Venture Participants
The six equal participants in the North West Shelf Venture are:
BHP Billiton Petroleum (North West Shelf) Pty Ltd is an international oil and gas exploration and production company with interests in 18 countries. It is one of the four main businesses owned by BHP Billiton Limited, one of Australia's largest publicly listed companies. Originally formed in 1960 to explore for oil and gas in Bass Strait Australia, BHP Billiton Petroleum has built on the success of Bass Strait - which has since produced more than three billion barrels of oil - to build a large portfolio of international petroleum interests, including Australia's North West Shelf Project.
BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd is a subsidiary of the BP plc global oil and gas company. The BP group has been active in Australia since 1920, in both exploration, refining (it operates two refineries - one in Kwinana WA, the other in Brisbane Qld) and the marketing of oil and gas products. BP Developments Australia Pty Ltd holds a 1/6th share in the North West Shelf Joint Venture, and equity in other gas reserves in Australia.
Chevron Australia Pty Ltd marked its 125th anniversary in 2004. Founded in 1879 as the Pacific Coast Oil Co., the company today employs over 50,000 people, is active in more than 180 countries and is engaged in all aspects of the oil and gas industry as well as in the development of emerging energy sources. In the United States, Chevron is a leading marketer of petroleum products and the third-largest producer of natural gas. Chevron has operated in Australia since 1940 as part of Caltex. Chevron Australia Pty Ltd is the largest gas holder in Australia and is responsible for all of Chevron's exploration and production interests and activities in Australia.
Japan Australia LNG (MIMI) Pty Ltd - known colloquially as "MIMI" - is an Australian-resident company owned equally by the long-established and well respected Japanese trading houses Mitsubishi Corporation and Mitsui & Co., Ltd. MIMI was established by these two houses in 1985 to manage their 1/6th interest in the North West Shelf LNG Project, which they acquired following an historic agreement signed in 1984. The core of MIMI's business is the supply of LNG through long-term contracts to eight major Japanese power and gas utilities. MIMI recognises the significant prospectivity of its acreage on the North West Shelf and aims to further develop opportunities for expanded sales to the benefit of both the Company and Australia.
Shell Development (Australia) Pty Ltd (SDA) is a member of the Royal Dutch/Shell Group of Companies, one of the largest oil, gas, chemical and coal concerns in the world, operating in more than 132 countries. Shell commenced operations in Australia in 1901 and is now a major participant in the country's upstream oil and gas industry as well as downstream refining and marketing, and coal. SDA has a major interest in the North West Shelf Project, both directly and through its shareholding in Woodside, and is the technical adviser to the Project.
Woodside is one of Australia's largest companies by market capitalisation, and the nation's biggest publicly-traded oil and gas exploration and production company. Based in Perth, Western Australia, Woodside has major operational assets and exploration and development interests in five continents including Australia and the United States, and is one of the world's largest producers of LNG. Woodside operates the North West Shelf facilities on behalf of the North West Shelf Venture participants.
The China National Offshore Oil Corporation is also part of the North West Shelf Venture but does not have an interest in its infrastructure.
