Gorgon News

Chevron said on Monday full production had resumed at its strike-hit Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility in Western Australia after a fault last week cut production by about one-fifth.Wheatstone and the nearby Gorgon facility account for over 5% of global LNG supply, and the fault and the strikes did not affect scheduled deliveries, Chevron said, with shipping data on LSEG Eikon also showing exports from Wheatstone were unaffected.Chevron said on Monday full production…

Threatened strikes by workers at Australian liquefied natural gas (LNG) providers would need to last more than a month to significantly push up global prices, analysts said this week.The Woodside Energy and Chevron operations supply about 10% of global LNG output and worries of a walkout have lifted prices of European gas benchmark TTF forward curve 5%-7% higher over the September-to-April period than just before the news of a potential strike.The three Australian plants facing possible strikes risk losing 4 to 5 billion cubic meters of production per month if they go offline…

On the night of September 26, near the end of the calm season on the Baltic, a broiling kilometer-wide circle disturbed the face of the sea and a huge mass of methane erupted into the air. The gas formed a cloud that crossed Europe, in what’s considered the greatest single release of this potent greenhouse gas ever recorded.It was caused by four breaches of Russia’s Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines, located in or near the territorial seas of Denmark and Sweden. Seismologists detected explosions at a depth of 70-90 meters on the seabed.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc shut production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) site and Chevron Corp shut one of three processing units at its Gorgon LNG plant, both off northwestern Australia, the companies said on Friday.The Gorgon and Prelude outages are expected to boost spot LNG prices, which are up about 20% from a month ago.Shell said Prelude was hit by a power outage on Thursday after smoke was detected in an electrical utility area, and the facility is operating on back-up diesel generators.

India, grappling with its worst power crisis in five years, has asked Qatar to expedite delivery of 58 delayed liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes, two sources familiar with the matter said.Asia's third largest economy is suffering its worst power shortage since March 2016 due to a crippling coal shortage amid high global energy prices.Infrastructure maintenance at supplier Qatargas prevented it from delivering 50 LNG cargoes to India this year, the sources said, prompting India's…

The Western Australian Minister for Ports, the Hon. Alannah MacTiernan MLC opened the expanded facilities of HR Wallingford’s new Australia Ship Simulation Center.HR Wallingford has added two new purpose-built simulators to its center in Fremantle, bringing the total number of simulators that it owns and operates there to six. This makes it one of the largest ship simulation centers in Australia and allows a full maneuvering team (including pilots, tug masters and vessel traffic service (VTS) operators) to conduct integrated and immersive full port scenarios.In her speech…

Australia is on track to surpass Qatar as the world’s largest LNG exporter, according to Australia’s Department of Industry, Innovation, and Science (DIIS).Australia already surpasses Qatar in LNG export capacity and exported more LNG than Qatar in November 2018 and April 2019, said a release from U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).Within the next year, as Australia’s newly commissioned projects ramp up and operate at full capacity, EIA expects Australia to consistently export more LNG than Qatar, it said.Australia’s LNG export capacity increased from 2.6 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d) in 2011 to more than 11.4 Bcf/d in 2019.

South Korea's shipbuilding major Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) has made an unexpected turnaround by posting 28.1 billion won (US$24.1 million) in operating profit on a consolidated basis in the first quarter of 2019.Net profit reached 17.3 billion won ($14.8 million) in the January-March period on a consolidated basis, compared with a loss of 132 billion won a year earlier, the company said in a stock exchange annoucement.HHI attributed the operating profit due to decrease in provisions for new orders, improvement in profitability of Special & Naval Shipbuilding. Turned an operating profit due to reversal of previously accrued warranty charges from Gorgon LNG project…

American multinational energy corporation Chevron signed a new sales and purchase agreement with South Korean oil refiner GS Caltex Corporation for the delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to South Korea.As a joint venture between Chevron and GS Energy, GS Caltex has signed a long-term agreement and will begin receiving LNG in October 2019, said a press release from the U.S. oil and gas major.Chevron’s President of Global Gas, Hugh Connett stated the agreement is another indication of the significance of the long-standing relationship between Chevron and GS Caltex.“We’re proud of our partnership with GS Caltex and we welcome this opportunity to build on that relationship by supplying LNG to South Korea’s growing market…

Confidence in the outlook for Asia Pacific’s oil and gas industry has more than doubled in the past two years, according to new research published by DNV GL, the technical advisor to the oil and gas industry.According to a new research from DNV GL, three quarters (76%) of senior oil and gas professionals in Asia Pacific are optimistic about the industry’s growth in 2019, compared with 58% in 2018 and 30% in 2017. The proportion of industry leaders who are confident in their own organizations’ prospects has also risen from 59% last year to 74% in 2019. These rises in confidence come alongside intentions to spend more in the year ahead. A third (34%)  of industry leaders in the region expect to increase capital expenditure in 2019, up from just 20% in 2018.

Maersk Supply Service announced Wednesday it has lined up work for two anchor handling tug supply (AHTS) vessels in support of a drilling program offshore Australia.Under a contract awarded by Chevron Australia, the vessels Maersk Mariner and Maersk Master will provide towing, anchor handling, supply, and remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) services for the Chevron-operated Gorgon Stage Two drilling program in the Northwest Shelf of Western Australia, starting in the second…

Royal Dutch Shell's  Shell Australia said Wednesday it entered into a sales agreement with Timor-Leste to sell the government a 26.56% interest in the Greater Sunrise fields for $300 million.The Greater Sunrise fields, comprised of the Sunrise and Troubadour gas and condensate fields, are located about 150 kilometers (93 miles) southeast of Timor-Leste and 450 kilometers (279 miles) northwest of Darwin in the Northern Territory, Shell said in a statement.Timor-Leste's Special Representative Xanana Gusmão stated that "Timor-Leste appreciates Shell's willingness to sell its interests in the Greater Sunrise project".Gusmão recalled that…

The state of Western Australia has ordered an inquiry into a delay in burying carbon dioxide emissions at Chevron Corp's Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, which could lead to a change in conditions on the project.The state approved the $54-billion Gorgon project in 2009 on the condition that at least 80 percent of carbon dioxide released in its gas processing operations over a five-year rolling average period would be buried."It has become apparent there needs to be a clearly defined start point for the commencement of the five-year rolling average…

Chevron will idle the second production unit at its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in May to carry out modifications already implemented at the other two units, a senior executive said.Pat Yarrington, Chevron's vice president and chief financial officer, said in an earnings call on Friday that Gorgon Train 2 in Australia has a planned "pit stop" in May for crews to replicate performance improvement modifications.Traders said the maintenance is expected to last 30 days.The work will focus on remedying vibration problems already fixed on Trains 1 and 3, they said.A company spokesman declined to comment on the maintenance duration or the issues being addressed.Meanwhile…

Chevron Corp will proceed with the second stage of its giant Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) export plant off the northwest coast of Western Australia, the company said on Saturday.Chevron and its joint venture partners plan to sink 11 new wells in the Gorgon and Jansz-Io fields and build offshore pipelines and subsea structures to pipe the gas to the nearby 15.6 million tonne a year LNG plant on Barrow Island.The $54 billion Gorgon project came on stream in March 2016 but suffered numerous unplanned shutdowns in its early stages.Chevron declined to put a cost on stage two of the project…

The liquefied natural gas market is growing every year, but the terminals that ship and receive the fuel are shrinking. The booming sector's next-generation infrastructure is being designed for a emerging-market buyers that want smaller volumes on shorter, more flexible contracts. LNG export terminals, where the gas is liquefied and put on vessels for shipping, have traditionally been massive, custom-built facilities that cost tens of billions of dollars. And so to justify the investment, they have typically required equally massive, long-term supply deals, often lasting a decade or more. Numerous terminal projects on the horizon, by contrast…

Australia's Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) project, after starting production earlier this month, has shipped its first export cargo to a buyer in Japan, majority owner and operator Chevron Corp said on Tuesday. Wheatstone is the sixth out of eight projects in a $200 billion Australian LNG construction boom that is now in its final stretch. The two remaining project due to for start-up are Royal Dutch Shell's Prelude floating LNG project and Ichthys, led by Japan's Inpex.

Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) has announced that on September 18, the MOL-operated LNG carrier Papua safely rescued four yachtsmen off Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Details of the rescue are as follows: In the afternoon of September 17, the Papua received a distress relay message from the Australian Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centres, while underway toward the Port of Qingdao in China from Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The vessel immediately rushed to the scene and rescued four survivors at around 22:30 on the same day. Early in the morning of the 18th, the survivors were handed over to a rescue boat arranged by the Australian authorities off Port Moresby.

Australia's plans for a huge increase in its production of liquefied natural gas are being dealt a big blow by a series of production delays, as energy companies struggle with technical problems and cost overruns. The country is still likely to become the world's biggest LNG exporter, dispatching about 85 million tonnes a year by the end of the decade, up from 30.7 million tonnes in 2015 and 45.1 million tonnes last year. But the pace of growth is much slower than expected because…

Asian spot LNG prices fell this week on poor demand from major gas-consuming regions despite a slew of new purchase tenders. The May spot LNG contract fell by $0.25 cents to $5.40 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), with new production coming on stream in Australia and the United States. Analysts and traders mainly blamed low demand for driving prices lower. In the Middle East, Abu Dhabi was staying on the sidelines of the market and new solar power capacity in Dubai was eroding gas demand there.

Asian spot LNG prices edged lower this week amid thin trade for May cargoes and as focus shifts towards June supplies. Spot prices for May delivery of LNG in Asia fell by 35 cents to $5.40 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), as interest for May cargoes weaken because most end-users have already secured their necessary feedstock for the month. Prices for June delivery of LNG in Asia was pegged slightly higher at $5.50/mmBtu amid expectations that demand could return as North Asian buyers begin purchasing cargoes to meet summer demand. "Demand may start to come back for summer (LNG purchases)," a Singapore-based trader said, adding that deal activity was tepid this week as most traders were only returning from a major gas conference in Japan.

Asian spot LNG prices jumped this week, buoyed by hopes Korea Gas Corp's new tender would match past buying sprees and by emerging demand from China and Japan. Spot prices for June delivery rose to $5.70 per million British thermal units (mmBtu), a 20 cent jump over last week, but traders cited sharply divergent views on pricing, saying the disagreements contributed to market inertia. Still, Korea Gas Corp's Thursday tender for June and July supply - set to close on April 26 - immediately stirred up bullish offers, rescuing an otherwise muted trading week.

A contract to upgrade the ‘nerve center’ for shipping at the Barrow Island port proves the resources sector is continuing to fuel big opportunities for Australian firms. Australian Maritime Systems Group (AMSG) has been awarded a contract by Chevron Australia to design and install a new Vessel Tracking Service (VTS) system to manage shipping to and from the Chevron-operated Gorgon Project on Barrow Island, 60km off the north-west coast of Western Australia. AMSG Managing Director John Sugarman said the new Vessel Tracking System will utilize state-of-the-art radar and software systems.