Page 13 - AsianOil Week 05 2021
P. 13
AsianOil OCEANIA AsianOil
Chevron reports reduced
production at Wheatstone LNG
PROJECTS & SUPER-MAJOR Chevron has said its Wheat- A 140-mile (225-km) pipeline connects the
COMPANIES stone LNG plant is operating below capacity offshore platform with the onshore liquefaction
while repairs are carried out on an inlet separa- facilities.
tor. According to officials speaking on Chevron’s For the rest of the year, the Wheatstone plant is
fourth-quarter earnings call, Wheatstone LNG is expected to be back up to full capacity until planned
operating “modestly” below capacity. maintenance begins late in the third quarter and
Chevron temporarily shut a unit that sep- continues into the fourth quarter, Chevron’s CEO,
arates natural gas and associated liquids at the Mike Wirth, said on the earnings call.
Wheatstone offshore processing platform in While the issue at Wheatstone is not a signif-
late 2020 after discovering an issue during rou- icant one, it adds to a separate outage Chevron is
tine maintenance. However, Chevron does not dealing with at Gorgon LNG, also in Australia.
expect production impacts to last beyond the Train 1 at Gorgon is currently offline for repairs
first quarter of this year. to its propane heat exchangers – or kettles –
Wheatstone’s full capacity is 8.9mn tonnes though the company said these were nearing
per year (tpy) of LNG from two liquefaction completion.
trains. The project is an ambitious one, with Repairs on Train 1 follow similar work car-
Chevron saying on its website that the platform ried out on the propane kettles on Train 2 last
is the largest offshore gas-processing facility ever year. Once Train 1 is returned to service, Train
to be installed in Australia, with a topside weight 3 at Gorgon will be taken offline for inspection
of about 37,000 tonnes. The company says it is and any necessary repairs. This maintenance on
also the largest float-over installation it has ever Train 3 is anticipated to take place in the second
delivered globally. quarter, according to Wirth.
Woodside, WA agree on
Pluto gas supply for NWS
PROJECTS & AUSTRALIAN independent Woodside Petro- Woodside last month launched construction work
COMPANIES leum has reached an agreement with Western on infrastructure required at KGP as well as the 5-km
Australia on supplying natural gas from its Pluto Pluto-KGP interconnector pipeline. The intercon-
field to the North West Shelf (NWS) liquefied nector will run along the existing Dampier-Bunbury
natural gas (LNG) project. pipeline and is slated to start up next year.
Woodside said on January 29 that the NWS Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said: “Con-
consortium had signed an arrangement with the necting the Pluto and NWS facilities accelerates
state government on the processing of feed gas at the production of offshore Pluto gas and pro-
the project’s Karratha Gas Plant (KGP). vides flexible access to emerging LNG process-
Woodside operates NWS with a 16.67% ing capacity. The Pluto-KGP Interconnector is
stake, while BHP Billiton, BP, Chevron, Japan the first step in realising our vision for a regional
Australia LNG (MIMI) and Royal Dutch Shell LNG hub on the Burrup Peninsula.”
each also hold 16.67% of the project. Woodside “As the world continues to respond to
also owns a 90% stake in Pluto LNG and operates COVID-19 and volatile market conditions, it
the Pluto LNG facilities. is critical that operators and government work
The developer noted that the NWS partners together to grow the gas industry, create local
had agreed in December 2020 on using KGP to jobs and establish Western Australia as a global
process around 3mn tonnes of liquefied natural LNG hub,” he added.
gas (LNG) and 24.7 petajoules (643.4mn cubic In announcing an expanded LNG supply
metres) of domestic gas between 2022 and 2025. deal with Germany’s Uniper Global Com-
Woodside said it had also agreed with the modities in mid-January, Woodside said it was
Perth government to market an additional 45.6 nearing a final investment decision (FID) on
PJ (1.19bn cubic metres) of domestic gas from its the AUD16bn ($12.32bn) Scarborough project,
existing NWS equity position from 2025. which will feed a second LNG train at Pluto.
Week 05 04•February•2021 www. NEWSBASE .com P13
