Perth, Australia
Lisa Scaffidi
Lord Mayor - City of Perth
In a survey by the Economist Intelligence Unit (2007), Perth was ranked as the fourth most liveable city in the world and offers world-class infrastructure and facilities, with excellent business and investment opportunities.
Set on the banks of the majestic Swan River, Perth has the look and feel of a big city, yet is renowned for its easy lifestyle. It is a bustling business centre, the capital of the State of Western Australia and the business centre for the energy and resources industry in the Asia Pacific region.
Western Australia is home to approximately 2.2 million people, as of September 2008 and continues to grow by around 2% every year. The total area of Western Australia is a staggering 2.5 million square kilometres.
Western Australia is a national and internationally significant hydrocarbon-baring province. It's daily oil, condensate, gas and LNG production lead the nation. In 2007-2008 the State's petroleum production was worth $19.4 billion out of a total mineral and energy production of $58.6 billion. Of the seven major sedimentary basins in the State, five have produced significant hydrocarbon shows. In 2007 there were 68 production fields in Western Australia.
Western Australia has an expanding oil and gas sector. With gas reserves of 140 trillion cubic feet, the northwest offshore region is recognised as a world class natural gas province, one of the ten largest in the world. LNG remains the fourth most valuable individual commodity in Western Australia and accounts for 8% of the world production market.