Chevron has placed back online the second train at its Gorgon LNG plant in Australia after months of repair work within the propane heat exchangers.
To remind, the second train has been offline since May 23 after Chevron closed it for planned maintenance but later in July found “weld quality issues” in propane heat exchangers.
The operator delayed the restart of the second liquefaction unit at its 15.6 mtpa LNG facility on Barrow Island for two times as the firm needed more time to complete the repair work.
Chevron is now preparing to shut down the first LNG train for inspections.
“Insights gained from Train 2 repairs will contribute to more efficient inspections and potential repairs on Trains 1 and 3,” a spokesman said in an emailed statement.
“The length of the shutdown will be determined by what is discovered during inspections,” he said.
Following inspections and potential work on the first train, Chevron will also shut down the third unit.
The spokesman added that Chevron continues to provide LNG to customers under its contractual commitments. This also includes natural gas supplies to the Western Australian domestic market.
The Gorgon development is one of the world’s largest natural gas projects with a price tag of about $54 billion.
The plant liquefies gas coming from two offshore fields – Gorgon and Jansz-Io.
The first LNG cargo departed Barrow Island in March 2016 followed by gas supply to the domestic market in December.
Chevron Australia operates the project with a 47.3% share while ExxonMobil and Shell have a 25% stake, each.
Japan’s Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas, and JERA own the remaining stakes in Gorgon.