Oil and gas major Chevron says its Gorgon and Wheatstone projects have injected $30 billion into the local economy and created 14,000 jobs.

Chevron Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski said the liquefied natural gas (LNG) projects had created direct and indirect jobs across Australia, including 10,000 on Gorgon and 4,000 on Wheatstone.

“The Chevron-operated Gorgon project has now committed $20 billion to local companies, while the Wheatstone Project has committed close to $10 billion,” Mr Krzywosinski said.

He said more than 600 contracts had been awarded to local companies to date.

Mr Krzywosinski said that Gorgon and Wheatstone, in north Western Australia, were well placed to take advantage of increasing global demand for LNG, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region.

“Global LNG demand is expected to increase significantly by 2025, at which point there is a potential supply shortfall estimated at almost 150 million tonnes,” he said.

“This equates to 10 Gorgon Projects and about half a trillion dollars in investment.”

Chevron Australia is the lead joint venture partner in the development of the Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects.

In December 2012, the company increased its cost estimates for the Gorgon project from $43 billion to $52 billion, due to labour costs and productivity issues.

Also, Chevron has a one-sixth interest in Woodside’s North West Shelf venture and operates Australia’s largest onshore oilfield on Barrow Island and the Thevenard Island oilfields.