Port Bonython

Location

On the coast of South Australia near Whyalla at the head of the Spencer Gulf, approximately 250 kilometres north-west of Adelaide.

Participants

Santos – 66.6% (operator)
Delhi – 20.2%
Origin – 13.2%

First Production

LPG production commenced in 1984 and with it the first export to Japan.

Ship Loadings

25-30 per year.

Cost to Develop

Total investment to construct Port Bonython and the liquids pipeline from Moomba was approx A$450 million.

Facility Details

The Port Bonython hydrocarbon processing plant is named after Santos’ founding Chairman, Mr John Bonython AO.

The facility accepts liquid hydrocarbons in a mixed stream of products sent from Moomba via a 659 kilometre 355 millimetre diameter pipeline. The processing facility receives a mixture of condensate, crude oil, propane and butane which is processed in distillation towers and molecular sieves to produce various products.

These products, such as naphtha, crude oil, propane and butane, are stored in large tanks before being shipped to customers.

Port Bonython incorporates a 2.4 kilometre jetty for loading of tankers as well as road tanker loading facilities. Approximately 30 ships per year are loaded, with a maximum size tanker of 110,000 tonnes capacity. The majority of LPG produced (approx 70%) is exported via the ship loading facility.

The central processing plant comprises:

• pipeline terminal (stream rate and composition measurement)
• pre-fractionation heaters
• ethane distillation tower (plant fuel generation)
• de-propaniser distillation tower
• propane molecular sieve to remove sulphur and water
• de-butaniser distillation tower
• butane molecular sieve to remove sulphur and water
• naphtha distillation tower
• propane/butane chillers
• LPG pressurised bullets
• crude and condensate bulk storage
• propane and butane bulk storage.