Australian independent Woodside Energy has reiterated that the 2.5mn t/yr train 2 of its 16.9mn t/yr North West Shelf (NWS) LNG is likely to be taken off line next year as field production dwindles.
The NWS joint venture — comprising Woodside, BP, Chevron, Shell and Japanese trading houses Mitsubishi and Mitsui — is considering the "permanent and safe retirement" of the train if it does not have sufficient gas feedstock, a Woodside spokeswoman said on 13 November.
The closure of train 2 was indicated in the company's first-half 2023 report in August. It comes three years since Woodside first contemplated closing the 2.5mn t/yr train 3 at NWS.
The permanent shutdown will coincide with the expected first gas from Australian independent Beach Energy's Waitsia stage 2 project in mid-2024, which has been delayed because of the collapse of a contractor. Waitsia's nameplate capacity of 250 TJ/d (6.7mn m³/d) could lead to about 1.5mn t/yr being processed into LNG at NWS, based on a 2022 agreement between NWS LNG and the Waitsia partners for 7.5mn t of LNG to be exported.
But Waitsia is likely to be the last onshore gas project granted permission to export gas from WA, apart from any prospective fields developed in the northern Canning basin, because of current WA government policy. WA is facing a shortfall of gas during the 2030s as it transitions away from coal-fired power generation.
Woodside's Browse project is the likely successor to maintain production at NWS LNG. But developing its fields requires a carbon dioxide emissions solution for it to progress.
