Chevron announces commissioning milestone at Australia’s Gorgon LNG
Chevron Australia has commenced the cool-down of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) export system, following the recent arrival of a commissioning LNG cargo at the Chevron-operated Gorgon natural gas plant on Barrow Island, Western Australia.
The Chevron-operated LNG vessel, Asia Excellence, delivered the commissioning cargo to cool-down the LNG storage and loading facilities ahead of the first LNG export cargo, planned in early 2016.
“The commissioning cargo is essential for the final testing of critical systems and to efficiently cool down the plant prior to the start of LNG production," said Roy Krzywosinski, managing director for Chevron in Australia. "As the largest single-resource development in Australia’s history, this is a significant milestone for Gorgon and is a testament to outstanding team work by our workforce, contractors and partners.”
“Gorgon will be a long-term supplier of natural gas to our customers in the Asia-Pacific region and in Australia, delivering energy security as well as significant long-term economic benefits to Australia for decades to come,” he added.
Chevron is developing the Gorgon and Jansz-Io gas fields, located within the Greater Gorgon area, between 130 and 220 kilometers off the northwest coast of Western Australia.
It includes the construction of a 15.6-MMtpy LNG plant on Barrow Island and a domestic gas plant with the capacity to supply 300 terajoules/day of gas to Western Australia.
Gorgon LNG will be off-loaded via a 2.1-kilometer loading jetty for transport to international customers. The domestic gas will be piped to customers on the Western Australian mainland.
LNG is natural gas that has been cooled to -162 degrees Celsius (-260°F), the point where it condenses to a liquid. Liquefaction reduces the volume by approximately 600 times, making it more economical to transport between continents in specially designed ocean vessels.
The Chevron-operated Gorgon project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (47.3%), ExxonMobil (25%), Shell (25%), Osaka Gas (1.25%), Tokyo Gas (1%) and Chubu Electric Power (0.417%).
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