US oil and gas company Chevron has announced that it has been granted a permit to assess greenhouse gas emissions off the coast of Western Australia.

The G-18 AP permit is located offshore of Onslow, Western Australia and covers an area of ​​approximately 8,467 km2 with water depths ranging from 50-1100 m. The permit area is being assessed as part of a hub for the storage of third party emissions, including emissions from the liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities operated by Chevron.

The permit is for a joint venture with Chevron as operator and Woodside Energy Ltd. Chevron will hold a 70% interest in the permit and Woodside will hold a 30% interest. Chevron has agreed to assign five percent of its interest in the permit to GS Caltex (GSC) of Korea. GSC’s receipt of the permit is subject to regulatory approvals and other matters.

“Chevron and our joint venture participants have unique assets, capabilities and customer relationships to support the continued assessment, development and deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Australia,” said Chris Powers, Vice President of CCUS & Emerging at Chevron New Energies.

“Together with Chevron’s Gorgon CCS project, one of the world’s largest integrated facilities, and our existing greenhouse gas assessment permits, this new contract has the potential to expand Chevron’s portfolio of CCS facilities in Australia,” he said.

Chevron Australia Managing Director Mark Hatfield said: “These opportunities can help us reduce the carbon intensity of our own operations while also providing an opportunity to help our customers reduce or offset emissions from their activities.”

This block premium is in addition to Chevron’s non-operator-linked shares in G-9-AP, G-10-AP and G-11-AP, as well as the operation of the Gorgon CCS facility, which has now captured and stored 10 million tonnes of CO2 equivalents.