LNG Crisis From Bad To Worse As Storm Damage Adds Weeks To Restart Of Chevron Wheatstone Plant

The perfect storm surrounding the global LNG supply chain, which hit a brick wall two weeks ago when Iranian attacks shuttered 17% of Qatar’s LNG output following devastating strikes on the Ras Laffan plant, the largest in the world, just went from metaphorical to literal after storm damage to Chevron’s Wheatstone gas plant in Western Australia is hampering efforts to restart operations and the facility won’t be back online fully for weeks, adding even more turmoil to the global LNG market. As Reuters reports, tropical Cyclone Narelle was estimated to have disrupted Australian LNG facilities along the northern and western coasts, and disrupted supply equating to more than 30 million metric tons per ​year. Combined with the shock from conflict in the Middle East, ​more than a quarter of global LNG supply has been ⁠disrupted, MST Marquee analyst Saul Kavonic said on Friday. “The Wheatstone gas facility near Onslow has had equipment damage from the severe weather, which has impacted restart activities,” Chevron said in a statement, adding that “while damage assessments ​continue at both the onshore Wheatstone plant and offshore Wheatstone Platform, it is ​likely to be a number of weeks before production returns to full rates to allow time for repairs to be safely completed.” As we reported […]

Go to News Site