Now working as an adviser to several consulting groups, Court advocated Australian gas proponents speed up their development timelines without necessarily having the customary sales agreements in place to underpin the vast capital investment.

“The fact is there is a strong market with high prices and we should get on with it” Court said when releasing KPMG’s Energy Outlook for China.

He is an advisor to KPMG which consulted to Chinese National Offshore Oil Company on its acquisition of its 12.5% stake in the North West Shelf project. CNOOC is also contemplating a stake in the proposed Gorgon LNG project.

Court’s father, Sir Charles Court, took the then-bold step in the 1970s of funding the DBNGP pipeline out of the state coffers, giving the North West Shelf an initial foundation customer in the form of the state power utility and giving the residential and mineral processing industries in WA’s south west a stable gas supply.

Court jnr’s position echoed those visionary moves, but the days of building multi-billion dollar facilities on spec, in high construction regions such as Australia, is said to be well and truly over.

BP’s Tangguh LNG plant which is currently under construction in Irian Jaya was kickstarted without foundation contracts but in the low cost context of SE Asian project and development costs.

The North West Shelf as Australia’s only currently producing LNG project is in a far more solid financial position to undertake on spec expansion than a greenfield development but the partners will still not make the required expenditure without their baseload customers, highlighting the conservative attitude Richard Court was endeavouring to change.

APPEA 2005 Conference news is proudly brought to you by