The Dawson Valley Pipeline (DVP) is a transmission pipeline located in south-east Queensland. It is owned by Meridian SeamGas Joint Venture. The joint venture consists of Westside CSG A Pty Ltd, Westside CSG D Pty Ltd and Mitsui E&P Australia Pty Ltd. The pipeline is operated by WestSide Corporation Limited (WestSide).
The DVP is 47 km in length and has a capacity of 16 TJ/day.
The DVP transports gas from several gas processing plants located along its route to the Queensland Gas Pipeline (otherwise known as the Wallumbilla to Gladstone Pipeline). Gas is sourced from nearby coal seam gas fields in the Bowen basin.
The DVP is currently a non-scheme pipeline, and is subject to the access regime for non-scheme pipelines under Chapter 6A of the NGL and Part 23 of the NGR. On 26 February 2018, the AER granted a 5 year category 1 and category 2 exemption under Part 23 of the NGR for the DVP Pipeline.
The DVP was initially a covered pipeline under the Gas Code when that regime commenced in 1997. However, no access arrangement was submitted to, or approved by, the ACCC (the regulator at the time). In 2000, the DVP’s coverage under the Gas Code was revoked by the Commonwealth minister, as recommended by the National Competition Council (NCC). In 2006, an application for coverage was lodged with the NCC. The Commonwealth minister (being the relevant minister) subsequently decided to reinstate coverage for the DVP. As a result, the then service provider of the DVP was required to submit an access arrangement to the ACCC. This was subsequently approved under the Gas Code. In 2014, an application was lodged with the NCC by WestSide for revocation of coverage of the DVP. On 2 September 2014, the Commonwealth minister decided to revoke coverage of the DVP, based on a recommendation from the NCC.
The DVP was constructed in 1996 by Conoco Australia as part of its development of the Dawson Valley coal seam gas fields. Prior to September 2005, Origin Energy was the owner and operator of the DVP. In July 2010, the Meridian SeamGas Joint Venture purchased the DVP from the Dawson Joint Venture (which consisted of Anglo Coal (Dawson) Limited and Mitsui Moura Investment Pty Ltd). Anglo Coal (Dawson Management) Pty Ltd operated the pipeline for the Dawson Joint Venture.