Western Australia’s Wheatstone LNG fully back on line

Operator Chevron fully resumed output at the 8.9mn t/yr Wheatstone LNG in Western Australia (WA) over the weekend, after restarting its two production trains and domestic gas plant.

This is days ahead of an initially targeted supply restart by 27 June. Operations at an offshore platform were interrupted from 10 June, disrupting supplies to Wheatstone's LNG production and domestic gas facilities located near WA's Onslow in the Pilbara region.

The WA Gas Bulletin Board's medium-term capacity outlook operated by the Australian Energy Market Operator earlier showed Wheatstone's domestic plant off line until 26 June, meaning supplies could return the following day.

But restarts may have been attempted from as early as 14 June, said offtakers contacted by Chevron.

While the shutdown of Wheatstone initially raised concerns about potential supply disruptions, the resulting spike in spot prices were short-lived. The front half-month of the ANEA, the Argus assessment for spot LNG deliveries to northeast Asia, was last assessed at $12.44/mn Btu on 21 June, 73¢/mn Btu lower than when prices peaked on 14 June. But this still 66¢/mn Btu higher than on 10 June before the disruption and subsequent repairs.

It is unclear how many LNG cargoes have been lost as a result of the incident, with the disruption only resulting in a July term cargo being deferred by a few weeks, a Wheatstone offtaker said. No known term cargo cancellations have emerged.

By Rou Urn Lee