Construction of Gas to the Goldfields pipeline to start in June

29/1/95

Construction work on the $400 million Gas to the Goldfields pipeline will begin in June, following the 'green light' from the Western Australian Government.

Premier Richard Court and Resources Development Minister Colin Barnett today travelled to Kalgoorlie to sign the final approval for the Goldfields Gas Transmission Joint Venture (GGTJV) to proceed with the 1,400-kilometre pipeline - which will bridge the gas-rich North-West to the vital mining and industrial hub of Kalgoorlie.

Mr Court said the privately built, owned and operated project - which should be completed by the middle of next year - would be one of the most important infrastructure projects for the State this decade and would be a major catalyst for economic growth in WA.

"The pipeline will provide the spark for development along its length, particularly in the downstream processing of minerals," the Premier said.

"The construction phase alone will create up to 1,000 jobs and the creation of new mineral processing opportunities will give rise to hundreds, if not thousands more."

Mr Court said the pipeline would tap into the State's vast North-West gas reserves and help provide low-cost energy to stimulate a number of new industries.

"Already there are proposals for gas-fired power stations along the pipeline route at Newman, Mount Keith, Leinster and Kalgoorlie to service resource developments," he said.

"This is an exciting project that will provide enormous benefits for WA.

"As part of the State Agreement with GGTJV, there has been an undertaking that WA services will be used for the bulk of the construction process.   Already in the planning stages 91 per cent of the value of contracts were awarded to WA companies.

"The whole project will be a massive logistical process, with construction crews working in some of the most remote and inhospitable terrain in the State."

Mr Court said the project could no longer be regarded as a 'pipe dream' and had the backing of three of Australia's major resource companies - Western Mining Corporation, BHP Minerals and Normandy Poseidon.

"After two years of planning, today's final approval means that field work can begin immediately, tenders can be called and machinery ordered," he said.

"This is a project of immense proportions but a construction program has been planned which should see the entire pipeline in the ground by mid-1996."

Resources Development Minister Colin Barnett said construction would take place in three stages:

·       work would begin at Yaraloola in the Pilbara in June and lay 310 kilometres of pipeline to a point south-west of Newman by the end of this year;

·       construction on the 670-kilometre section from near Newman to Mount Keith was scheduled to start in July; and -

·       the 400-kilometre Kalgoorlie to Mount Keith stage would begin around the end of this year and be completed in June 1996.

Mr Barnett said gas was expected to be available as far as Newman from early next year and the first gas to the Eastern Goldfields was expected to be supplied in August 1996.

"The project has been a linchpin in the whole deregulation of the gas industry and the initial load on the pipeline once it is completed is expected to be about 70 terajoules a day, but could be increased to 160 terajoules," he said.

"Arrangements for access to the pipeline, tariff-setting principles and quality specifications for the gas to be supplied have been set, while environmental approval was given in November last year.

"GGTJV has pledged to rehabilitate areas disturbed during construction and as the pipeline is being buried, the land covering it will be revegetated."

Agreements are already in place between the company and several Aboriginal communities over the route of the pipeline.

Mr Barnett said that while Goldfields Gas Transmission had not planned to undertake to supply gas to the domestic market, the project could open the way for another private entity to supply the Kalgoorlie township with natural gas.