha one of the world’s largest LNG producers.

The facility delivered its first LNG cargoes to Japan in 1989, and it now ships more than 200 cargoes a year to customers around the world including Japan, China, and South Korea.

The Karratha plant, which began production of pipeline gas in 1984, remains the largest single producer of domestic gas in Western Australia providing about 65 per cent of total State production.

Pipeline gas is processed at its Karratha facility, and transported to customers in southern Western Australia via a 1500km pipeline.

The Karratha facility also processes condensate or light crude oil. The North West Shelf Venture, which has established an international reputation as a reliable supplier of clean energy, has now produced more than 1000 cargoes of condensate. Condensate is sold on the international energy market and transported to customers around the world.