The federal Shadow Minister for Trade, Kevin Hogan, and local MP Darren Chester have paid tribute to Gippsland’s energy industry workers during a visit to Bass Strait and the Longford gas plant.
The pair met the chair of ExxonMobil Australia Group of Companies, Dylan Pugh, and toured the Bream A platform where they met local workers. “The story of energy production in Gippsland is extraordinary with infrastructure costing billions of dollars to develop, produce and process the crude oil and gas, which is used to power industry, fuel vehicles, heat homes and manufacture products in Australia and overseas,” said Mr Chester, the Member for Gippsland.
“There are now 23 offshore platforms and installations in Bass Strait, which feed a network of 600 kilometres of underwater pipelines and keep the oil and gas flowing, 24 hours a day.
“It’s a complex logistical and engineering task to provide us with the creature comforts we enjoy in our homes and keep industry moving along the east coast of Australia. We should all be thankful to the workers and their families who provide the energy we need in our lives.”
Mr Hogan said he was excited to visit Gippsland and get a close up look at the offshore oil and gas sector. “Providing reliable and affordable energy for our homes and industry is critical to sustaining our Australian way of life and providing new job opportunities,” Mr Hogan said.
“Gas in particular is an important part of the transition to more renewable forms of energy as it can be readily despatched to overcome some of the problems with intermittency from wind and solar energy production.
“Our trade competitiveness relies on an affordable energy supply and the Esso operations in Bass Strait are a vital component.”
Mr Chester said he was also interested to learn more about large-scale carbon capture and storage projects in Bass Strait. “Over the past 50 years, the highly experienced crews have developed a detailed understanding of the geological formations in Bass Strait,” Mr Chester said.
“The same formations which trapped the oil and gas for millions of years, have great potential to be used for carbon capture and storage initiatives that could help reduce emissions as industry adapts to the new regulatory and legislative environments we are working in.”
