Calls for new Browse gas hub site mounting

NineMSN

18:30 AEDT Fri Jan 27 2012

Calls are mounting for Woodside Petroleum to reconsider plans to process Browse Basin gas on the environmentally significant Kimberley coast of Western Australia.

The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) on Friday said the Kimberley coastline was an inappropriate site for a large industrial project.

"The James Price Point gas hub proposal has stoked up so much opposition on so many fronts that many investors are now asking if the project is still viable, or if Woodside has already lost its social licence to proceed," ACF Kimberley officer Wade Freeman said.

Mr Freeman's comments came after Woodside said it was considering selling down its 50 per cent stake in the $US30 billion ($A28.32 billion) project.

He said gas from the Browse Basin should be piped to less environmentally sensitive locations such as the Woodside-operated North West Shelf in the Pilbara region, a view shared by some business analysts.

The ACF has also been critical of the role that the Colin Barnett-led state government has played in the project, an opinion echoed on Friday by new WA opposition leader Mark McGowan.

The WA government in 2010 started the process of compulsorily acquiring land at James Price Point after the premier became frustrated by legal disputes among native title claimant groups.

A court last year ruled that the notices of land acquisition were invalid because they did not provide enough detail, so fresh notices of intent to take the land will need to be lodged.

Mr McGowan said the premier's interference in the proposed project had caused delays.

"He upset the indigenous people of the Kimberley, he upset the non-indigenous people of the Kimberley with his activities," Mr McGowan told reporters.

"He claims he's a can-do sort of guy.

"All it's resulted in is business nervousness."

Dampier Peninsula Flood Warning

http://www.kimberleypage.com.au/2012/01/dampier-peninsula-flood-warnings/

Water lily research flourishing in the Kimberley

Written by Geoff Vivian Wednesday, 18 January 2012 12:00

Science Network Western Australia

Dried Nymphaea violacea seeds are ground into flour for damper, the raw stems are eaten like celery and the tubers boiled and roasted as a vegetable. Image:eyeweed

A KINGS Park botanist is studying propagation viability of water lilies (Nymphaeacea), which occur in high-rainfall areas of Northern Australia.

Emma Dalziell who has made several collecting trips to the Kimberley, Darwin and Kakadu is collaborating with the Millennium Seed Bank Project (MSB) at Kew Gardens in England.

“Many of the storage techniques I’m using have arisen from King’s Parks longstanding research collaboration with the MSB,” she says.

“My PhD is specifically focusing on seed biology, long term storage behaviour of all Nymphaeacea occurring in Australia,” she says.

The seeds are subject to a variety of stimuli to assess their viability, and define suitable habitat types and appropriate storage and propagation conditions for possible reintroduction or restoration programs.

She says unlike Northern Hemisphere species, Australian lilies are adapted to long dry winters and the hot monsoonal conditions of Northern Australia’s “wet”.

They tolerate seed desiccation and can often grow, flower and produce seed in a relatively short time.

She says Australian lilies need a temperature range of 30–35 degrees Celcius to germinate.

“They are physiologically dormant,” she says. “They are waiting for various environmental cues.”

Ms Dalziell is also assessing the various species’ adaptability to climate change and related conditions such as increased salinity.

She gave the example of a two-centimetre rise in sea level, which could produce salt water inundations extending as far as five kilometres inland at Kakadu National Park.

Australian lilies have just been subjected to taxonomic review and there are now 18 recognised species across Northern Australia.

These range from Nymphaea violacea, which grows in a wide variety of habitats, to Nymphaea ondinea which is restricted to the extremely pure waters of sandstone creeks in only six known Kimberley locations.

Even rarer is Nymphaea kimberleyensis, which is known to occur in just one waterhole in a Central Kimberley cattle station.

Ms Dalziell says lilies are still an important food source for Aboriginal peoples across Northern Australia.

Dried Nymphaea violacea seeds are ground into flour for damper, the raw stems are eaten like celery and the tubers boiled and roasted as a vegetable.

Ms Dalziell says compared to other taxa, there has been very little research into Australian lilies’ biology and ecology.

Rare finch find restores rescue hopes

NICOLA KALMAR, Broome Advertiser

Updated January 27, 2012, 7:59 am

Sarah Pryke ©

Hopes of rescuing one of Australia’s most endangered birds from the brink of extinction have been restored after the discovery of a breeding population of the rare Gouldian finch near Broome.

The discovery was made by indigenous Bardi Jawi and Bard Jawi Oorany rangers working with WWF Australia and Environs Kimberley on the Dampier Peninsula.

Environmental groups have welcomed the find and said there could be more findings of Gouldian finch in the Kimberley.

Bardi Jawi senior cultural ranger Kevin George said the find was “very exciting” for the rangers and the community, and said the first sighting of the finch was before Christmas.

There are believed to be fewer than 2500 adult birds surviving in the wild, as the population has declined steadily over the past 50 years.

Scientists have attributed fire regimes, cattle and throat parasites to decreasing numbers.

Mr George said the next step would be to implement a management plan to protect the species and continuing to work with elders and the community.

An important part in securing the future of the Gouldian finch was educating the younger generation in caring for wildlife and conservation, Mr George said.

Environs Kimberley projects co-ordinator Louise Beames described the finding as “exciting and significant”.

She said the birds had declined rapidly over much of orthern Australia due to a combination cattle and intensive fire regimes. Ms Beames said it was critical to continue to work with Bardi Jawi and Nyul Nyul rangers.

Press Release: 2011 Kimberley Cetacean Report Released

PRESS RELEASE

Kimberley Whale Watching has just released their 2011 Kimberley Cetacean Report 2011.  The report highlights the importance of the Dampier Peninsula and the Kimberley's outer shoals and reefs to the Breeding Stock D population of Humpback whales.

Breeding Stock D is thought to be the world's largest population of whales and undertakes and annual migration from the frigid waters of the Antarctic to the Kimberley's warm tropical waters to mate and give birth.

Richard Costin of Kimberley Whale Watching says "the Commonwealth Government should reassess its priorities and the boundaries for the proposed Kimberley Marine Reserve, and extend the boundaries along the Dampier Peninsula south to Eco Beach and upgrade the classification to IUCN 2.

"This is essential" Mr Costin says "to provide protection for the main breeding grounds for the Breeding Stock D population of Humpback whales.

The report is available for download from Kimberley Whale Watching's website: www.kimberleywhales.com.au

#####

Woodside kicks off $1bn Browse sale as plans for processing plant may be axed

• BY:ANDREW BURRELL 
• From:The Australian 
• January 27, 2012 12:00AM

• Increase Text Si

WOODSIDE Petroleum has launched a $1 billion-plus auction of most of its 50 per cent stake in the huge Browse gas project in Western Australia, in a move that could kill off controversial plans to build a processing plant on the Kimberley coast.

Sources say the formal auction process began after Woodside was approached by scores of companies over the past 12 months over a potential selldown.

Indicative bids for the Browse stake are being lodged but any sale could take several months to finalise, especially in light of Woodside's announcement last month that it would be unable to proceed with the $40bn project for at least another year.

The potential sale comes amid industry speculation that Browse's 14.3 trillion cubic feet of reserves will soon be increased through the inclusion of additional sources under Scott Reef, an environmentally sensitive part of the Browse Basin, that were previously thought to be inaccessible.

The Australian understands that Woodside may reduce its 50 per cent stake in Browse to 16.67 per cent as part of a plan to align the ownership of the Browse joint venture more closely with the North West Shelf liquefied natural gas project.

"They would go from owning half of Browse to owning about one-sixth -- that would give some symmetry around what the North West Shelf looks like," said one source familiar with the process.

The shake-up may involve Woodside selling stakes in Browse to Japanese trading houses Mitsubishi and Mitsui, which are also partners in the North West Shelf and have previously expressed an interest in Browse.

But other companies, including European groups Total, ENI and GDF Suez, are also believed to be keen to snap up equity in Browse as they seek to increase their involvement in Australia's booming LNG sector.

It is understood any equity sale would not be linked to a gas supply contract from Browse, which is due to produce 12 million tonnes of LNG a year and become one of Australia's biggest resources projects.

The North West Shelf is owned by six companies, each of which has a 16.67 per cent stake -- Woodside, BHP Billiton, Royal Dutch Shell, BP, Chevron and an alliance of Mitsubishi and Mitsui.

But Woodside owns 50 per cent of Browse, with the rest of the venture held by BHP (8.33 per cent), Shell (8.33 per cent), BP (16.67 per cent) and Chevron (16.67 per cent).

A potential complication to Woodside as it tries to dilute its stake is that its Browse partners have pre-emptive rights over any sale.

BHP, Chevron and Shell would be unlikely to buy additional equity given their existing commitments in the sector.

However, BP is known to be looking for additional investments in Australia and may want to boost its stake in Browse.

Any selldown would reduce Woodside's exposure to the Browse venture and free up capital for its spending commitments on other projects, including a planned $10bn expansion of the Pluto LNG plant near Karratha.

But it would also reduce Woodside's voting rights within the Browse joint venture and could end the Perth company's plan to process the Browse gas at a greenfields site at James Price Point, north of Broome.

Most of Woodside's Browse partners favour piping the gas to the North West Shelf in the Pilbara when reserves at that project start to run low later this decade, thereby extending the life of the investment.

Significantly, a dilution of Woodside's equity interest in Browse would reduce its commercial incentive to process the gas as quickly as possible.

It would also lessen Woodside's exposure to rising project costs and fears of falling prices sparked by a possible global LNG glut. Some analysts believe the rapid development of the US shale gas industry will lead to LNG exports from North America within a decade.

Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman is believed to be far less enthusiastic about using James Price Point than his predecessor Don Voelte, due to the higher costs of a greenfields plant.

James Price Point is being vigorously opposed by environmentalists and some Kimberley indigenous people.

But it is backed by the West Australian and federal governments as well as local indigenous groups who stand to benefit from a compensation package for use of the land.

Woodside would need to convince the governments that James Price Point was not economic if it wanted to pipe the gas to the Pilbara.

Mr Coleman said last year that Woodside could sell down its stake in Browse, along with the Pluto 2 and Sunrise developments, to reduce $35bn in funding obligations for the projects when they proceed.

Merrill Lynch said in a report in September last year that Woodside's stake in Browse would be worth between $US2.2bn ($2.1bn) and $US4.3bn, based on recent gas pricing benchmarks.

This would value the equity being sold by Woodside at between $US1.4bn and $US2.7bn.

Sources familiar with the auction said the stake being pitched to potential buyers would fetch more than $1bn.

WA Premier clings to his gas dreams

Australian Financial Review

The fate of West Australian Premier Colin Barnett’s grand vision of a natural gas processing hub on the richly picturesque Kimberley coast hangs in the balance.

Five years after the plan was formulated by the WA government, oil producer Woodside Petroleum remains the only company keen togo anywhere near the controversial James Price Point site near Broome.

One by one, other potential users of the “hub” have removed themselves from the picture, plumping for potentially easier and quicker solutions to convert their plentiful Browse Basin resources into liquefied natural gas to feed energy-hungry nations across Asia.