Wheatstone News

Australian regulator NOPSEMA has begun assessment of Woodside Energy’s environment plans for Julimar Development Phase 3 Drilling and Subsea Installation.The Julimar field is located in Western Australian waters about 170km north-west of Dampier.Woodside’s Phase 3 development will involve drilling up to four wells in the Julimar field and one well in the Penfolds prospect, along with the associated subsea installation. The production system will have a design life of 25 years…

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…

Houston-based dredging contractor Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation said it has appointed David Johanson to the position of SVP, Project Acquisition & Operations, and of Christopher G. Gunsten, P.E. to the position of SVP, Project Services & Fleet Engineering.Johanson and Gunsten will assume their new roles effective August 1, 2022. Their positions will fill the roles currently held by the Company’s Chief Operating Officer, David E. Simonelli, who is retiring on September 16, 2022.

Oil and gas company Chevron has chartered Edda Accommodation's Edda Fides offshore accommodation unit for operations support in Australia, starting in the second quarter of 2022.Currently on a charter with Norway's Equinor, mono-hull vessel Edda Fides will provide accommodation and associated facilities for up to 300 people for an upcoming turnaround maintenance event on the Wheatstone offshore gas processing platform, off the coast of Australia."Edda Fides worked at Wheatstone for Chevron back in 2017…

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.

European contractor Vinci Construction has been awarded  contract to build a 225,000 m3 liquefied natural gas (LNG) tank in Canada.The Joint Venture composed of Entrepose Contracting and Vinci Construction Grands Projets, said in a release that the contract, which covers the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) of the tank, is worth CAD $400 million (about US$306 million).“The strong co-operation between Entrepose Contracting and Vinci Construction Grands Projets has a unique track record of construction in harsh climates. We are proud to bring our proven LNG tank expertise to Canada,” said Gaël Cailleaux, Managing Director of Entrepose Contracting.“Together with Entrepose Contracting, we intend to establish the highest standards for safety and quality on site for this project.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is expected to have increased by 9%, from 288 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) in 2017 to 313 mtpa in 2018, said GasLog.The Monaco-based owner, operator and manager of LNG carriers said in a stock exchange announcement that China’s LNG imports increased by approximately 16 mtpa, or 41%, to 54 mtpa in 2018, driven mainly by continued coal-to-gas switching in the industrial, commercial and residential sectors.South Korea, Pakistan, Thailand and Mexico also experienced strong growth in LNG imports during 2018. The outlook remains robust, with Wood Mackenzie forecasting compound annual growth in global LNG demand of 6% between 2018 and 2025.This growth is expected to be broad-based…

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…

The shipping market recovery is underway, says Golar LNG. Shipping demand has exceeded supply growth for the first time since 2013. "The shipping market is showing strong signs of improving. As of today, the effective time charter rates being achieved in 4Q are more than twice that recorded in 3Q. An improving trend is expected to continue into 2018-2019 when shipping supply should lag demand created by increased production. At full utilization, every $10,000 increase in shipping rates equates to approximately $40 million additional annual operating cash flows across the entire fleet," says a statement from the company. Demand growth has been supported by a combination of additional liquefaction volumes and rising ton miles.

During the quarter and post quarter end, there has been continued momentum in the start-up of new LNG liquefaction capacity with the fourth train at Sabine Pass in the U.S. shipping its first commissioning cargoes in August 2017, said GasLog Partners. Sabine Pass has now shipped approximately 200 cargoes since start up in early 2016. Post quarter end, Chevron's Wheatstone LNG project in Australia started production with the first LNG shipment expected in the coming weeks. Dominion's Cove Point project in the U.S. and Novatek's Yamal LNG project in Russia are both expected to start LNG production by the end of 2017 and ramp up exports into 2018.

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.

Chevron Corporation announced it has started producing liquefied natural gas (LNG) at the Wheatstone Project in Western Australia. The first cargo is on track to be shipped in the coming weeks. “First LNG production is a significant milestone and is a credit to our partners, contractors and the many thousands of people who collaborated to deliver this legacy asset,” said Chevron Chairman and CEO John Watson. At full capacity, the Wheatstone Project’s two train LNG facility will supply 8.9 million metric tons per year of LNG for export to customers in Asia. The LNG facility is located 7.5 miles (12 kilometers) west of Onslow and processes natural gas from the Chevron-operated Wheatstone and Iago fields.

Unexpectedly strong demand from China, along with rising oil and coal prices, should keep Asian liquefied natural gas (LNG) spot levels buoyant this winter. Despite rising supplies from new plants, spot prices have risen by 55 percent from their 2017 lows to $8.40 per million British thermal units (mmBtu) as Asian buyers also refilled summer stocks. With the peak demand October-March winter gas season almost underway, further price gains are expected. Nuclear outages in Taiwan and rising demand from Thailand…

During the quarter ended June 30, 2017, there was continued momentum in the start-up of new LNG liquefaction capacity with the fourth train at Sabine Pass commencing commercial production. Later this year, Wheatstone in Australia and Cove Point on the east coast of the U.S. are expected to start production. In total, Wood Mackenzie estimates that projects with approximately 28 million tonnes per annum ("mtpa") of nameplate capacity will come online in 2017. In addition, Shell's 3.2 mtpa floating liquefaction facility "Prelude" departed Samsung en route to the Browse Basin, offshore Australia. Sabine Pass shipped 48 cargoes in the second quarter of 2017…

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…

Singapore’s shipyards are looking to recent investments in capacity, design and newly acquired technology to combat order declines after a decades-long offshore buildup. Sembcorp and peer Keppel are making the most of partnerships in FLNG and showing signs they’ll be okay through the downturn, helped by their gas-hungry Australasian backyard and renewed ties with old charterer parties and suppliers. With drilling contractors unable to pay for the offshore rigs they’ve ordered, Singapore’s heavyweight yards have had to defer deliveries and become defacto rig owners.

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.

Japanese firms NYK and Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc. say they have reached an agreement to partner in various fields, including liquefied natural gas (LNG) transport. According to NYK, the agreement will allow Kyushu Electric Power to use vessels from the shipping company’s fleet for short-term LNG transport, enabling NYK to improve its profitability through efficient vessel allocation and Kyushu Electric Power to improve its flexibility in LNG transport. Shipping company NYK…

Asian spot LNG prices stepped higher this week, shrugging off months of weakness, as Royal Dutch Shell replaced lost output from its Peru plant via spot markets and as a flurry of higher-priced deals surprised traders. Peru's liquefaction plant suspended loadings for several weeks without explanation, exerting strain on Shell, which is the sole exporter of Peruvian LNG and was forced to pick up replacement supply on spot markets. "Shell doesn't want to be exposed so they've been covering their positions…