Australian LNG capacity snarled by repairs: press
A spokesperson for US major Chevron told the Reuters news service December 3 that one of the three production units at the Gorgon LNG facility in Australia is offline due to pipeline repairs.
“Following the successful repair and restart of Gorgon LNG Train 1, we have undertaken a controlled shutdown of LNG Train 3 to carry out repairs on piping associated with the dehydration unit,” the spokesperson said. The three-train liquefaction complex has a nameplate capacity of 15.6mn mt/yr.
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Separately, a spokesperson for Anglo-Dutch major Shell said its Prelude LNG unit was sidelined after smoke was seen at an electric unit. The facility is for now powered by backup diesel-fuelled generators.
“While work is underway to restore main power, production on Prelude has been suspended temporarily,” a representative told Reuters.
Prelude, located off the coast of Western Australia, has a 3.6mn mt/yr capacity. Meanwhile, the environmental group Conservation Council of Western Australia said it was challenging a state decision to approve a second train at the Pluto LNG facility.
The outages and delays come roughly one month after Chevron finished regular maintenance at its 8.9mn mt/yr Wheatstone LNG facility in Australia.
Australia is among the world leaders in terms of LNG export capacity.
The nation’s Financial Review, meanwhile, reports that the lack of natural gas supplies is impacting Australia’s LNG export potential.
The Australian government last month released the first full National Gas Infrastructure Plan (NGIP) and the Future Gas Infrastructure Investment Framework to help secure gas supplies over the next 20 years.
As part of the government’s gas-led recovery, the NGIP sets out a long-term development pathway that locks in supply for households and manufacturers, and priority actions for east coast gas supply and infrastructure out to 2040.
According to the NIGP, at least one new basin will need to be brought online before 2030 to meet projected east coast gas demand.