From this July, Chevron will supply BHP Nickel West with 22 petajoules of equity domestic gas over the 3.5-year agreement term.

Chevron Australia managing director Al Williams said the agreement highlighted the important role of using natural gas in powering critical industries like mining.

“As a reliable and cost-effective way to generate electricity, natural gas is a vital energy source for current and future energy needs of [the] Western Australian industry,” Williams said.

“Chevron is committed to delivering natural gas supplies to Western Australian homes and businesses, helping to power local jobs, industry and communities.”

At full capacity, the Wheatstone and Gorgon natural gas facilities will produce 500 terajoules of domestic gas per day for the Western Australian market.

This is enough to generate electricity for 4.3 million households.

BHP Nickel West made significant progress in the 2019 financial year as it worked to become a leading supplier to the battery materials market, selling over 70 per cent of its production to this sector.

It also progressed construction works at the Kwinana nickel refinery, with stage 1 expected to produce up to 100,000 tonnes per annum of nickel sulphate.

As the company continues to develop its mines in Western Australia’s northern Goldfields, it is expecting first ore production from the Leinster B11 undercut in the second half of the 2020 calendar year, pending approvals.