Australian Gorgon LNG Runs Above Nameplate Capacity, Wheatstone LNG Start Imminent

The Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia finished the June quarter operating above nameplate capacity, while the company’s Wheatstone LNG project, also in WA, is on the verge of starting, Chevron said July 28.

“Our Gorgon LNG Project in Australia closed the quarter running above nameplate capacity and we have had record production from our shale and tight resource in the Permian Basin. First production from the Wheatstone LNG Project is expected next month,” Chevron chairman and CEO, John Watson, said.

The above-nameplate capacity rates follow the project’s third 5.2 million metric tons/yr LNG train commencing production in March this year. The project’s first ever LNG cargo set sail in March last year and the second train commenced production in October, 2016.

Gorgon’s average LNG production during the June quarter was roughly 333 million barrels of oil equivalent/day – with all trains achieving or exceeding nameplate capacity, the company said. That compares to a year earlier when the project was operating with one train at a rate of 90 90Mboe/d, which was 70% of capacity.

The Gorgon Project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (47.3%), ExxonMobil (25%), Shell (25%), Osaka Gas (1.25%), Tokyo Gas (1%) and JERA (0.417%).

The soon-to-start Wheatstone LNG project is a JV between the Chevron subsidiaries (64.14%), Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (13.4%), Woodside (13%), and Kyushu Electric Power Company (1.46%), together with PE Wheatstone, part owned by JERA (8%).

Wheatstone is planned to be a two LNG train facility with a combined capacity of 8.9 million metric tons/yr.

The second train is expected to start-up six-to-eight months after train 1, Chevron said. 

Nathan Richardson