Since 1998, the project design has achieved a forecast 70% improvement in greenhouse gas efficiency – reducing emissions per 100 tonnes of LNG produced from 89t to 35t, the company said.

It also has the potential to become Australia’s first project to inject carbon dioxide emissions underground into a formation below Barrow Island.

If proven to be commercially and technically feasible, the geosequestration project would become the biggest commercial application of its kind in the world, according to Chevron.

Following a 16 week-long public comment phase on the draft environmental statement, the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) and the Australian Department of Environment and Heritage (DEH) are currently assessing the document before issuing their recommendation to Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell next month.

Meanwhile, the quarantine management system for the Gorgon Project will be among the most rigorous in the world, according to health, safety and environment manager Russell Lagdon.

“Gorgon is a world-class project, and we’ve put together a world-class team to help protect the conservation values of Barrow Island,” he said.

This includes recruiting former director of South African National Parks, Johann van der Merwe, as quarantine manager and the establishment of a quarantine advisory committee (QAC).

Lagdon said the QAC, chaired by former Western Australia EPA chairman Bernard Bowen, has helped the Gorgon Project further develop its quarantine management system.

“Regular QAC meetings are an integral part of the project’s aim to deliver quarantine management and an unprecedented level of protection for the conservation of Barrow Island,” he said.

“This is particularly important as we approach the critical milestone this year of the decision to be taken by the minister for the environment to grant formal environmental approval for the restricted use of Barrow Island for our LNG plant.”

The approval process is based on the Gorgon Project’s draft joint Commonwealth/State environmental impact statement.

At more than 3000 pages, the draft document is one of the most comprehensive of its type ever produced for an Australian resources project, according to Lagdon.

The draft document includes contemporary research and contributions of Gorgon Project people together with more than 30 independent experts, including representatives from the Western Australian Department of Conservation and Land Management, the Department of Fisheries, the Department of Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Authority, the WA Museum, the CSIRO, Curtin University, the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University.