Chevron continues with Gorgon LNG exports

Chevron’s giant Gorgon LNG facility on Barrow Island in Western Australia is continuing with exports of the chilled fuel following two shutdowns in March and July this year.

The US$54 billion LNG project shipped its first cargo of LNG on March 21 but was then forced to shut down due to a mechanical issue in the propane refrigerant circuit on Train 1.

The project shipped its delayed second cargo on July 3, shortly after a “minor” gas leak closed the terminal for the second time this year.

Chevron said on July 23 it resumed production at Gorgon following the restart of Train 1.

As previously reported by LNG World News, the third Gorgon cargo has been shipped onboard the 171,800-cbm LNG newbuild Beidou Star, owned by Japanese shipping giant MOL.

According to AIS data provided by the vessel tracking website, MarineTraffic, the LNG tanker is heading to China’s Dalian LNG terminal and is expected to arrive there around August 11.

Chevron-owned carrier, the 160,000-cbm Asia Endeavour is expected to load the fourth Gorgon cargo, a shipping schedule posted on the Chevron Australia website shows.

The Asia Endeavour is scheduled to dock at the Gorgon jetty on Friday, August 5.

A Chevron spokesman did not respond to an email requesting comment by the time this article was published.

Gorgon Train 1 is currently producing at 70 percent of its capacity, or approximately 90,000 barrels per day, Jay Johnson, Executive VP, Upstream at Chevron told analysts last week after the U.S.-based energy giant posted a loss of $1.5 billion for the second quarter this year.

Once in full production, Gorgon’s first liquefaction train will have a capacity of 5.2 million mt/year.

According to Johnson, construction is also progressing on Gorgon’s second and third liquefaction train.

“We’re incorporating all the experience gained from Train 1’s construction, completion and initial operations into Train 2 and Train 3.”

Chevron expects first chilled gas from Train 2 early in the fourth quarter and from Train 3 in the second quarter of 2017, Johnson said.

The Gorgon LNG project is operated by Chevron that owns a 47.3 percent stake, while other shareholders are ExxonMobil (25 percent), Shell (25 percent), Osaka Gas (1.25 percent), Tokyo Gas (1 percent) and Chubu Electric Power (0.417 percent).

LNG World News Staff