Australia approved a US$42 billion project proposal submitted by the Gorgon liquified natural gas (LNG) venture, Bloomberg reported. A consortium lead by Chevron, and including Exxon Mobil and Royal Dutch Shell, proposed to develop LNG reserves on Barrow Island off Australia’s northwestern coast, largely for sale to Asian customers. The approval brings the consortium closer to fulfilling a US$41 billion contract Exxon signed with PetroChina to sell the oil company LNG from the Gorgon project. The development of the project is subject to 28 conditions designed to protect the environment on Barrow Island, a nature reserve that is home to flatback turtles, a vulnerable species, and the burrowing bettong, a species of kangaroo that lives underground which has died out on the Australian mainland.