Woodside resumes Pluto LNG production

“Pluto LNG production has resumed,” a Woodside spokesperson told LNG Prime on Monday.

The spokesperson did not provide further information.

On November 25, Woodside shut down the Pluto LNG facility due to a fault in the Pluto control system.

“To maintain safety at the site, manual depressurization of the train and offshore facilities was completed,” the company said.

Woodside said that all personnel were safe and accounted for while operations at the Karratha gas plant continued as normal.

The company started preparation to safely restart the facility on November 27.

Woodside’s Pluto LNG terminal currently has one train with a capacity of 4.9 mtpa.

The liquefaction train gets gas from the offshore Pluto and Xena gas fields via a 180 km trunkline.

Pluto LNG is underpinned by long-term sales agreements with Japan’s Kansai Electric and EIG’s MidOcean Energy, which each hold a 5 percent interest in the project.

In November 2021, Woodside took a final investment decision on the Scarborough and Pluto LNG Train 2 developments.

The project also includes new domestic gas facilities and modifications to the first train.

Bechtel started building the second Pluto train in 2022.

Woodside’s Scarborough and the second Pluto LNG train projects were 73 percent complete at the end of the third quarter.

According to Woodside, the Scarborough project remains on track for first LNG cargo in 2026.