Chevron Corporation has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) and condensate at the $70 billion plus Gorgon Project on Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

The majority of gas from Gorgon will be exported as LNG to Asian markets with the remainder being supplied to domestic markets in Western Australia. The first LNG cargo was shipped today.

“We expect legacy assets such as Gorgon will drive long-term growth and create shareholder value for decades to come,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “The long-term fundamentals for LNG are attractive, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, and this is a significant milestone for all involved.”

Chevron is positioned to become a major LNG supplier by 2020. In particular, Chevron’s Australian projects are well located to meet growing demand for energy in the Asia-Pacific region and more than 80% of Chevron’s Australian subsidiaries’ equity LNG from the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects is covered by sales and purchase agreements and heads of agreements with customers in the region.

“We congratulate the Gorgon workforce on this achievement,” Watson continued. “This is the result of the collaboration of hundreds of suppliers and contractors and many tens of thousands of people across the world during the project design and construction phases.”

The Gorgon Project is supplied from the Gorgon and Jansz-Io gas fields, located within the Greater Gorgon area, between 130 km (80 miles) and 220 km (136 miles) off the northwest coast of Western Australia. It includes a 15.6 MTPA LNG plant on Barrow Island, a carbon dioxide injection project and a domestic gas plant with the capacity to supply 300 terajoules of gas per day to Western Australia.

Gorgon is operated by Chevron in joint venture with ExxonMobil, Shell, Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and Chubu Electric Power. It is the first of a series of offshore LNG projects under development in Australia’s North West to come on line, with the Wheatstone, Ichthys and Prelude projects to follow.

Chevron is one of the world’s leading integrated energy companies and through its Australian subsidiaries, has been present in Australia for more than 60 years. With the ingenuity and commitment of thousands of workers, Chevron Australia leads the development of the Gorgon and Wheatstone natural gas projects; manages its equal one-sixth interest in the North West Shelf Venture; operates Australia’s largest onshore oilfield on Barrow Island, is a significant investor in exploration offshore Australia and provides operational support to exploration assets operated by its affiliates in New Zealand.