Woodside Hopes to Transform Australia's Maritime Industry

Woodside's charter of just one dual-powered vessel could prove to be a catalyst for change by awakening both the oil and gas and the marine industries to LNG's potential as a clean shipping transport fuel, according to company’s logistics marine manager Rob Duncanson.

"The vision is to transition the Australian maritime industry," said Duncanson in the latest issue of Woodside’s Trunkline Magazine.  In April, Woodside announced it had agreed a five-year charter for an LNG-powered marine support vessel from Siem Offshore, a Norway-based operator of vessels for the oil and gas industry.

The yet-to-be-named platform support vessel (PSV), capable of being powered by LNG or distillate, is currently under construction in Poland.

Woodside will take control in Q1 2017 and from its Dampier base, it will transport fuel and cargo to its offshore assets in WA.

"Compared to traditional marine fuels such as bunker oil, LNG offers big emission cuts," said Duncanson.

He stated that MARPOL (the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships) has issued new regulations covering shipping fleet emissions. Plus, there is pressure building to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through international conventions such as those held in Paris last December.

"Australia doesn't use a lot of LNG in its transportation industry. Yet we export a lot of LNG and import around $2 billion worth of oil and distillates every month."

According to chief operations officer Mike Utsler survival in a hugely complex and challenging business climate is about adapting to prevail, especially given the recent sharp adjustments in crude oil prices.

"Woodside is an LNG company," Mike said, "and it makes sense that we also enable the use of LNG in how we operate, through the first LNG-powered support vessel to the Southern hemisphere.”