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Image: Santos
The company said it had already begun work- and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) financial ana-
over activities on existing wells under its current lyst Bruce Robertson has poured cold water on
exploration tenures and was working to secure those projections. He argued in the run-up to
various agreements required before proceeding the IPC’s approval that Santos could not make
to the next phase of development. Santos intends a profit from Narrabri without selling the gas at
to up to 850 wells with eventual output ring- much higher prices.
fenced for the local market. He said that while the government is cam-
Santos has previously said the project could paigning for Australian gas prices of around
deliver 70 PJ (1.82bn cubic metres) per year of AUD4 ($2.95) per GJ to underwrite a boom in
additional gas to the domestic market by 2023. the domestic manufacturing sector, Narrabri
With NSW importing 95% of the gas it needs production would likely cost around AUD8.50
from other states, Narrabri could help to lower [$6.26] per gigajoule. This, he said, meant “gas
the state’s gas bill. consumers are likely to see higher, not lower gas
However, Institute for Energy Economics prices if the fields are approved”.
Chevron restarts Gorgon Train 2 production
PROJECTS & CHEVRON has restarted production from Train 1 has been returned to service. The length
COMPANIES Train 2 at its Gorgon LNG terminal in Western of the shutdowns depends on what is discovered
Australia after some delays during the process of during the inspections and whether any repairs
making repairs to propane heat exchangers – or are necessary.
kettles – at the facility. “Insights gained from Train 2 repairs will
Media reported this week that the train had contribute to more efficient inspections and
resumed production. This marks the end of an potential repairs on Trains 1 and 3, with prepa-
outage that started in May when Chevron shut rations underway for shutting down Train 1 for
Train 2 down for scheduled maintenance, sub- inspections,” Chevron was reported as saying on
sequently saying in July it had discovered weld November 24.
quality issues affecting the kettles. The Austral- The AMWU is reported to have remained
ian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) concerned over safety at Gorgon, calling for
said this had resulted in cracks of up to 1 metre an immediate shutdown of the remaining two
long and 30 mm deep, which were found on 8-11 trains for inspections, as well as an independ-
kettles on Train 2. ent investigation into the repairs carried out on
Initially there were concerns that it would be Train 2. However, Chevron has insisted that the
impossible to make repairs to the kettles, and train is now operating safely.
that they would need to be replaced. Chevron Gorgon has a total capacity of 15.6mn tonnes
managed to avoid this, but an initial target of per year (tpy). The facility includes a carbon
restarting Train 2 in September was pushed back capture and storage (CCS) project, but Chev-
to October, and then November. The super-ma- ron has fought a separate battle to operate it. No
jor now has to take Trains 1 and 3 offline to carbon dioxide (CO2) was stored until August
inspect their kettles for similar issues. Train 1 will 2019, more than three years after Gorgon began
be taken offline first, with Train 3 following once exporting LNG.
P10 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 47 26•November•2020
