Chevron's history in Australia goes back decades.
At the end of World War I, one of our legacy companies, The Texas Co. Australasia Ltd., was incorporated in New South Wales to handle the growing demand for petroleum products. Since 1941, the company's marketing and refining activities in Australia have been run under the Caltex brand name. Our first refinery came online in 1956.
The story of our exploration and production activities in Australia begins in 1951, when Chevron and Texaco began searching for oil in Western Australia under the Caltex banner. In 1952, Caltex and Ampol, an Australian petroleum company, formed West Australian Petroleum Pty. Ltd. (WAPET) to operate on their behalf. This venture made the nation's first discovery, at Rough Range in Western Australia in 1953.
It was through WAPET that our company discovered the Barrow Island Field in 1964, the huge Gorgon gas field in 1981, the Saladin oil field in 1985 and the fields near Thevenard Island in 1989.
Also in 1989, Chevron, along with partners in the North West Shelf Venture, began exporting liquefied natural gas to neighbors in Asia, starting with Japan.
Discoveries continued with more gas fields: Chrysaor in 1994–1995, Dionysus in 1996 and six more gas fields west of the central Gorgon area.
WAPET, with Chevron as technical adviser, continued as operator of the majority of the company's assets in Australia until 2000, when Chevron Australia Pty. Ltd. replaced WAPET. In 2001, Chevron and Texaco merged.
In 2004, the Wheatstone natural gas field was discovered, and Chevron secured a 50 percent interest across most of the Greater Gorgon Area.
Chevron made two natural gas finds in 2006. The first was at its Chandon 1 exploration well within the western reaches of the Greater Gorgon Area, and later in the year, the Clio 1 exploration well was successfully drilled.
Health, Environment and Safety
Chevron and Caltex Australia work hard to keep employees and those visiting our sites safe. We care for the environment, and we recognize our responsibilities to the communities where we work.
Chevron, through its previous participation in WAPET and as current operator, has achieved an outstanding environmental record on Barrow Island. The island, a class "A" nature reserve, is free of introduced plants and animals thanks to Chevron's successful quarantine efforts. Our environmental and quarantine management system has earned us national and international awards over the years.
Energy Efficiency Assessments
Government legislation requires all large energy users in Australia to undertake an assessment to identify opportunities to improve energy efficiency and to make these findings public. The Barrow and Thevenard island operations were assessed during 2008 and a Public Assessment Report (1.8 MB) was released.
Updated: March 2009