APACHE Corp, the United States oil and gas company operating on five continents, and Santos Ltd have committed to a US$738 million natural gas project in Western Australia, where prices for the fuel have tripled.

The partners approved the Devil Creek project, which will tap gas from the offshore Reindeer field to gain from increased energy demand in the state, Tim Wall, managing director of Apache's Australian unit, said. Devil Creek may start up in 2010, Apache said.

Western Australia's economy expanded 9.7 percent in the fourth quarter of last year, the fastest pace in the nation, driven by a China-fueled commodities boom. Devil Creek will produce about 200 million cubic feet a day of gas for Santos and Houston-based Apache, about a fifth of the existing Western Australian market, Bloomberg News said.

Gas discoveries off Western Australia have increasingly been developed for export as liquefied natural gas, leading to a shortage in the local market.

The Devil Creek plant will be built about 45 kilometers southwest of Dampier in northwestern Australia and will supply gas into the Dampier Bunbury pipeline.