Chevron Energy CEO Mike Wirth rules out additional investment in Australia as the nation struggles to compete globally
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Chevron Energy's chairman and CEO Mike Wirth made this stunning revelation on Sky News' Business Weekend as the company celebrates 70 years of operations in Australia.
Chevron runs the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects in Western Australia which together deliver about half of the state's gas.
Pressed on whether Chevron was looking to further invest in Australia beyond its current projects, Mr Wirth dumped cold water on the prospect.
'We're not looking at anything on the East Coast,' he said.
'In fact, our plans for the foreseeable future would not include expansion of our facilities in Western Australia either.
'We've got backfill fields that will develop over time but given the global competitive dynamics that we talked about earlier, there are likely other places where you're going to see more (gas) trains added before we would add them in Western Australia or on the East Coast.'
He also weighed in on the company's struggles with the 'same-work-same-pay' legislation that means some workers at some of its sites could secure pay rises of up to $80,000 per year.
'We'll work with the unions, we'll with the government on these matters, but it is unsettling to investors when changes, significant changes, are made after massive investments are committed,' Mr Wirth said.
The Chevron boss' revelation about investment in Australia comes after multiple Australian energy CEOs have lashed out over the various federal and state governments' attitude's towards gas.
Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher publicly lambasted Victoria's attitude toward investment earlier this year.
'If I think about Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia – these are very supportive, very development-friendly jurisdictions. Victoria? North Korea. They're different altogether,' Mr Gallagher told an oil and gas conference in Brisbane.
Just weeks later, the chief executive of Beach Energy CEO Brett Woods told Sky News that getting gas projects approved in Victoria had 'been a challenge'.
'Victoria still have had quite a negative policy in terms of what the role of gas is in the state,' Mr Woods said on Sky News' Business Weekend.
'I think the recognition now, with industry shutting down and foreclosures and other things, (is) that they need more gas.
'We're ready to help, we just want to get after our projects so we can move them forward.'
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