As reported in the International Herold Tribune, Chevron Chevron Corp. has announced plans to develop a liquefied natural gas export venture based on its Wheatstone field off northwestern Australia. The facility will be built on the northwest coast of mainland Australia, the company said, ruling out a location on Barrow Island, the nearby site of Chevron’s Gorgon LNG venture with Royal Dutch Shell PLC and Exxon Mobil Corp. There is still uncertainty as to when Chevron and its partners will approve Gorgon, which would be Australia’s biggest resource development, the Tribune reported, and there have been been persistent speculation of dissent among the joint venture partners as costs on that project continue to rise. Wheatstone, in contrast, is much smaller, with Chevron planning to tap an estimated 4.5 trillion cubic feet of gas. A Chevron team of roughly 100 people will conduct further appraisal drilling on both Wheatstone and the adjacent Iago field this year, along with design studies and site evaluation.

“Cisco Systems is expanding its home networking efforts by participating in a US$7 million round of funding in Avega Systems, a maker of wireless home technology, the companies said Tuesday. Cisco joined two venture capital firms, Jafco Investment and Technology Venture Partners, in the start-up’s second round of funding, but it did not disclose its share in the investment. Avega, with employees in the United States and Australia, specializes in technology that can wirelessly connect home entertainment gear such as media center PCs, portable media players, cell phones, stereo equipment, networked storage and set-top boxes. “

“Mitch Clark and Jim Buckley, two Bay Area wine industry veterans with links to both Robert and Michael Mondavi, have purchased Scott Street Portfolio Inc., a wine importing company previously owned by Australia’s Evans & Tate Wine Group… The new owners are renaming the company Avanti Fine Wine Selections LLC. They also plan to expand its scope to include fine wines from California, Oregon, Washington and imports from France, Spain, Italy, Germany, Austria and South Africa, in addition to Australia.”

“Oil giant Chevron Corp. said Monday that one of its subsidiaries won exploration rights in an area off northwest Australia. Chevron Australia won the rights in part of the Greater Gorgon Area, a section of Carnarvon Basin, an area rich in petroleum and gas reserves. This award covers about 1,150 square miles about 60 miles offshore… Chevron Australia is based in Perth, on Australia’s west coast. Chevron Corp. is based in San Ramon.”