Petroleum industry in Western Australia
The petroleum industry in Western Australia is the largest contributor to Australia's production of most petroleum products.
Based largely on development of the reserves of the North West Shelf and other onshore hydrocarbon basins, the industry extracts crude oil, condensate and natural gas from petroleum reservoirs deep beneath the Earth's surface. A large plant located at Withnell Bay near Dampier, produces liquefied natural gas (LNG) for export to Asian customers. Crude oil and most petroleum liquids are exported, and Australia's largest petroleum refinery at Kwinana in WA's south-west, produces petrol and diesel for local consumption. Natural gas is processed at plants located on islands off the WA coast and onshore, then transported by pipelines to gas users throughout the state.
In 2007, the industry produced 126 million barrels (20,000,000 m3) of crude oil/condensate, and 30 billion cubic metres of gas. 65% of the gas was transformed into 12 million tonnes of LNG (all of which was exported), with the remainder of the gas being sold to users in Western Australia. Primary production by the industry was valued at $16.7 billion, accounting for 31% of all natural resources produced in the state.
The earliest petroleum-related activity in the state was in 1902, with the first oil exploration well drilled near the Warren River area in the southwest. Traces of oil were found in a bore near Fitzroy Crossing in 1919. Formal exploration in Western Australia started in 1946, when the Australian Motorists Petrol Company (AMPOL) commenced an exploration programme, using the services of the Bureau of Mineral Resources (BMR) which had been set up by the Australian government in the same year to conduct survey work. In the following year, AMPOL were awarded the first two exploration permits in Western Australia near Exmouth.
Large-scale surveys were conducted in the Canning Basin in 1947, and in the same year, Ampol secured exploration permits for the Exmouth region. Ampol formed a joint venture with Standard Oil of California. The new company was called West Australian Petroleum (WAPET), and drilled its first well at Rough Range in 1953. This well produced at a rate of 550 barrels per day (87 m3/d), and was probably the commencement of Australia's commercial petroleum industry. In the following year, WAPET geologists conducted a basic survey of Barrow Island. They were the first civilians to visit the area since British atomic testing on the nearby Monte Bello Islands. The company achieved major commercial success with a large discovery on the island in 1964, which was followed by a large scale operation which continues to this day.
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