Sydney. Chevron said Monday that its proposed Wheatstone liquefied natural gas plant in Western Australia state will have a maximum annual production capacity of 25 million metric tons.

Sydney. Santos has executed a $2 billion bilateral bank loan facility to give its balance sheet flexibility for growth including its Gladstone LNG plant. The company said in a statement on Monday that the new bank loan facility would be used to refinance the oil and gas producer's existing $700 million of undrawn bilateral bank facilities that mature between 2011 and 2014, and to increase liquidity.

Melbourne. Inpex Corp. and Total E&P have released their draft environmental impact statement for the Ichthys LNG project in northwest Australia. The EIS covers all aspects of the proposed project, including the offshore processing facilities at the field in the Browse basin off Western Australia, the subsea gas pipeline from the field to Darwin in the Northern Territory, and the onshore LNG plant at Blaydin Point in Darwin Harbor.

Sydney. Arrow Energy shareholders approved a US$3.05 billion (US$1 = RM3.20) takeover by Royal Dutch Shell and PetroChina's yesterday, clearing the way for a final legal go-ahead due later this week.

Sydney. Chevron Corp. reported a new deepwater natural gas discovery in a Chevron-operated block in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia, Australia's premier hydrocarbon basin.

The Clio-3 discovery well is located in the WA-205-P permit area approximately 90 miles (150 km) northwest of Onslow. Situated in 3,186 feet (971 m) of water and drilled to a depth of 14,137 feet (4,309 m), the well penetrated approximately 260 feet (79 m) of net gas pay. Clio-3 marks the third consecutive discovery on the Clio structure.

Brisbane. Billions of dollars of Queensland coal seam gas projects are on hold for three months so Environment Minister Peter Garrett can study their impacts.

Mr Garrett has sought an additional three months to complete his assessments of the Santos and BG liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects in Gladstone and offshore at Curtis Island.

San Ramon. Sappho-1 Discovery to Support Long-Term LNG Growth Plans. Chevron Corporation (NYSE:CVX) today announced a new exploration drilling success in the Carnarvon Basin offshore Western Australia, Australia's premier hydrocarbon basin. The Sappho-1 exploration well is located in the WA-392-P permit area approximately 87 miles (140 kilometers) northwest of Onslow. The well was drilled to a depth of 15,406 feet (4,696 meters) and encountered approximately 246 feet (75 meters) of net gas pay.

Melbourne. Supply from Shell Australia's proposed Prelude gas field floating LNG development in the Browse basin off northwestern Western Australia has been included in a new and binding purchase and sale agreement with Japan's Osaka Gas. Under the deal, Shell will supply 800,000 tonnes/year of LNG sourced from its global portfolio over 25 years starting in April 2012.