Wheatstone LNG to come on stream in August

[thackney]

Wheatstone LNG to come on stream in August
http://www.ogj.com/articles/2017/07/wheatstone-lng-to-come-on-stream-in-august.html
07/31/2017


Chevron Australia reports that the first production train of its $34-billion Wheatstone LNG project in Western Australia is now in the final stages of commissioning. Production should begin in the next few weeks.

The project was originally slated for an end-2016 on-stream date, later amended to mid-2017 and then again to August 2017. Cost overrun, $5 billion, is modest compared with the $17-billion overrun recorded for the company’s larger Gorgon-Jansz project.

Head of the company’s upstream division, Jay Johnson, said in a quarterly briefing in the US that the Wheatstone offshore platform and pipeline to shore were up and running and initial performance of the production wells has been encouraging.

The 8.9 million-tonnes/year project’s second train is on track to be brought on stream early next year, 6-8 months after the first train, Johnson added. Construction will wind down in the December 2017 quarter prior to the start of plant commissioning.

Johnson said that the start-up of the third train at Gorgon in March had gone smoothly and all three trains at the project are “stable at or above nameplate.” Chevron is now focusing on opportunities to increase reliability....

[thackney]

The Wheatstone platform is the largest offshore gas-processing platform ever installed in Australia, with a topside weight of about 37,000 metric tons, and the largest float-over installation Chevron has ever delivered globally.



https://www.chevronaustralia.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/wheatstone-project-upstream.pdf?sfvrsn=0

Situated in 70m of water, the platform is 225m tall from the
base of the SGS to the top of the flare tower and designed to
withstand 12 storey-high cyclonic waves.

The platform topsides have a total deck area of 20,000 square
metres and include:

•    inlet facilities to receive the incoming gas and condensate production
•    separation and cooling equipment to separate the gas from the liquids (condensate and water)
•    compression facilities to bring the gas to the required export pressure
•    dehydration equipment to dry the gas and de-water the condensate for transport to shore
•    export facilities to tie-in the export trunkline transporting gas to the Ashburton North plant site.

To support the processing facilities, the platform also includes:
•    living quarters to house up to 100 people
•    waste treatment facilities
•    power generation system with a total generation capacity of 27 mega watts
•    safety control systems.

Once operational, the platform will process 2 billion cubic feet of
gas per day (Bcfd), enough for every household and commercial
user in Australia, excluding industrial use.

https://www.chevronaustralia.com/docs/default-source/default-document-library/fact-sheet-wheatstone-project-downstream.pdf?sfvrsn=10

The foundation project will consist of two liquefied natural gas
(LNG) trains with a combined capacity of 8.9 million tonnes per
annum (MTPA), plus a 200 terajoule per day domestic gas plant.
The project has approval to produce up to 25 MTPA of LNG.

[IsailedawayfromFR]

Some heavy-duty project, along with Gorgon.

Should be tough for US to compete with the Asian LNG markets due to both volume and geography.