Varanus Island, WA Gas Explosion and Fire

Here is an incident that happened in Australia on June 3rd 2008, that was brought to my attention Chris Miller of B4Crisis.

Chris miller deserves full credit for bringing this to my attention, as well as conducting the research provided in this posting. She will also be providing a follow up to the story at a later date as well.

Note: I left the article unedited as far as content and the posting does not follow the usual format but all sources for the story are located within the posting. Thank you Chris Miller for providing this information.

Varanus Island, WA Gas explosion and fire

What went wrong?

On 3 June 2008 at 1340 hours (local time), an explosion occurred. There were no injuries and all personnel were accounted for. Most were evacuated safely by helicopter, although 13 remained to fight the resulting fire and monitor the situation.

The explosion and fire affected gas export pipelines that deliver gas for domestic and industrial use. Initially, it was thought gas supply would be affected for a number of days. This is now thought to be for a number of months.

Source http://en.wikinews.org/wiki/Apache_pipeline_fire_-_Varanus_Island,_Western_Australia

Wednesday 4 June 2008 - A pipeline rupture and fire at Apache Corporation's Vanarus Island facility in Western Australia has reduced the supply of natural gas to Western Australia by 30%. 153 employees have been evacuated and 13 employees remain on the island to monitor the situation.

Steven Farris, Apache's president and CEO said "No one was injured, all personnel are safe, and the rupture and fire appear to be contained on the island...At this time, we cannot estimate when throughput will be resumed." The facility was producing approximately 330 million cubic feet (MMcf) of natural gas and 8,000 barrels of crude oil per day, this has been reduced to 200 MMcf and 5,000 barrels per day.

Western Australian Minister for Energy Fran Logan said that residential supplies were unlikely to be affected but has called on Western Australians to conserve the use of natural gas. Minister Logan said that Apache supplies primarily large volume users like Alinta Gas and Alcoa, and the major industrial users will be hit the hardest. The aluminum refineries owned by Alcoa, which are dependent on natural gas, have switched to diesel to maintain production.

Apache representatives, including its managing director Tim Wall and fire experts from Singapore, are heading to the site to extinguish the fire and assess the damage. Wall said, during a news conference in Perth today, that a small fire on a vent had already been extinguished. Apache has also declared a clause in its supply contracts to remove liability for unavoidable catastrophes that prevent them from fulfilling obligations under the contract.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/video/2008/06/04/2265254.htm (excellent video shot the following day from Local ABC helicopter – no voice over)

Interdependencies – 30% of Western Australia’s gas supplies were lost when Varanus Island was shut down.

Impact of mining operations is great and costly. Some cannot fail over to diesel and doing so it much more expensive. Some of the major export miners are granted staff leave and conducting maintenance work on their plant.

Economic impact are so great that the Premier (=Governor) of Western Australia called a crisis meeting within a matter of days of the incident occurring.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/06/09/2268668.htm (Premier chairs gas crisis meeting - video)

Background - Apache Energy runs the Varanus Island gas processing facility http://www.apachecorp.com/ and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache_Corporation

Apache’s Australian operations in brief Exploration in Australia is focused in the offshore Carnarvon, Gippsland and Perth basins, where Apache holds 5.3 million net acres in 29 exploration permits, 10 production licenses, and five retention leases. Production operations are concentrated in the Carnarvon Basin with 10 production licenses, nine of which Apache operates. The Varanus Island processing and transportation hub is an important infrastructure asset. Apache plans additional drilling in the Flag Sandstone formations in the waters near Varanus and will resume its Exmouth Basin exploration program. In 2005, Apache began delivery of gas from the John Brooks field. Headquarters are in Perth, capital city of Western Australia.