Salt and gas, on a large scale. The 'big end of town' has settled in Onslow for the long haul. We knew about the gas, but the salt came as a surprise.
As we drove in over the causeway on the outskirts of the town, I guessed that these had to be salt evaporation pans, but it was not until we had settled in and begun to nose about that we became aware of just how expansive the Onslow Salt mining operation really is.
A few salient facts to begin with. The salt mining (the use of the word mining has always fascinated me......I would hardly call scraping residual salt crystals off a flat evaporation pan 'mining', but the term is used universally....who am I to argue?) operation here in Onslow began with the completion in 1999 of the pans and associated infrastructure, including the construction of the long jetty near the township. Eighty million dollars later, and things were underway.
The salt pans extend over a staggering 8,600 hectares. We had driven across but one of many.
An annual harvest of an equally staggering 2.5 million tonnes is loaded onto trucks
and carted cross country
to the off loading point.
From here the salt is moved by conveyor to the stockpile, a prominent feature of the Onslow landscape,
before it is again shifted by conveyor belt out along the lengthy 'salt' jetty to be loaded into the holds of the bulk carriers which regularly moor here.
We had actually watched this one come in the day before from the walkway just to the west of our park.
The two fussy little attendant tugs soon had the large bulk of the ship firmly alongside. And these are not small vessels.....many carriers which transport the Onslow salt (to China mostly) weigh in at 50,000 tonnes.
Onslow salt is but one of several large scale producers in this part of the world. We had previously seen the mine at Useless Loop near Denham, had driven past the Rio Tinto operations near Quobba and we were soon to visit the gigantic salt mine near Karratha. Which leads to the obvious question. What on earth is all this salt used for?...surely not just at the table.
Let me quote directly from the Onslow Salt website.
"The world of salt extends far beyond the saltshaker on your table or salt’s traditional use as a preservative in food processing. In Japan, for instance, table salt and salt for food manufacturing and so forth account for only around 20% of salt use, with the remaining around 80% being used as a raw material for production of caustic soda, chlorine and soda ash in the chlor-alkali industry.
As we drove in over the causeway on the outskirts of the town, I guessed that these had to be salt evaporation pans, but it was not until we had settled in and begun to nose about that we became aware of just how expansive the Onslow Salt mining operation really is.
A few salient facts to begin with. The salt mining (the use of the word mining has always fascinated me......I would hardly call scraping residual salt crystals off a flat evaporation pan 'mining', but the term is used universally....who am I to argue?) operation here in Onslow began with the completion in 1999 of the pans and associated infrastructure, including the construction of the long jetty near the township. Eighty million dollars later, and things were underway.
The salt pans extend over a staggering 8,600 hectares. We had driven across but one of many.
An annual harvest of an equally staggering 2.5 million tonnes is loaded onto trucks
and carted cross country
to the off loading point.
From here the salt is moved by conveyor to the stockpile, a prominent feature of the Onslow landscape,
before it is again shifted by conveyor belt out along the lengthy 'salt' jetty to be loaded into the holds of the bulk carriers which regularly moor here.
We had actually watched this one come in the day before from the walkway just to the west of our park.
The two fussy little attendant tugs soon had the large bulk of the ship firmly alongside. And these are not small vessels.....many carriers which transport the Onslow salt (to China mostly) weigh in at 50,000 tonnes.
Onslow salt is but one of several large scale producers in this part of the world. We had previously seen the mine at Useless Loop near Denham, had driven past the Rio Tinto operations near Quobba and we were soon to visit the gigantic salt mine near Karratha. Which leads to the obvious question. What on earth is all this salt used for?...surely not just at the table.
Let me quote directly from the Onslow Salt website.
"The world of salt extends far beyond the saltshaker on your table or salt’s traditional use as a preservative in food processing. In Japan, for instance, table salt and salt for food manufacturing and so forth account for only around 20% of salt use, with the remaining around 80% being used as a raw material for production of caustic soda, chlorine and soda ash in the chlor-alkali industry.
The diverse end uses of caustic soda, chlorine and soda ash indicate just how prevalent and essential salt is in our lives. Caustic soda is used in the manufacture of pulp and paper, textiles, soaps and detergents; chlorine’s applications include the extremely versatile polyurethane plastics used in automobile components, PVC (polyvinyl chloride) employed as a building material, water purification and as a disinfectant; and soda ash is used most commonly in the production of glass.
Since salt is a raw material for many commodities, demand for it is closely tied to economic growth and performance. In China, rapid economic development and the emergence of Chinese chlor-alkali manufacturers has led to soaring demand for industrial-use salt, to the extent that in 2004 China shifted from being a net exporter to a net importer of salt. As a result of such rising demand for salt in China, supply has become tight in Asia."
So there you go. Humble sodium chloride is very big business indeed.
As is gas, in this case natural gas, being extracted from below the sea bed off the north-west coast of WA in almost unbelievable volumes. Here, Onslow, or more particularly, Chevron and BHP Billiton, could learn a lesson or two from their counterparts at Karratha where a particularly informative and well set up Visitor Centre provides wonderful detail about the North-West Shelf gas project from a site directly overlooking the huge Karratha gas plant where Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), condensate and domestic gas are all produced. I'll have much more to say about this in a later blog.
Admittedly the gas plants near Onslow are still being developed, but the areas are closed, including the Chevron FIFO village some distance from the town. All I could manage by way of photography was this somewhat distant shot of their Ashburton North plant,
taken from near the mouth of the Ashburton River. So, in lieu of a pictorial exposition of the goings on here, again let me provide detail from a website, this time that of Chevron Australia.
Since salt is a raw material for many commodities, demand for it is closely tied to economic growth and performance. In China, rapid economic development and the emergence of Chinese chlor-alkali manufacturers has led to soaring demand for industrial-use salt, to the extent that in 2004 China shifted from being a net exporter to a net importer of salt. As a result of such rising demand for salt in China, supply has become tight in Asia."
So there you go. Humble sodium chloride is very big business indeed.
As is gas, in this case natural gas, being extracted from below the sea bed off the north-west coast of WA in almost unbelievable volumes. Here, Onslow, or more particularly, Chevron and BHP Billiton, could learn a lesson or two from their counterparts at Karratha where a particularly informative and well set up Visitor Centre provides wonderful detail about the North-West Shelf gas project from a site directly overlooking the huge Karratha gas plant where Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG), Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), condensate and domestic gas are all produced. I'll have much more to say about this in a later blog.
Admittedly the gas plants near Onslow are still being developed, but the areas are closed, including the Chevron FIFO village some distance from the town. All I could manage by way of photography was this somewhat distant shot of their Ashburton North plant,
taken from near the mouth of the Ashburton River. So, in lieu of a pictorial exposition of the goings on here, again let me provide detail from a website, this time that of Chevron Australia.
Their 'Wheatstone Project' involves piping gas from the offshore well platforms to the processing plant near Onslow.
"The Wheatstone Project is nearly 60 percent complete. At the LNG plant site, equipment and modules continue to be delivered and installed. The roofs of LNG Tank 1 and Tank 2 are now raised and construction of the two condensate storage tanks is underway.
At the Materials Offloading Facility, the breakwater is nearing completion and the 1.2 kilometre (0.75 mile) product loading jetty continues to progress.
The offshore gas processing platform is now in place - 225 kilometres from Ashburton North. The subsea equipment, including wellheads and subsea trees, is being delivered and installed offshore.
The platform topsides represent the largest single integrated topsides float-over installation Chevron globally, has ever completed and is the largest offshore platform ever installed in Australia. The topsides weigh 37,000 tonnes, are 28m above sea level and have been designed to withstand 12 storey-high waves.
The Wheatstone Project will include an onshore facility located at Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Area (ANSIA), 12 kilometres west of Onslow in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The foundation project includes two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and a domestic gas plant."
Just look at those numbers....this is a massive undertaking. Chevron does not have it all to themselves. As I have previously mentioned, BHP Billiton are also in the game. Let me quote from their website of 2010.
"The Macedon Gas Development, to be operated by BHP Billiton, will commercialise natural gas from offshore production lease WA-42-L, located 100 kilometres west of Onslow. First production is expected during calendar year 2013.
Recoverable reserves for the Macedon field are between 400 and 750 billion cubic feet of gas. Project costs will be approximately US$1.5 billion, of which BHP Billiton’s share will be 71.43 percent (approximately US$1,050 million). The balance will be invested by joint venture partner Apache Northwest with a 28.57 percent interest.
The Macedon project involves four offshore production wells supplying a wet gas pipeline to an onshore gas treatment plant to be constructed at Ashburton North, 17 kilometres south west of Onslow.
A sales gas pipeline will be connected to the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline for sale to the domestic gas market in Western Australia. The gas plant will have a design capacity of 200 million standard cubic feet per day."
Yet again, I invite you to look at the numbers.....both development costs and production figures....truly stunning.
Chevron in particular has mounted a significant local public relations campaign designed, from what I could discover, to both inform and placate local opinion with decidedly mixed results.
One of the most controversial aspects of their operations has been that relating to the housing of their workforce. You may recall recent news items on this very matter. A real schism has emerged between Chevron and the Shire authority, in my view with some good reason.
In a nut shell, the Shire wants the Chevron workers to be housed in town. Chevron has a very different view, and the Shire is not happy. On the basis of initial arrangements, the Shire went ahead with the development of a pretty substantial housing estate on the approach to the town centre.
As you can see, that's as far as it had gone. Chevron's position has always been that it wants to use, in the main, a FIFO workforce, housed in a purpose built estate close to the gas plant. The WA Government has recently backed this stance in a move which has not been well received locally. The argument that the 35 km road trip to work and back from Onslow carries inherent dangers, and would unreasonably add to the length of each shift, has always struck me as pretty thin.
The Shire has, from what I can gather, always argued that a FIFO workforce, dislocated from the local community, does little to support local business and community growth. This is indisputably true.
I listened with great interest some months ago to the Shire President expressing a significant degree of angst about the stance taken by Chevron and the Government back flip on this matter, and noted at the time that there is increasing, demonstrable and justified concern about the adverse effects a FIFO work environment has on both the workers and their families.
As is usually the case, a compromise of sorts has been reached. Chevron have agreed to locate a number of its workforce and their families on the new estate whilst also maintaining a FIFO component. From a local perspective, the sooner this land is built on the better....even during our short stay we saw sand blowing off the bare earth in significant quantities. Mind you, the rain from the recent cyclones showed up a problem with the drainage systems on the estate....this has some distance to run yet.
It would be quite wrong to say that Chevron is running roughshod over the local authorities and putting nothing back into the community. In conjunction with the Shire, the State Government and BHP Billiton, Chevron is contributing millions of dollars to develop and improve the local infrastructure.
A new airport is currently under construction.
This remains a work in progress, and it could well be argued that there is a degree of self interest in establishing a larger, more functional terminal, but this has to be good for Onslow. It is an interesting looking building.
As I noted in my previous Onslow missive, a new and much need town swimming pool is on the agenda, as is a hospital redevelopment, and improvements to water, power and road infrastructure. Chevron has implmented a very slick PR programme, including the distribution of regular, very glossy updates on their progress. I enjoyed reading these critically.....they are very cleverly done (and yes, you can read into that comment what you choose!)
And, despite all the hype, there remains a rump of locals who want nothing to do with all this development. They like Onslow as it was. Sound familiar?
My thoughts.....the net result for Onslow has to be positive. In fact we have already decided on a return visit in a couple of years to have a good look at the difference (apart from the fact we already like it as it is....there is a deal of 'Normanton' about present day Onslow)
Enough of the big end of town and the local contretemps. We had to take a quick peek at the local small boat harbour in Beadon Creek, the road to which runs off Second Avenue
and takes one past one of the town's light industrial areas.
Beadon Creek is not the Murray, by any means,
but it provides a good launching ramp for the local boaties,
and mooring for a small fleet of marine 'workhorses'.
This large dockside crane,
floating platform (purpose unknown), and a number of nearby large industrial sheds, demonstrate that this small harbour is very much a working port.
I think that is about enough of 'Industrial Onslow' where, as we discovered, there is a great deal going on, huge investments being made, and much more to come.
"The Wheatstone Project is nearly 60 percent complete. At the LNG plant site, equipment and modules continue to be delivered and installed. The roofs of LNG Tank 1 and Tank 2 are now raised and construction of the two condensate storage tanks is underway.
At the Materials Offloading Facility, the breakwater is nearing completion and the 1.2 kilometre (0.75 mile) product loading jetty continues to progress.
The offshore gas processing platform is now in place - 225 kilometres from Ashburton North. The subsea equipment, including wellheads and subsea trees, is being delivered and installed offshore.
The platform topsides represent the largest single integrated topsides float-over installation Chevron globally, has ever completed and is the largest offshore platform ever installed in Australia. The topsides weigh 37,000 tonnes, are 28m above sea level and have been designed to withstand 12 storey-high waves.
The Wheatstone Project will include an onshore facility located at Ashburton North Strategic Industrial Area (ANSIA), 12 kilometres west of Onslow in Western Australia’s Pilbara region. The foundation project includes two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tonnes per annum (MTPA) and a domestic gas plant."
Just look at those numbers....this is a massive undertaking. Chevron does not have it all to themselves. As I have previously mentioned, BHP Billiton are also in the game. Let me quote from their website of 2010.
"The Macedon Gas Development, to be operated by BHP Billiton, will commercialise natural gas from offshore production lease WA-42-L, located 100 kilometres west of Onslow. First production is expected during calendar year 2013.
Recoverable reserves for the Macedon field are between 400 and 750 billion cubic feet of gas. Project costs will be approximately US$1.5 billion, of which BHP Billiton’s share will be 71.43 percent (approximately US$1,050 million). The balance will be invested by joint venture partner Apache Northwest with a 28.57 percent interest.
The Macedon project involves four offshore production wells supplying a wet gas pipeline to an onshore gas treatment plant to be constructed at Ashburton North, 17 kilometres south west of Onslow.
A sales gas pipeline will be connected to the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline for sale to the domestic gas market in Western Australia. The gas plant will have a design capacity of 200 million standard cubic feet per day."
Yet again, I invite you to look at the numbers.....both development costs and production figures....truly stunning.
Chevron in particular has mounted a significant local public relations campaign designed, from what I could discover, to both inform and placate local opinion with decidedly mixed results.
One of the most controversial aspects of their operations has been that relating to the housing of their workforce. You may recall recent news items on this very matter. A real schism has emerged between Chevron and the Shire authority, in my view with some good reason.
In a nut shell, the Shire wants the Chevron workers to be housed in town. Chevron has a very different view, and the Shire is not happy. On the basis of initial arrangements, the Shire went ahead with the development of a pretty substantial housing estate on the approach to the town centre.
As you can see, that's as far as it had gone. Chevron's position has always been that it wants to use, in the main, a FIFO workforce, housed in a purpose built estate close to the gas plant. The WA Government has recently backed this stance in a move which has not been well received locally. The argument that the 35 km road trip to work and back from Onslow carries inherent dangers, and would unreasonably add to the length of each shift, has always struck me as pretty thin.
The Shire has, from what I can gather, always argued that a FIFO workforce, dislocated from the local community, does little to support local business and community growth. This is indisputably true.
I listened with great interest some months ago to the Shire President expressing a significant degree of angst about the stance taken by Chevron and the Government back flip on this matter, and noted at the time that there is increasing, demonstrable and justified concern about the adverse effects a FIFO work environment has on both the workers and their families.
As is usually the case, a compromise of sorts has been reached. Chevron have agreed to locate a number of its workforce and their families on the new estate whilst also maintaining a FIFO component. From a local perspective, the sooner this land is built on the better....even during our short stay we saw sand blowing off the bare earth in significant quantities. Mind you, the rain from the recent cyclones showed up a problem with the drainage systems on the estate....this has some distance to run yet.
It would be quite wrong to say that Chevron is running roughshod over the local authorities and putting nothing back into the community. In conjunction with the Shire, the State Government and BHP Billiton, Chevron is contributing millions of dollars to develop and improve the local infrastructure.
A new airport is currently under construction.
This remains a work in progress, and it could well be argued that there is a degree of self interest in establishing a larger, more functional terminal, but this has to be good for Onslow. It is an interesting looking building.
As I noted in my previous Onslow missive, a new and much need town swimming pool is on the agenda, as is a hospital redevelopment, and improvements to water, power and road infrastructure. Chevron has implmented a very slick PR programme, including the distribution of regular, very glossy updates on their progress. I enjoyed reading these critically.....they are very cleverly done (and yes, you can read into that comment what you choose!)
And, despite all the hype, there remains a rump of locals who want nothing to do with all this development. They like Onslow as it was. Sound familiar?
My thoughts.....the net result for Onslow has to be positive. In fact we have already decided on a return visit in a couple of years to have a good look at the difference (apart from the fact we already like it as it is....there is a deal of 'Normanton' about present day Onslow)
Enough of the big end of town and the local contretemps. We had to take a quick peek at the local small boat harbour in Beadon Creek, the road to which runs off Second Avenue
and takes one past one of the town's light industrial areas.
Beadon Creek is not the Murray, by any means,
but it provides a good launching ramp for the local boaties,
and mooring for a small fleet of marine 'workhorses'.
This large dockside crane,
floating platform (purpose unknown), and a number of nearby large industrial sheds, demonstrate that this small harbour is very much a working port.
I think that is about enough of 'Industrial Onslow' where, as we discovered, there is a great deal going on, huge investments being made, and much more to come.
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