GDF Suez

Multinational oil and gas service providers have set up in WA for the long haul, as the state searches for the best way to enhance its competitive advantage.

FEATURE: Floating LNG will provide limited local construction, manufacturing and engineering opportunities, but could propel WA to the world stage.

GDF Suez and Santos have moved away from developing their Bonaparte joint venture project as a floating liquefied natural gas project, saying they will now consider other options, including helping expand Inpex's Icthys LNG project.

Fortescue Metals Group has called for the phasing out of the state government's contentious domestic gas reservation policy, which has traditionally been backed by big gas buyers, in favour of stricter application of the ‘use it or lose it' rules.

Australian liquefied natural gas projects can continue to be competitive against new developments planned for the United States, Canada and east Africa, industry consultant RISC has found.

Chevron has announced a second cost increase and further delays to its giant Gorgon gas project, with the budget now set at $US54 billion.

An array of large and small projects will push WA's petroleum production to 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day for the first time next year.

Engineering firms exposed to mining are going through a tough patch but prospects are much better for those like Technip and Clough in the oil & gas sector.

Western Australia has a lengthy pipeline of prospective oil and gas projects but their size and nature will limit opportunities for local businesses.

FRENCH energy giant GDF SUEZ, formerly Gaz de France, is expected to beef up its presence in Perth following a $US370 million-plus deal with Santos to develop floating LNG facilities off the state's far north coast.