Page 9 - GLNG Week 34

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

Chevron to avoid Gorgon closure

with staggered shutdown of trains

Chevron has been granted permission to stagger the closure of Trains 1 and 3 at its

Gorgon LNG terminal in Australia for inspections and maintenance

PROJECTS & CHEVRON has confirmed speculation that it quality issues with the kettles by August 21. The
COMPANIES will need to shut Trains 1 and 3 at its Gorgon DMIRS said Chevron had proposed the phased
LNG project on Barrow Island, in Western Aus- inspection schedule for Gorgon alongside a
tralia, in order to carry out maintenance. This “range of other controls”.
WHAT: comes as Train 2 remains offline for repairs after The department said its Dangerous Goods
Chevron will stagger the weld quality issues were found on propane heat Directorate was satisfied that the proposal pro-
closures of Trains 1 and 3 exchangers during routine maintenance that vides an “acceptable level of risk under the Dan-
at Gorgon LNG. began in May, prompting fears that the other gerous Goods Safety Act”.
trains at the terminal may also be affected. (See Chevron anticipates the temporary shut-
WHY: GLNG Week 32) downs of Trains 1 and 3 to last 45-90 days each.
The company is carrying However, the 15.6mn tonne per year (tpy) “The outcome of the inspections on Train
out repairs at Train 2, and Gorgon project will not need to be taken offline 1 will inform our work plan and associated
there are concerns that altogether at any point, after Western Austral- schedule,” the super-major said. “The com-
the other trains will have ia’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation bined outcomes from Trains 1 and 2 would
the same issues. and Safety (DMIRS) approved Chevron’s plan inform activity and timing on Train 3,” it added.
to stagger the shutdown of the trains. Under this This suggests that Chevron does not necessarily
WHAT NEXT: plan, Chevron will shut Train 1 in early October expect that a shutdown of Train 3 would neces-
Chevron has reportedly and Train 3 in January 2021 for inspections and sarily be required.
informed some customers any necessary maintenance. It is worth noting that Chevron carried out
that it can supply them The super-major said Train 2 remained maintenance on Gorgon Train 1 last year, and
from its other LNG on track to restart in early September, which said recently that it did not identify any weld
projects while the Gorgon appears to alleviate trade union concerns that quality issues affecting the heat exchangers at
trains are undergoing the affected heat exchangers – or kettles – would the time. This does not rule out the possibility
maintenance. need to be replaced altogether. that issues were missed or could have developed
since, but is likely to make the company confi-
Acceptable risk dent that no issues will be found during the next
The plan for Trains 1 and 3 constitutes an update inspection of Train 1 either.
of the DMIRS’ previous requirement that Chev- Maintenance on Train 3 had already been
ron inspect Trains 1 and 3 for the same weld scheduled for later in 2021, but has now been

Week 34 28•August•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9