Chevron aims to restart Train 2 LNG production this month

US oil major Chevron expects the restart of Train 2 at its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Western Australia (WA) in the second half of this month.

The Gorgon LNG project is located on an area of Barrow Island, which is located 31 miles off the coast of WA.

In July, Chevron said that it expected to restart the second train of its Gorgon LNG plant in early September after completing repair works.

However, in September, the company delayed the restart by one month as it needs additional time to complete the repair of propane heat exchangers.

According to Reuters, the company is delaying the restart of the production for the second time.

During the company’s third-quarter earnings call, Chevron chief financial officer Pierre Breber said that weld repairs are complete, with Train 2 now in the process of getting back to operations.

Pierre Breber noted that Chevron has already started the recommissioning process from the maintenance and the extended maintenance.

He added: “The next steps are to dry out the system and then we’ll begin cool down. We expect this to take several weeks which will put first LNG production in the second half of November.”

Train 1 will be shut once Train 2 is back online. Chevron will inspect Train 1 and determine if any repairs are needed.

The same will be followed for Train 3 as well, added Breber.

The Gorgon NG project comprises three LNG trains, with a total capacity of 15.6 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) of liquefied natural gas.

It is Australia’s most prominent single resource natural gas project and features among the largest natural gas projects in the world.

Chevron Australia is the operator of the project with a 47.3% share. Shell Development Australia and ExxonMobil Australia Resources each own a 25% interest in the project. The remaining stake is owned by Japan’s Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas, and JERA.