Varanus Island
| Geography | |
|---|---|
| Location | Indian Ocean, off the coast of Western Australia |
| Coordinates | 20°39′3″S 115°34′27″E / 20.65083°S 115.57417°ECoordinates: 20°39′3″S 115°34′27″E / 20.65083°S 115.57417°E |
| Archipelago | Lowendal Islands |
| Area | 0.83 km2 (0.32 sq mi) |
| Length | 2.5 km (1.55 mi) |
| Width | 0.6 km (0.37 mi) |
| Administration | |
|
Australia
|
|
| State | Western Australia |
Varanus Island is the largest of the Lowendal Islands, an archipelago off the north west coast of Western Australia, near Karratha in the Pilbara region. It is located at 20°39′3″S 115°34′27″E / 20.65083°S 115.57417°E.
It has facilities for piping oil and gas from various locations within the Harriet and East Spar oilfield, that was developed by the Bond Corporation in 1987 which is now known as the Varanus Island Processing Hub and owned by Quadrant Energy.
The island is part of the Lowendal Islands Important Bird Area (IBA), identified as such by BirdLife International because of its importance as a breeding site for seabirds. The presence of oil and gas field operations appear to not have significantly affected local birdlife
On 3 June 2008, Apache Energy's primary gas pipeline ruptured, causing an explosion. The plant was shut down, and all personnel on the island were airlifted out. The shutdown reduced Western Australia's gas supply by around a third, triggering an energy crisis. Apache Energy stated that it would take two to three months until the plant would operate at even half capacity.
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