Living in Western Australia

Living in Western Australia

Western Australia - the ultimate lifestyle destination - offers white sandy beaches, minimal traffic congestion, with more sunny days than any other Australian state and an average yearly temperature of 28 degrees. Whether it's taking a relaxing weekend trip to the Swan Valley or longer trips to the remote regions, an adventurous 4WD tour, sand-dunes or swimming with the whale-sharks on the pristine Ningaloo reef, you're almost guaranteed there will be a blue sky overhead.

More than just an enviable climate and laid-back Aussie lifestyle, Perth offers one of the most buoyant markets in Australia and is the focal point for Resource & Mining, Energy, Oil & Gas and Construction projects. With financial investment of over $125bn on projects in 2010/11 our established business are seeing unlimited growth prospects.

WA offers its residents a unique and unparalleled way of life that is the envy of those who don't live here.

This amazing region offers:

• Relaxed and friendly lifestyle
• Strong sense of community evident in Kimberley towns
• Rich and diverse cultural heritage
• Rewarding work environments or work experiences
• Pristine environment with little or no pollution
• Fantastic recreational experiences on offer including camping, fishing and four-wheel driving

Perth

Perth is a cosmopolitan city of approx 2 million people that is renowned for its easy-going atmosphere and outdoors lifestyle. It offers all the conveniences of a modern capital city while retaining the friendly lifestyle, more often associated with a smaller town. The CBD sits on the banks of the Swan River and is just 15 minutes from world famous white-sand beaches. A 2 hour drive can see you spending the weekend in the world-famous Margaret River wine region, enjoying fine food, internationally-acclaimed wine and some of Australia's best surfing. Perth is a strikingly vibrant city that lies in Western Australia - the only place where you can dive with the world's largest fish - the whale shark, walk amongst the tree tops of ancient trees, sleep under a canopy of stars in the outback, or explore the gorges and wilderness areas.

JobContax currently has a number of Construction and Engineering opportunities based in Western Australia. All jobs come with employer approved 457 visas.

Click the following link to check out the positions:

Jobs in Australia

Gorgon Project Jobs

Gorgon LNG Project - Facts and Figures

GORGON LNG PROJECT

Industry  Oil & Gas (LNG)

Project value  $43 Bn

Project owner  Chevron

Project management  Chevron 47% Exxon Mobil 25% Shell 25% Osaka Gas 1.25% Tokyo Gas 1% Chubu Power Company 0.417%

Construction Period  Final Investment Decision Granted Sept 2009 Expected First Gas 2014

Predicted employment numbers  10,000 Jobs at peak construction

Project Status  Construction Phase Upstream & Down Stream. Ongoing continued work on the construction phase both Upstream & Down Stream to ensure first gas 2014

Project Information

The Gorgon project is Australia's largest single natural gas project. This project plans to develop the Greater Gorgon gas fields, located approximately 130km off North West WA. The Greater Gorgon gas fields contain resources of about 40 trillion cubic feet of gas, Australia's largest known gas resource with an estimated development life of 60 years.

Gorgon will create a vast number of direct and indirect jobs approximately 10,000 throughout Western Australia from Freemantle to Barrow Island. The project has already committed more than $10 billion to Australian industry and is expected to spend a further $20 billion on Australian good and services over the next 4 to 5 years all this helping to boost the local economy.

Gas will be processed at a state of the art onshore facility located on Barrow Island 56km off the north west coast of WA. The gas plant on the island will include 3 LNG Trains capable of producing 15 million tonnes Per annum. A purpose built LNG loading jetty will also be constructed and see approximately three LNG shipments leave the island each week.

The project will also have a domestic gas phase which will produce up to 300 terajoules per day this being a major component of the foundation project. This gas will be transported via a domestic gas pipeline which will run from Barrow Island to a tie in with the Dampier to Bunbury natural gas pipeline.

This project had to go through a rigorous environmental assessment before receiving final development approval, with unique fauna on Barrow Island and nearby coral to be protected under certain provisions.

The joint venture partners on the project will also spend in excess of $2 billion on reducing carbon emissions from the gas operations, which will see carbon dioxide injected into a reservoir 2000 metres below Barrow Island. Supply deals worth billions have already been signed with companies in China, India, Japan and South Korea.

JobContax Jobs on the Gorgon Project

Gorgon Project Senior Civils Project Engineers Jobs

Gorgon Project Site Supervisor Jobs

Gorgon Project Construction Foreman Jobs

Gorgon Project Site Manager Jobs

Gorgon Project Project Engineer Jobs

Gorgon Project Project Engineer Precast Jobs

[googlemaps http://maps.google.ie/maps/ms?msa=0&msid=208422676198052454594.0004ab3dc0f8213f33466&ie=UTF8&ll=-24.926295,122.255859&spn=15.083313,32.319031&t=h&vpsrc=6&output=embed&w=550&h=350]

Gorgon Project Site Safety Advisor Jobs

457 Visa Australia

457 Visa

Working with both individuals and corporate clients, JobContax has extensive experience dealing with the 457 visa. Our Australian partners are able to use their local knowlegde, offering fast and friendly services tailored specifically to your needs. Relocation is a big step and is important to get right first time, every time. You need expert advice and support throughout your case - from applying for the 457 visa to employer sponsorship requirements. JobContax can do it all. The Subclass 457 Visa program allows employers to sponsor overseas workers, enabling them to work in Australia on a temporary basis. It is designed for people who initially wish to work for up to 4 years in Australia. The visa is the most commonly used program for employers to sponsor overseas workers in Australia. This program allows applicants to work for up to four years for a sponsoring employer and is restricted to people seeking to be employed in skilled occupations.

Duration

The Subclass 457 visa allows for individuals to work in Australia for a period of between one day and four years. This is one of the more flexible types of Australia visas.

Eligibility

Employers
An employer must be approved as an eligible sponsor before an Australian 457 visa is granted. To achieve approval, an employer must meet a range of criteria set by the Australian Government. Requirements include a demonstrated commitment to employing local labour and a commitment to the training of Australian citizens and permanent residents.

Employees
Employees must be sponsored by an eligible employer to fill a nominated position. A full listing of eligible nominated occupations can be found in the Employer Nomination Scheme List. Employees must have skills, qualifications, experience and an employment background which match those required for the position, as well as demonstrated English language proficiency. Certain character and health requirements must also be met.

Applying for a 457 visa

There are three stages in the processing of the 457 visa: sponsorship, nomination and visa application.

Before individuals can apply for a 457 visa, they must first ensure the sponsoring employer is an approved sponsor. All of JobContax's Australian partners are approved ECPM contarctors.

Employers must submit an application to be a sponsor and are required to meet all eligibility requirements.

The employer must then nominate the position to be filled, along with details of the skills required for the position, the rate of pay and the name of the prospective overseas employee.

The employee then applies for a visa to work in Australia. To lodge a visa application the sponsorship and nomination must have been lodged with or prior to the visa application.

JobContax have helped numerous numerous construction and engineering professionals through the process. Once the employer decides to sponsor someone, the process only takes a couple of months.

Be sure to check out JobContax's current Australian 457 visa approved jobs.

Gorgon Project Job Interviews | London Aug 26/27 | Dublin Aug 28/29/30

Construction and Engineering Jobs in Australia

JobContax in association with our Australian partners are currently recruiting for a number of large civils projects in Australia. We are currently looking for Project Engineers and Construction Supervisors to work on the $43 Billion  Gorgon LNG Project. The Australian contractor is flying over to conduct interviews in London on August 26/27 and in Dublin on August 28-30. Visit our Gorgon Project Jobs page for full job details.

All roles come with excellent packages including relocation costs and employer sponsored family Australian 457 visas. These positions represent a fantastic opportunity to progress your career and gain large project experience. For more information on Australian 457 Visas and the Gorgon Project click the links below:

Gorgon LNG Project information         

 Australian 457 Visa information

To be considered for interview, apply through our website, www.jobcontax.com, for the job or jobs which you feel you are qualified for and one of our consultants will contact you and explain the interview process in detail.

Contact Details

Website: www.jobcontax.com
   E-Mail:  info@jobcontax.com
   Skype:   JobContax
   Phone: 353-1-7978720

        

What is an Australian 457 Visa?

All JobContax Jobs come with Australian 457 Visas

All jobs in Australia on www.JobContax.com come with 457 visa attached.  Due to the shortage of experienced skilled Construction and Engineering professionals in Australia, suitable foreign national are being offered 4 year working visas (457) by employers. The 457 visa entitles the bearer and their family to live and work in Australia.

The 457 visa is the most commonly used program for Australian or overseas employers to sponsor skilled overseas workers to work in Australia temporarily. The full title of this subclass of visa isTemporary Business (Long Stay) - Standard Business Sponsorship (Subclass 457).

Requirements

Employers must be approved by the Australian government as an eligible employer. Employees must obtain a new visa and sponsorship if they wish to move to another sponsor.Holders of this visa may be employed for a period of between one day and four years and may bring any eligible family members, including same-sex partners, who have unrestricted work and study rights in Australia. Holders of the Subclass 457 visa have no limit on the number of times they travel in and out of Australia.

Employees must also meet minimum levels of qualifications and English language skills, in addition to character and health requirements. Whilst the employer can nominate a person for the particular position they are trying to fill, it is the Department of Immigration and Citizenship that assess and determine whether the criteria for visa grant have been met.

Conversion to permanent residency

457 visa holders can convert to Australian permanent residency status. It is common for 457 visa holders to apply for a permanent Australia residents visa with a view to permanently settle in Australia and become Australian citizens. There has been a recent increase in the number of grants of permanent residence visas to people who last held a Subclass 457 visa.  However there is Australian parliamentary concern regarding overseas agents falsely marketing permanent residency to Australia.

 

Australia Pacific LNG project approved

Australia Pacific LNG - one of Australia’s largest LNG export projects, comprising world-class coal seam gas resources and a LNG facility on Curtis Island off Gladstone in Queensland – has been approved for development. The Final Investment Decision is to proceed with the initial construction of one train and common facilities for a two train development.

The project’s first LNG exports are scheduled to start in mid 2015, and are underpinned by a 4.3mtpa sale and purchase agreement with China Petroleum & Chemical Corporation (Sinopec Corp.). The approval of the second LNG train is expected in time to enable its start up in early 2016.

Early site works for the project, including mobilisation on Curtis Island have commenced and long lead items have been ordered to maintain the project schedule. Australia Pacific LNG, a 50-50 joint venture between ConocoPhillips and Origin Energy, already employs 1,600 people, mostly in Queensland, and will create 6,000 construction jobs and 1,000 operational jobs for the ongoing operation of the project. The project consists of the further development of the APLNG’s CSG fields, a gas transmission pipeline to the Queensland coast and a gas processing plant and associated facilities where the gas will be cooled and liquefied for shipping overseas.   Origin will be responsible for the development and management of the CSG facilities including the gas fields and pipeline and ConocoPhillips will be responsible for the construction and management of the LNG plant.

The gas fields and pipeline components of the project will generate a peak workforce of approximately 3,000 workers during the development and construction phase and approximately 1,000 during the operational phase.  The LNG facility component of the project will generate a peak workforce of approximately 2,100 workers during the construction phase.  A workforce of around 100 is estimated to be required to operate the first LNG train at the LNG facility, with around 75 further people required for each additional train.

Browse LNG - Woodside signs land deal for Browse LNG Project

Woodside announced that a Native Title Agreement has been executed to enable the establishment of the Browse LNG Precinct near James Price Point, 60 km north of Broome in Western Australia. The Agreement, between Woodside, the State of Western Australia and the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr native title claim group, secures the land required for the State Government’s LNG Precinct and provides a significant package of benefits and initiatives for Indigenous people in the Kimberley.

The initiatives in the Agreement are worth in excess of A$1 billion over the life of the precinct and have the potential to enact meaningful and positive change to the economic and social circumstances of Indigenous people in the Kimberley. Woodside’s commitments include the implementation of ongoing education, training and employment initiatives, Indigenous job targets, support for Indigenous businesses, cultural initiatives and payments upon project milestones being met, including a final investment decision.

The Agreement also recognises the importance of the area to the Goolarabooloo Jabirr Jabirr native title claimants and underscores Woodside’s commitment to an environmentally, socially and culturally responsible LNG development. The execution of the Agreement is the culmination of more than two years of negotiations following a Heads of Agreement signed in April 2009 and is a significant milestone for the proposed Browse LNG Precinct.

Woodside acknowledges the commitment of the Goolarabooloo and Jabirr Jabirr people, the Kimberley Land Council, and the Government of Western Australia in securing this agreement. Woodside was appointed as a foundation proponent for the precinct under a Preliminary Development Agreement signed with the State in October 2009. Woodside is the major equity holder in the proposed Browse LNG Development which aims to commercialise the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa gas and condensate fields in the Browse Basin, 425km off the Kimberley coast. The proposed development includes offshore extraction and production facilities, pipelines to shore, onshore LNG and condensate production facilities, and associated export infrastructure at the Browse LNG Precinct.

Chevron's Wheatstone LNG project to generate 6500 jobs

CHEVRON'S planned $30 billion Wheatstone liquefied natural gas project is expected to begin within months after the West Australian Environmental Protection Authority approved the development today. But the EPA recommended the US energy giant take significant measures to reduce the unusually high level of carbon emissions from the project, which is to be built near Onslow in WA’s Pilbara region.

Emissions from the project would increase Australia’s greenhouse-gas emission levels by 1.7 per cent, over 2006-07 readings, and WA’s levels by 13.5 per cent. The project would emit 10 million tonnes of greenhouse gases every year. The EPA’s report will be sent to WA Environment Minister Bill Marmion for final approval. Approval is also required from federal Environment Minister Tony Burke. “The EPA has assessed the proposal for the Wheatstone development and believes that the proposal can be implemented with appropriate management to limit environmental impacts to an acceptable level,” the EPA report said.

 Chevron’s Australian operations head, Roy Krzywosinski, said last month that work on Wheatstone should begin before the end of the year; the project will generate 6500 direct jobs at peak construction and $21bn in government revenue. Mr Krzywosinski said the project was entering the "final stages" of approvals and would follow the company’s $43bn Gorgon LNG project being built on Barrow Island. "The Wheatstone project, the younger sibling, which seems to live in the shadow of Gorgon, will soon be stepping out into the light as a major capital project in its own right," he said.

The EPA recommended today that Chevron put in place a greenhouse-gas abatement program and offset the emissions of carbon dioxide from Wheatstone. Chevron’s proposed lack of greenhouse-gas mitigation measures were deemed unacceptable by the Conservation Council of WA and the Wilderness Society considered, the report said. The EPA said that if commonwealth legislation on reducing carbon emissions came into force, Chevron may not need to implement an abatement program.

The first phase of the Wheatstone project will have a combined capacity of 8.9mt per annum and first LNG shipments are planned for 2016.

Prelude floating LNG project

Shell recently announced that their Prelude floating LNG project off north west Western Australia has passed another milestone, with the $US12.6 billion ($11.8bn) project receiving final investment approval. Prelude is expected to produce 3.6 million tonnes (0.175 tcf) per annum of LNG, as well as 1.3 million tonnes of condensate and 400,000 tonnes of LPG. The facility is scheduled to begin production in 2016. The gas will be cooled by cold water pumped from about 150m below the ocean’s surface - allowing around 50,000 m3 of cold seawater each hour to cool the gas.

The project will be the world’s first floating LNG development and the facility will be the largest floating structure ever built. The vessel will be built by South Korea's Samsung Heavy Industries. At 488 metres long, 74 metres wide and 600,000-tonne in weight it will be longer than four soccer fields laid end-to-end and will be six times heavier than the world's largest aircraft carrier. The vessel will be permanently moored about 200km off the coast for its 25 years of production and is designed to withstand severe category 5 cyclones (or a “one-in-10,000-year" tropical cyclone, as Shell executive director Malcolm Brinded put it).

In Australia we’ve seen onshore natural gas largely depleted, near offshore natural gas well developed (the north west shelf LNG operation has now been in operation for decades and long-stalled projects like Gorgon are now well underway), a boom in coal seam gas and emerging interest in exploiting shale gas (local producers seem to view speculation that US shale gas production will undermine Australian LNG export markets in Asia as unfounded, notwithstanding the strong Australian dollar) and biogas.

Research by the CSIRO (the Australian government's "Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation") in 2008 found that up to half Australia's natural gas resources (140 trillion cubic feet) could not be developed because they were too remote to be connected to onshore processing plants. Floating LNG platforms remove this barrier and would seem to be the final stage of our entry into what has been dubbed by some - including the IEA [pdf]) - as "The Gas Age". I guess you could view the fossil fuel era as an act in 3 parts, similar to the era of the dinosaurs, with the coal age being analagous to the Triassic period, the oil age to the Jurassic and the gas age echoing the Cretaceous, with the end of the era approaching.



By adopting the offshore floating LNG solution Shell hopes to also substantially reduce the time and cost of the project development phase. Global LNG demand is expected to double this decade and the introduction of floating storage and regasification vessels in recent years has enabled fast entry of new buyers to the market such as Argentina, Brazil, Kuwait and Dubai in recent years. Thailand and Singapore will soon also be able to import LNG and Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and possibly the Philippines are expected to follow a few years later.

Shell is already looking at a number of other locations for floating LNG projects, including the Greater Sunrise project in East Timor, and projects in Indonesia, Cyprus, East Africa and South America. Other companies are also interested in floating LNG with the BBC claiming Flex LNG and Hoegh LNG hoping to make final investment decisions shortly on projects in Papua New Guinea.

Jarand Rystad, founder of a Norway-based research consultancy for the oil industry says there are up to 160 gas fields where floating LNG could be applicable worldwide over the next decade. The prospect of a number of floating LNG developments has Darwin excited, with the town hoping to be the base for servicing Prelude and up to 10 additional platforms over time. The 10 platforms figure may have emerged from a statement from Samsung Heavy Industries estimating the size of the market last year. Besides the PNG projects mentioned earlier, Woodside have been pushing for a floating LNG development for the Sunrise development between Australia and East Timor, and there has been some speculation that Woodside's Browse development could avoid opposition to plans to build an onshore LNG plant in the Kimberly region. There has also been speculation that Inpex's Abadi and Ichthys projects could be candidates.

Queensland: skilled worker shortage

The head of Queensland’s leading industry body says choosy workers are making will make it difficult to fill the skills gaps in the state. In the next year, 30000 workers will be needed in the Bowen Basin, and Queensland Resources Council chief executive said he was shocked to discover 2500 unfilled places exist in the minerals and resources sector alone.
“At the moment the workforce is being very choosy, you really have to move heaven and earth to make it attractive for them because they do have alternatives, particularly the younger generation,” he told The Daily Mercury.
"They are very mobile, they can get on a plane and fly to Mackay or Moranbah or they can maybe stay on the plane an extra couple of hours and fly to Western Australia, and I'm hearing for some of those jobs there is a premium to be paid.”

He said the mining boom will be held back by the skills shortage, despite initiatives to expand the industry.
“The fundamentals are excellent and it has to be good news for Bowen Basin communities and places like Mackay.
"The number one constraint of being able to realise that potential is the skills issue.”
The QRC boss has welcomed the moves by the Gillard Government to find a balance between training locals and allowing skilled migrants into Australia to fill the vacancies.
“We were pleased with the Federal Budget initiatives,” he said.
"A sensible balance between training up the local workforce, accelerating apprenticeships, more money for training and some easing up on facilitation of being able to bring in migrant labour, particularly for those really big projects.
“Hopefully the people of the Mackay region will understand that with projects there is a construction phase with a very high peak workforce and then there are the ongoing jobs.
“My vision is that we make sensible use of, for the short term construction phases, let's use migrant labour sensibly to fill gaps there and let's maximise then the permanent on-going jobs for locals, that is the happy mix and that is what we are aiming for,” Mr Roche said.

In the recent federal budget, treasurer Wayne Swan announced funding to speed up the completing apprenticeships and gaining qualifications. Education Queensland Trade Training Centre project officer Bob Baker told The Mercury offers of big money and ease of entering the resources sectors in other regions were taking young people away from the Bowen Basin and towards south-east and Western Australia.
“At the moment a lot of young people are actually going elsewhere for training as well and then are finding other opportunities in other places.,” he said.
“If they train elsewhere then the transition becomes very easy then for them to move to wherever the biggest money is.
“If we can have the opportunities here for them in Mackay, then they will stay here.
“As a region we are competing with the south-east corner and other major areas of interest like Western Australia, where there is more action, more services, and more resources for families.”
Baker said there needs to be more focus on developing Mackay’s tourism and infrastructure.
http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/choosy-workers-damaging-resouce-sector--qrc-boss

Western Australia: 33,000 workers needed by 2012

The skills shortage across resource and construction industries is continuing to worsen, with Western Australia alone needing to fund an extra 33 000 skilled workers by the end of 2012. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy have compiled a report on the growth outlook for the state, which found that if the positions aren’t filled, it could have dire consequences for projects in terms of budget and timeframes and may ruin Western Australia’s reputation as a competitive mining market.

The West Australian is reporting that the 10-year forecast of labour and infrastructure report, to be released today, shows an extra 34 000 skilled workers need to be employed in resource projects in the Pilbara alone and says direct employment in the sector will soon pass 120 000 across WA, making up 10 per cent of the state’s workforce. The shortage is expected to be most dire when projects including Gorgon, Pluto and BHP Billiotn’s Pilbara expansion reach their peaks and.

As many as 90 per cent of the workforce will be employed on fly-in., fly-out contracts, which is sure to further add to the already hot debate about FIFO work.About 85 per cent of the additional FIFO workers will be based in Perth or Peel and the remainder interstate.Most of the positions will need to be made up from foreign workers, as nearly all WA residents are already employed.

In January, Prime Minister Julia Gillard announced pthe government is considering assisting 20 000 skilled migrants to enter Australia and the rates of Irish relocating here is at record levels."Our ability to address these significant labour issues will impact directly on the ability to deliver these projects on time and on budget," CME chief executive Reg Howard-Smith tole The West Australian yesterday. He went on to say the ability for companies to meet deadlines impacts on its reputation and future investment. Earlier this month an online forum was unveiled to allow for discussion about the skills shortage and attempt to fimd solutions.

http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/news/33-000-workers-needed-in-wa-by-next-year

Gorgon Project Jobs

Gorgon investment in Australia is generating more and more jobs and supplier opportunities as local companies get involved with Australia’s single largest ever resource project.

The project is expected to spend about $20 billion on Australian goods and services over the next 4 to 5 years.

And early indications are confirming the independent modeling conducted by ACIL Tasman which showed that Gorgon will spend $33 billion on local goods and services in the first 30 years.

JobContax are currently hiring for a number of construction and engineering positions on the Gorgon Project. For all the latest Gorgon Project Jobs  visit www.jobcontax.com for more details.

John Holland wins Gorgon contract

John Holland has secured a significant contract with Chevron to carry out the design and construction of permanent buildings on the Chevron-operated Gorgon Project, one of the world’s largest natural gas projects and the largest single resource natural gas project ever undertaken in Australia.

With a contract value of over $180 million, John Holland’s Design and Construct package will deliver essential infrastructure in the buildings-operations and administration areas, including the construction of the Gorgon Project’s operations centre and laboratory buildings on Barrow Island.

John Holland Group Managing Director, Glenn Palin, said: “This is a significant project for John Holland, aligned to the long term strategy of our business and our continued expansion into the oil and gas sector. John Holland has a strong commitment to safety, the environment and its people, and I look forward to this being the start of a mutually beneficial partnership.”

General Manager of John Holland’s Western Region, Adam Harry, said: “This is an exciting opportunity for John Holland to be involved in Australia’s largest single resource project. For many of our people this will be a once in a lifetime job and I am confident our expertise and focus on delivering safe and quality works will see the successful delivery of this project.”

Chevron has appointed John Holland for the design and construction of several permanent buildings including:
- Workshop;
- Warehouse;
- Fire Station;
- Dangerous Goods Store;
- Installation of LV Switch Room and transformers;
- Laboratory (construction only);
- Operations Centre Building, containing the Central Control Room and Clinic (construction only);
- Utilities & Services, Civil Works including roads and lay down areas.

Works on the project are due to commence on Barrow Island in late 2011, with completion expected in 2013. The Gorgon Project, which will develop the Greater Gorgon Area gas fields located about 130 kilometres off the north-west coast of Western Australia, includes the construction of a Liquefied Natural Gas plant on Barrow Island and a domestic gas plant to supply gas to Western Australia. Barrow Island is located 56 kilometres off the north-west coast of Western Australia. The Gorgon Project is operated by an Australian subsidiary of Chevron and is a joint venture of the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (approximately 47 percent), ExxonMobil (25 percent) and Shell (25 percent), Osaka Gas (1.25 percent), Tokyo Gas (one percent) and Chubu Electric Power (0.417 percent).

Australia's Mining Boom

China is leasing huge tracts of land in Australia to secure a vital source of iron ore and coal, in the latest sign of its formidable hunger for commodities to fuel its economic boom. No longer satisfied with purchasing iron ore and coal from Australia's giant mining companies, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, China is developing its own mining operations and has funded a port with a 2km long breakwater that juts out into the Indian Ocean. The Citic-Pacific Corporation's Sino Iron project in the Pilbara region in the far north-west of Australia illustrates the scale of Beijing's ambition. The open-cast mine - which will become fully operational later this year - promises to be the biggest magnetite iron ore mine in the world.

State-of-the-art hydraulic excavators will dig down some 200m below sea level. The ore will be crushed in a processing plant powered by an on-site 450MW power station. The iron ore concentrate will reach China on a fleet of purpose-built container ships. China expects to receive at least two billion tons of iron ore from Sino Iron over the next 25 years.

'Aussie oligarch'
In return Australia, already China's biggest overseas supplier of iron ore, is guaranteed a steady stream of royalties and taxes. And the project will generate thousands of Australian jobs - China contributes the finance and the management, not the labour. Mr Palmer regularly commutes between Australia and Beijing by private jet. But the deal's biggest winner will be Clive Palmer, the larger-than-life entrepreneur who holds the lease on the Sino Iron mine. His partnership with Citic-Pacific is one big reason why he's now close to the top of Australia's rich-list. According to Mr Palmer his mining alliance with the Chinese has barely begun.He claims to control the mining rights to territory which contains 160 billion tonnes of iron ore. It's a mind-boggling figure - 100 times greater than the entire global output of iron ore last year.

If China's steel mills maintain their current level of demand Mr Palmer is set to become an Aussie oligarch to rival Russia's richest resource billionaires. A suggestion to which he responds with a smile. "I hope I'm nicer," he says. Mr Palmer regularly commutes between Australia and his other home in Beijing by private jet. He boasts of friendships at the highest levels of the Chinese government. Chinese banks seem to trust him. Last year China's Import-Export Bank made available a $5bn (£3bn) loan to finance a Palmer-backed Queensland coal project which is supposed to deliver the Chinese power industry close to a billion tonnes of coal over the next 30 years.

'Hijacked'
But China's emergence as a significant long-term player in the Australian resource sector has raised hackles. After Rio Tinto came close to accepting a major investment from the Chinese metals giant Chinalco, Barnaby Joyce, Senate leader of the opposition National Party, railed against "Australia's prime sources of wealth being hijacked by a foreign government". Clive Palmer, himself one of the biggest financial supporters of the conservative opposition, dismisses such talk. "China is the only country willing and able to invest the billions needed to develop these projects," he said. "Three hundred million people are moving from the countryside to the cities. The demand is in the People's Republic of China."

But there are good economic reasons for Australians to worry about the long-term impact of the China-driven commodity boom. The windfall from Australia's minerals exports has strengthened the Australian dollar to a point where manufacturing bosses say their exports are becoming uncompetitive. In Perth, Australia's mining capital, there are signs of a bubble economy. Restaurants and farms are struggling to find labour as unskilled workers flock to the mines, where the average annual wage is $108,000 (£69,000). A truck driver in the mines can earn more than a surgeon.

China's thirst for Australian resources also serves to underline an environmental problem facing the Labor government. Prime Minister Julia Gillard is committed to the imposition of a carbon tax and significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions - goals that sit uneasily with the continued dramatic expansion of the energy-intensive mining sector.

Sacred places
Beijing seems to be increasingly aware of the need to tread carefully. Sinosteel, another state-owned metals conglomerate, has plans to develop a massive open-cast iron ore mine in the Weld Range, a ridge of low-slung hills some 400 miles north-east of Perth. The geologists believe it will yield up to 300 million tonnes of high grade iron ore over 20 years. But it is a sensitive project. The red-tinged rock is not just rich in iron oxide - it is also littered with archaeological evidence of thousands of years of aboriginal life.

Colin Hamlet, an elder of the Wajarri Yamatji people, is at the forefront of a campaign to prevent Sinosteel digging up his ancestors' sacred places. His own great-grandmother Booreeangoo was buried at a site which Sinosteel surveyors designated as a dump for mine tailings. The plan has since been changed. "This land tells the story of my people, our song lines, our camps, our relics, they're all here," he told me. Perhaps aware of the potential for damaging publicity, Sinosteel's top Chinese executive has personally assured Mr Hamlet that sites of special significance to the Wajarri Yamatji will remain untouched. Too of his list is an unremarkable hill known as Wilgie Mia. Close to the summit is a gash in the rock - it's the opening to a man-made hole more than 100ft deep. "This is where we get our ochre from," said Mr Hamlet. "You see it in paintings hundreds of miles from here." According to archaeologists Wilgie Mia could be the oldest continuously worked mine in the world. Proof that for 10,000 years indigenous Australians have been digging holes in search of mineral riches.

And now the Chinese have arrived on a similar quest.

Courtesy of: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/hardtalk/9451824.stm

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40,000 workers needed in WA over the next two years

Western Australia will need 40,000 more workers over the next two years to cope with demand from major resource industry projects, including the Gorgon,Browse and Wheatstone Projects.

With mega operations such as Chevron's $43 billion dollar Gorgon LNG project and Woodside's Pluto in the pipeline - the demand for workers on the ground has never been so strong. But demand in the boardroom is rising just as fast. In recent years, mining giants Fortescue, Rio Tinto, BHP and Chevron have all expanded their offices in Perth substantially and companies in other industries are travelling to where the money is.

Consulting firms such as Bane and McKinsey have also opened up shop out West, as well as several global law firms who are establishing teams to cope with demand from major clients. Alastair Haldane from recruitment services firm Interpeople says the available pool of talent is quickly drying up. 'The war for talented, white collar professionals is out there on the streets. We see it every day'. Mr. Haldane says while many workers would put a better salary at the top of their list of reasons for changing companies, businesses make the mistake of assuming a high wage is all they need to offer to retain staff. According to Interpeople, workers are more likely to blame poor management or culture for their decision to leave a job, than low wages.

Meantime, The 2011 March quarter Clarius Skills Index, yesterday, rose to 100.3 index points, just above the 100 mark that indicate a balanced labour market.

The index was 99.9 in the December quarter, showing a marginal oversupply. The index showed demand for skilled labour rose by 64,000 in the March quarter, while supply increased by 51,400. The report said skills shortages were most noticeable in the construction, building and engineering categories. Clarius chief operating officer Kym Quick said post-disaster reconstruction, combined with the resources boom and major information technology (IT) projects were putting a strain on the availability of skills. 'This is shaping as a major national issue,' Ms Quick said in a statement.

'Western Australia's boom economy continues draw a range of skills. The impact of the floods, and cyclone in Queensland, has not fully translated into major shifts in labour demand or supply but they are now starting to emerge.

http://www.skynews.com.au/businessnews/article.aspx?id=603094&vId=2341226&cId=Business

Overview of the Gorgon Project in Western Australia

Gorgon, Browse and Wheatstone Projects require Construction Workers and Engineers

Australia will need to import workers if it wants to take full advantage of its abundant natural resources, the nation's largest private construction company says. Daniel Grollo, chief executive of Grocon Group, wants the federal government to start planning for the massive skills shortage the country faces as private investment in infrastructure and construction recovers from the global financial crisis. Huge gas developments off the northwest coast of Australia alone require a more mobile workforce and more skilled migrants, he says.

JobContax will be recruiting experienced civils professionals for numerous large LNG Projects in Western Australia, on an ongoing basis.

US energy giant Chevron is using thousands of workers to construct the A$43 billion (US$42.49 billion) Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project on Barrow Island off the northwest coast of Western Australia. Also in WA, Chevron is planning its Wheatstone LNG project, while Woodside Petroleum Ltd (ASX:WPL) aims to expand its Pluto LNG project, construction of which is nearing completion.

"I think we've got a really, really big challenge up in the northwest. You've got to see this to believe it," Mr Grollo told an Australia-Israeli Chamber of Commerce lunch in Sydney on Tuesday. "We've heard a lot about Gorgon, and the reality is another two or three projects of the same scale are coming in the very near future. "Australia just does not have the mobility in its workforce to go and solve that issue. "If we want Australia to be a prosperous country, if we want to take advantage of the natural resources we have, if we want to participate in the growth of China in the resources sector, then we're going to have to do something about people, and that's going to need a lot of foreign workers."

Courtesy of:  http://www.downstreamtoday.com/news/article.aspx?a_id=24935

Browse LNG Project Overview

The Browse LNG project will be the largest LNG export facility in Western Australia's north-west coast.
The total value of the project is around $20bn and will be the largest project awarded in Australia.

JobContax currently have a number of positions to fill for the project. Check out their website for more details.

The facility, which will be located 425km north-west of Broome, will help in the distribution of gas from three gas fields – Torosa (discovered 1971), Brecknock (discovered 1979) and Calliance fields (discovered 2000), comprising the Browse gas fields of the Browse Basin (water depths of 35m to 700m). These fields were estimated to have reserves of 13.3 trillion cubic feet of dry gas and 360 million barrels of condensate as of 31 December 2009, with a field life of 40 years.

The Browse LNG project comprises the East and West Browse joint ventures operated by Woodside Energy. Although planning has been underway since 2006, the final decision about where to build the 10mtpa LNG facility was made in February 2010. The James Price Point, 60km north of Broome in Western Australia, was selected as the project location.

The facility is expected to be online 2013–15. In February 2010, the project entered its design phase. The contract for the design phase was awarded to Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemical, Bechtel Australia and Kellogg Brown & Root. During this phase the major design parameters will be determined, which will allow the optimal development of the gas fields offshore and facilities onshore at the Browse LNG Precinct. The design phase will be followed by the project's front end engineering and design in 2011 and the final investment decision will be made by mid-2012.

The shareholders in the Browse LNG project include Woodside with 50%, BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron and Shell.

 

Engineers needed for Gorgon LNG plant in Western Australia

Chevron Corp. said it plans to start early work on an expansion of its 43 billion Australian dollars (US$42.57 billion) Gorgon liquefied natural gas project in Australia next year, in a move to capitalize on rising Asian demand for clean-burning fuels.

JobContax currently have a number of positions to fill for the project. Check out their website for more details.

Chevron said it has discovered enough gas offshore of Western Australia state to increase Gorgon’s production capacity to more than 15 million metric tons of LNG by adding a fourth train, or processing unit, to the three already being built. It is targeting a formal decision on the expansion in 2013.

Japan will likely want to buy more Australian LNG to meet its future fuel needs if explosions and radiation leaks at the reactors damaged by Friday’s earthquake and tsunami trigger a domestic backlash against nuclear power, industry executives and analysts say.

Chevron has 80 trillion cubic feet of natural gas reserves in the Asia-Pacific region, much of it offshore of Australia.

Japanese customers underpin Chevron’s gas sales commitments from Gorgon’s first phase. China, which is building several LNG receiving terminals along its coastline, and India are also vying for Australian LNG supply.

However, expanding Gorgon would heap extra pressure on a labor market that is tightening as rival Australian gas export projects get underway or target expansions within the next five years. These include several proposed plants in Queensland state that will convert coal seam gas to LNG using technology previously untried on a large scale.

Australia is set to leapfrog Qatar as the world’s biggest LNG supplier in the future, with the potential to produce over 100 million tons of LNG annually if all projects on the drawing board are built, engineering contractor WorleyParsons Ltd. said recently.

San Ramon, California-based Chevron expects to commence front-end engineering and design, or FEED, work on Gorgon’s fourth LNG train in 2012. This planning work is important because it enables companies to get a clearer view on how much projects will cost to build and whether they will be feasible.

“We found enough gas for this expansion and plan to enter FEED in 2012,” Jim Blackwell, Chevron Executive Vice President of Technology and Services, said late Monday in a meeting with analysts.

Attracted by Australia’s stable regulatory regime, large gas reserves and proximity to Asian buyers, international energy companies are spending billions of dollars developing natural gas terminals on the country’s coastline

Chevron signed off on Gorgon’s initial phase in September 2009 and plans to ship its first LNG cargo from the project – located on the nature reserve of Barrow Island – in 2014.

The U.S. oil giant owns nearly 50% of the Gorgon project, which also counts ExxonMobil Corp. and Royal Dutch Shell PLC as major investors.

Chevron and its partners may have an advantage over rival projects in keeping down labor costs as Gorgon’s first phase is due for completion in 2014, and many workers could be kept on site to work on the expansion.

In addition to the Gorgon project, Chevron is separately developing the Wheatstone project on the Western Australian coast. It hopes to make a decision on investing in the first, two-train phase of that LNG development this year.

Wheatstone is “well positioned for train three and further expansions,” Mr. Blackwell said.

Rival developments in Australia include a planned expansion of Woodside Petroleum Ltd.’s Pluto project, four coal seam gas-to-LNG projects in Queensland and Inpex Corp.’s Ichthys joint venture with Total SA in Australia’s Northern Territory

In a sign that executives are seeing opportunities to sell more LNG to Japan in the wake of the problems at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power facilities, Origin Energy Ltd. Chief Executive Grant King said on Tuesday that LNG is Japan’s “balancing fuel.”

It is “easy to understand that people might think that this (incident) would change the long-term fuel mix in Japan,” Mr. King said.

Origin is planning a 35 billion Australian dollar (US$34.7 billion) gas export terminal in Queensland in partnership with ConocoPhillips. The venture signed up China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., better known as Sinopec Corp., as its first customer last month.

Nomura analyst Xavier M. Grunauer said potential changes to Japanese energy policy could spark a move away from nuclear power and create new long-term demand for LNG.

“We note that new demand from Japan would be largely unexpected and could supply a new push to Australia’s LNG projects yet to be sanctioned,” Mr. Grunauer said.