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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

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

Week 35 03•September•2020 www. NEWSBASE .com P9