Background
Since 1996, Varanus Island, 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the Western Australian coast, has operated as a hub for oil, condensate and gas gathering infrastructure belonging to several petroleum joint ventures, including Harriet JV and John Brookes JV. The island's facilities include large tanks where condensate is stored prior to being offloaded onto tankers, and five gas plants. Condensate, water and other impurities are removed from the gas arriving from the offshore platforms connected to the island. Most of the carbon dioxide is removed so the gas can meet the specifications of the onshore pipelines and end users. Gas from the plant is sent via two subsea pipelines to the mainland, where the pipelines connect to the Goldfields Gas Pipeline and the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline. Before the incident, the plant produced 365 terajoules of gas per day for the state market.
The gas plant is licensed under the WA Petroleum Pipelines Act 1969. Safety and health regulation under this Act is the responsibility of the Department of Mines and Petroleum (DMP), which engaged National Offshore Petroleum Safety Authority (NOPSA) to provide inspections and reporting.
Read more about this topic: 2008 Western Australian Gas Crisis
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