Dangerous plumes of methane have been detected at one of the world’s largest oil and gas projects in Australia.
The persistent cloud was spotted above Chevron’s Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant off WA’s Pilbara coast by satellite on August 29.
Methane plumes have been recorded above the site multiple times over the past year, according to non-profit environmental monitors Carbon Mapper.
It triggered an alert from the United Nations, which issues notifications to operators and governments on the world’s most urgent methane emissions in a bid to stop them.
The agency recorded an average emission rate of about 7.8 tonnes of methane an hour.
That is the equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of an average petrol-powered car driven 895,000 kilometres, according to a US Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) online tool.
Chevron said it was communicating with the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and had sought more information about its data.
“We understand the importance of methane management as well as the community’s expectations on this issue, and our Australian facilities are designed, operated and maintained to manage methane emissions,” a spokesman said.
The company said satellite monitoring captures a single moment in time and the results have a wide range of uncertainty.
“We use them alongside aerial surveys, operating data and on-site checks to enhance how we understand and manage methane emissions,” the spokesman said.
The WA government is examining the data.
“The Department of Water and Environmental Regulation is aware of these reports and is investigating them to understand what compliance or regulatory measures may be required,” a spokesman said.
The Conservation Council WA called on Chevron and the WA government to come clean about the “massive methane leak”.
“It’s unacceptable for Chevron, which is profiteering to the tune of billions of dollars from war in the Middle East, to be carelessly spewing out methane pollution from its WA facilities,” executive director Matthew Roberts said.
“Methane gas is an extra potent fossil fuel, and Chevron’s leak is adding fuel to the climate crisis.”
Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and responsible for more than 25 per cent of global warming, according to the UNEP.
Chevron’s Gorgon and nearby Wheatstone LNG facilities supply about 6.5 per cent of the world’s LNG and more than 40 per cent of WA’s domestic gas.
Gorgon is located on Barrow Island, a Class A Nature Reserve about 60 km off the WA coast and west of Karratha.
Australian Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national newswire and has been delivering accurate, reliable and fast news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We keep Australia informed.
