According to Reuters, Chevron Corp. has said that production remains suspended at its Gorgon LNG export plant in Australia. Production at the AUS$54 billion LNG facility initially stopped on 1 July 2016 due to a leak.
Although the facility was still able to export its second ever cargo on 3 July via the Marib Spirit tanker, there have not been any other exports since. The next cargo was originally planned for export on 9 – 11 July via the Asia Excellence vessel. Nevertheless, Reuters claims that this vessel is currently waiting approximately 100 km off of the Gorgon site, alongside another Gorgon project ship, the Asia Endeavour.
Two additional trains will be added to the facility in 2017, bringing the overall production capacity to 15.6 million tpy of LNG. A spokesman for the company, Bradley Haynes, reportedly confirmed that construction activities are still underway on these two trains.
Chevron, the project operator, holds a 47.3% stake in the Gorgon LNG joint venture, whilst Shell and ExxonMobil both hold 25%. Osaka Gas, Tokyo Gas and Chubu Electric Power hold the remaining 1.25%, 1% and 0.5%, respectively.
Edited from various sources by David Rowlands