Gorgon LNG production ahead of the curve

Chevron’s Gorgon project has shaken off last year’s teething issues to ship at an above-capacity run rate in July, exporting 1.4 million tonnes of LNG in the month according to the latest data from consultancy EnergyQuest.

A run rate of 1.4mt per month equates to annualised production of 16.8mtpa, while the plant has a nameplate capacity of 15.8mtpa.

Gorgon’s July production was just behind the Woodside Petroleum-operated North West Shelf Venture (1.5mt).

Gorgon’s first shipment was in March 2016, but production from the number one LNG train was stopped for more than a month just weeks later due to a mechanical issue in a refrigerant circuit.  

The third and final train commenced production in March 2017.

Total production from west coast projects, which comprise North West Shelf, Gorgon and also Woodside-operated Pluto (0.8mt), was 3.7mt, a 15 per cent increase on June.

EnergyQuest calculated that the three projects were on average producing at 8 per cent above nameplate capacity.

By contrast, Queensland-based projects shipped 1.7mt, unchanged from June, about 20 per cent below nameplate capacity.

Japan, South Korea and China were the dominant destinations for Australian gas exports, with South Korea growing particularly strongly, up 300 per cent in July compared with the same month last year.