Shell Australia Pty Ltd (Shell Australia) and its joint venture partner, SGH Energy, have approved the development of the Crux gas field off the coast of Western Australia. Crux will continue to supply natural gas to the existing Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility.

Wael Sawan, Integrated Gas, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director at Shell said : “Natural gas from Crux will play a key role in helping Asian customers move from coal to gas as a cleaner-burning fuel. The project will help us to meet the increasing demand for LNG as the energy market transitions to a lower carbon future.”

Furthermore, the project will boost their customers’ security of supply, which is increasingly important to global consumers, according to Sawan.

Crux is located 620 kilometres north-east of Broome in Commonwealth marine waters of the northern Browse Basin. The development will consist of a platform operated remotely from Prelude. Five wells will be drilled initially, and an export pipeline will connect the platform to Prelude, which is around 160 kilometres to the south-west of Crux..

Construction will begin in 2022 and gas production will begin in 2027.