Gorgon LNG project gets Western Australia approval

SYDNEY Aug 10 (Reuters) - Oil major Chevron Corp (CVX.N) won a key regulatory approval for its Gorgon liquefied natural gas project in Australia on Monday, leaving one last government hurdle to be cleared before it makes a final investment decision.

The Western Australia state government granted its environmental approval, subject to conditions on conserving the habitat of native flatback marine turtles, leaving the federal government to finalise its own environmental approval process.

The Gorgon project is operated by Chevron with a 50 percent stake in a joint venture with ExxonMobil (XOM.N) and Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), which both have 25 percent stakes.

Chevron said in a statement it would proceed to a final investment decision on the project once the federal government had handed down its decision.

The project was originally expected to cost A$11 billion ($9.2 billion), but the state government has estimated the scaled-up project could end up costing A$50 billion. ($1=1.192 Australian Dollar) (Reporting by James Thornhill; Editing by Mark Bendeich)