Air Liquide and Gippsland Basin Joint Venture have signed a long-term CO2 supply agreement which will see a new CO2 purification and production facility being constructed. The Gippsland Basin Joint Venture consists of 50-50 BHP Petroleum (Bass Strait) Pty Ltd and Esso Australia Resource Pty Ltd.
This new facility will be built, owned and operated by Air Liquide. It will function beside the Longford Gas Conditioning Plant in Victoria which is operated by Esso Australia and owned by the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture.
Construction of the new facility is expected to begin this year, dependent on regulatory approvals. While the new CO2 facility is being constructed, plans to modify the existing Longford Gas Conditioning Plant are also in place with roughly 60 jobs expected to be created from the construction phase.
“This agreement with the Gippsland Basin Joint Venture demonstrates our shared commitment to contribute to improving the sustainability of our operations,” said Marcos Etcheverrigaray, managing director of Pacific Industrial, Air Liquide. “It will help promote a supply of this ingredient which is vital for a great number of our Australian customers.”
The purified CO2 will help Australian industries that need a reliable supply of quality CO2. Such industries include food and beverage, water treatment, desalination, hospitality as well as manufacturing and medical industries.