Page 11 - GLNG Week 46 2021

GLNG AUSTRAL ASIA GLNG

Chevron shuts Gorgon Train 1

following minor leak

PROJECTS & CHEVRON shut Train 1 at its giant Gorgon The Train 1 outage comes as the latest setback
COMPANIES LNG plant in Western Australia following the for Gorgon, after Chevron had to take each of the
discovery of a minor gas leak during a routine three trains at the plant offline in turn to repair
inspection this week. weld quality issues discovered on propane heat
The leak was detected on piping associated exchangers, or kettles. The issues were discov-
with the dehydration unit on Train 1, and the ered in 2020, and the process was completed in
shutdown was a precautionary measure, accord- the summer of this year.
ing to a Chevron spokesperson. On November Gorgon has also come under fire for failing to
17, the spokesperson told Reuters that it was too meet carbon sequestration targets at the carbon
early to tell how long the train would be offline. capture and storage facility that serves it.
“We are preparing plans for investigation Chevron operates Gorgon with a 47.3%
and repairs,” the spokesperson was reported as stake. ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell
saying. each own 25% in the project, while Osaka Gas
According to sources familiar with the sit- holds 1.25%, Tokyo Gas owns 1% and JERA has
uation, the dehydration unit would need to be 0.417%.
depressurised, and there would be a number of The project has a capacity of 15.6mn tonnes
steps involved in assessing the issue, making it per year (tpy) of LNG, but had been operating
difficult to estimate the duration of the outage. above nameplate capacity in October, producing
Trains 2 and 3 are continuing to operate as 16.9mn tpy on an annualised basis. According
normal, and Chevron said it was continuing to to consultancy EnergyQuest, 21 cargoes were
deliver LNG to its customers and natural gas to shipped from Gorgon in October – the same
Western Australia. number as in September.™

EUROPE

European gas prices see further growth

PERFORMANCE WHOLESALE gas prices in Europe rose for the much gas-to-coal switching takes place on the
seven day in a row on November 18, as a mul- market.
titude of factors have made the market tighter. Nord Stream 2’s certification will no longer
The December gas delivery contract rose be complete until April next year at the earliest,
from €70.1/MWh on November 10 to €75.7/ and it could well drag on into the late summer
MWh on November 12 and then €79.95/MWh depending on how long the European Commis-
on November 15. It then soared to €94.2/MWh sion takes to make its recommendation to Ger-
on November 16, and was trading at €95.4/MWh many’s regulator.
as of 16:20 GMT on November 18. “Delays in utilising Nord Stream 2 may
The sharp growth in recent days came after have a lasting effect through the region’s 2021
Germany’s energy regulator announced it had winter and beyond,” analysts at Rystad Energy
halted the certification process for the Nord warned in a note on November 17. “Europe may
Stream 2 pipeline. It has said it will only resume be forced to continue being dependent on an
the process once the pipeline’s Swiss-based oper- already tight liquefied natural gas market, which
ator has established a German subsidiary. suggests an increased likelihood of a sustained
The regulator’s announcement dashed expec- high price environment throughout much of
tations of any supply relief through the pipeline next year’s first half if Europe emerges with
arriving in Europe this winter. It follows a drop severely depleted storage.”
in temperatures in the northern hemisphere, Russian flows to Europe through Ukraine
and data on November 17 showed that gas stor- and Poland have increased only marginally
age levels in Europe were 2.5% lower than in recently, despite Gazprom’s announcement that
the previous week. Another bullish factor has it would be sending gas for storage in Europe ear-
been higher carbon prices, which may limit how lier this month.™

Week 46 19•November•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P11