Chevron ships second Gorgon LNG cargo

Energy giant Chevron confirmed it has shipped the second cargo from its US$54 billion Gorgon LNG terminal in Western Australia.

However, production at the Gorgon LNG plant site on Barrow Island has been temporarily suspended while the U.S.-based multinational company undertakes “some minor repair and maintenance work” after a gas leak that occurred last week, a Chevron spokesman told LNG World News on Tuesday.

Chevron said last week that workers at its Gorgon plant were evacuated and there were no injuries after responding to a “minor gas leak.”

This was another hit for the giant liquefaction and export facility that halted production soon after the first cargo of the chilled fuel was shipped in March due to a mechanical issue in the propane refrigerant circuit on Train 1.

The second ever cargo from the Gorgon facility was shipped on Sunday, July 3, the spokesman said without providing any additional information.

LNG World News reported last week, citing shipping information posted on the Chevron Australia website, that the second cargo was expected to be shipped onboard Teekay’s 165,500-cbm LNG carrier Marib Spirit.

Chevron’s shipping schedule also showed that five cargoes in total were planned to be shipped from the facility in July.

Chevron said earlier this year the company still expects the ramp-up of the first train to full capacity over the next six to eight months, despite the production halt.

According to the spokesperson, construction activities are continuing on Gorgon Train 2 & 3.

The energy giant also received an environmental approval from Australia to add the fourth liquefaction train to its Gorgon LNG project. However, no decision on the fourth train has yet been made.

The three-train plant on Barrow Island will have the capacity to produce 15.6 mtpa of LNG using feed gas from the Gorgon and Jansz-Io gas fields, located between 130 km and 220 km off the northwest coast of Western Australia.

The 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