Western Australian and Northern Territory LNG Producers

On 10 August 2022, LNG producers Chevron, INPEX, Shell and Woodside (the Applicants), applied to revoke authorisation AA1000396 and substitute authorisation AA1000620. The Applicants seek to discuss, make, and give effect to arrangements regarding the sequencing and timing of the scheduled maintenance and associated shutdowns and outages at six liquified natural gas (LNG) facilities in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The LNG Facilities form part of the Gorgon, Wheatstone, Ichthys, Prelude, North West Shelf and Pluto LNG Projects, each of which involves the subsea extraction of natural gas, its processing and conversion to LNG for export.

The Applicants were first authorised to engage in this conduct on 2 March 2018 for a period of 5 years with a condition requiring all parties to the authorised conduct (except Shell) to publish Maintenance Information as soon as practical. The current application relates to the same conduct, except the Applicants are seeking the removal of the condition imposed in the original authorisation AA1000396.

On 17 March 2023, the ACCC issued a draft determination proposing to grant re-authorisation with a condition for a further 5 years. The ACCC also granted interim authorisation to allow the arrangements to continue while the ACCC is considering the substantive application.

The ACCC invites submissions from interested parties on the draft determination and interim authorisation decision by 31 March 2023.

An indicative timetable for the ACCC’s assessment is set out below.