Apache Energy operates offshore oil and gas exploration and production facilities throughout the North West Shelf. Its oil and gas hub is located on Varanus Island, the largest of the 34 islands making up the Lowendal Island group, 120 km east-southeast of Dampier.
Apache is one of the biggest permit holders in the region and currently Australia’s most active offshore driller.
Each year, it provides nearly 40% of Western Australia’s domestic gas.
Managing the sensitive environments in which it operates is critical for Apache's long-term success.
Through extensive environmental management and monitoring, it has developed a thorough understanding of the North West environment, both onshore and offshore, and an outstanding and awarded record of environmental achievement.
For its proposed Van Gogh development near Exmouth, its understanding of the local environment will be further enhanced with additional monitoring and management.
Onshore – birds and turtles
Onshore, Apache undertakes a range of environmental monitoring to ensure it minimises the impact of its operations and to add to the body of information about the region’s unique flora and fauna.
Each year, it monitors the international migratory seabird, the wedge-tailed shearwater, which nests on Varanus and Airlie islands.
Monitoring allows Apache to determine how successful the breeding season has been as well as overall population numbers throughout the Lowendal Islands.
Apache also monitors other seabird breeding colonies throughout the Lowendal Islands group, and as far south as Serrurier Island (or Long Island) near the Exmouth Gulf.
In 2008, Apache’s survey recorded 36 bird species on 7 islands along the North West Shelf, although nearly 90 species have been identified over the years.
Apache also runs an annual turtle monitoring program on Varanus Island, to tag and measure the turtles coming ashore on the island's nine beaches. Hawksbill and Flatback turtles are the most common, with the occasional visit from a green turtle.
Many of the turtles intercepted in the most recent survey had already been tagged, indicating a robust population in the region.
In partnership with the Department of Environment and Conservation and the University of WA, Apache monitors the sand temperature of turtle-nesting beaches throughout the Lowendal and Montebello Islands. The temperature of the sand determines whether hatchlings will be male or female, and helps researchers to understand population dynamics.
Offshore – seaweeds, corals, whales and mangroves
Apache monitors the health of the marine environment in which it operates.
A biannual survey of seaweed beds is undertaken to monitor for potential disturbances caused by petroleum production activities. The distribution and extent of the algal beds vary from year to year.
Apache also monitors coral through the Lowendal/Montebello islands to determine whether Apache’s activities are impacting on the coral and to contribute to baseline data for the region.
Since 1985, an annual program to monitor the health of mangroves on Varanus Island and nearby Bridled Island, as a control site, has been undertaken to detect whether oil and gas production activities are impacting on mangrove health.
Apache has also monitored the impact of seismic air gun signal transmissions on whale movements in waters west of the Montebello Islands.
Regular ROV or remote operated vehicle surveys of Apache's subsea infrastructure, such as well heads, pipelines and platform jackets, are also undertaken to monitor the impact of tropical storms or cyclones. Much of the footage indicates that this subsea infrastructure is readily colonised by corals and algae, and provides resources for numerous marine species.
Caring for the environment is the responsibility of all Apache personnel and the company’s environmental policy the responsibility of all.
SERPENT Project
Apache is also involved in the Scientific and Environmental ROV Partnership (SERPENT) where scientists from the University of Sydney and other institutions use our Remote Operating Vehicles (ROV) that are on stand-by to run scientific programs to explore for life in the deep ocean. A world-first for SERPENT will be exploring the ocean from three rigs (Apache, Woodside and BHP Billiton Petroleum) so close to each other in the Exmouth sub-basin. For further information, go to www.serpentproject.com.
