Chevron says Wheatstone LNG plant operating at 50 percent capacity

Chevron Australia said on March 29 that the restart of the two-train Wheatstone LNG plant is likely to take a “number of weeks” before production returns to full rates due to damaged equipment following a powerful tropical cyclone in Western Australia.

“Chevron Australia continues work to safely restore production at the Wheatstone gas facility, with domestic gas supply fully resumed and liquified natural gas (LNG) production returning progressively,” the Chevron Australia spokesperson said in an update.

Following safe and successful startup activities over the Easter weekend, domestic gas supply to Western Australian customers has resumed and is operating at full capacity, according to the spokesperson.

The spokesperson said that LNG production at Wheatstone has increased steadily as repair works are completed, including the replacement of several hundred air‑cooled heat exchangers, known as fin fans.

“The fin fans experienced the most damage from the passing of Tropical Cyclone Narelle last month,” the spokesperson said.

“LNG production is now at 50 percent capacity after one of Wheatstone’s two LNG production trains began operating at full rates overnight,” the spokesperson said.

“Repairs continue on the second production train. We will continue to update stakeholders as repair and restart activities progress,” the spokesperson added.

Last year, the Chevron-operated Wheatstone LNG plant shipped its 1000th cargo of LNG since 2017.

The foundation project consists of two LNG trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) and the domestic gas plant.