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Released December 20, 2013 | PERTH, AUSTRALIA
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Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Perth, Australia)--The Gorgon LNG project, which is operated by Chevron Australia Pty Limited (NYSE:CVX) (Perth), is almost 75% complete. Chevron recently raised the cost estimate of the project by $2 billion and says that it now expects to complete construction by the start of 2015, with its first liquefied natural gas (LNG) to reach the market by mid-2015.
Most facets of the $54 billion project have become delayed, with some parts a year behind schedule. Bad weather and a labour shortage have hampered the project. Logistical setbacks, due to the challenges of developing the project on a nature reserve on Barrow Island, also have contributed to the delay.
The Gorgon project includes a 15.6 million-metric-tonne-per-annum LNG production plant; upstream facilities; carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration (carbon-capture storage); onshore and offshore pipelines; a 300-terajoule-per-day (or 285 million standard-cubic-feet-per-day) natural gas processing plant; a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit; a power station; and additional infrastructure.
The CO2 sequestration project reached a milestone with the start of drilling in the Dupuy Formation underneath Barrow Island. Carbon dioxide will be injected into a deep reservoir at a rate of between 3.4 million to 4 million tonnes per year, with about 100 million tonnes of CO2 sequestered over the lifetime of the project.
Construction of the domestic gas processing plant, known as the Gorgon DomGas project, has progressed with little urgency, as the first gas delivery has been delayed to 2016. Mechanical completion on the domestic gas pipeline began this quarter, with full completion on schedule for the end of this year.
The project's two LNG storage tanks are clearly visible from above. Concrete pours for the outer shells of both tanks are progressing, and the project team is getting ready for the roof pour on Tank 1. The four condensate storage tanks are coming together with internal roofs partially raised. Construction on the outer roofs of tanks 1 and 3 has begun.
The project's power plant will require five gas turbine generators. Three of these are now in place on their foundations.
Offshore, the last of the 18 subsea trees have been delivered, and 12 of them are in place. The first two of five subsea manifolds are on the way to the site. The Sapura 3000 vessel will continue installation of offshore pipelines. The Solitaire and Lorelay vessels also have been used to lay pipe.
The scarp crossing has been completed. This was a complicated project, requiring the MEG, utility and main production pipelines to be laid on the continental shelf escarpment in depths of 200 meters, eventually reaching a depth of 730 meters.
Mechanical, electrical and instrumentation work will reach peak capacity in about eight months, when 5,000 personnel will be needed on site.
The project's equity participants expect cost overruns to make the total project hit $60 billion.
For more information, see December 9, 2011, article - Domestic Gas Supply Deal Finalized for Australia's Gorgon Gas Project; August 10, 2012, article - Chevron Announces Detailed Cost Review for Australia's Gorgon LNG Project; and December 7, 2012, article - Gorgon Cost Blowout: $52 Billion Total Project Value.
View Plant Profile - 1080943 1087217
View Project Report - 86000906 200001234 300014320 300030115 200001486 300011633 300014045 300015186 300032411
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
Most facets of the $54 billion project have become delayed, with some parts a year behind schedule. Bad weather and a labour shortage have hampered the project. Logistical setbacks, due to the challenges of developing the project on a nature reserve on Barrow Island, also have contributed to the delay.
The Gorgon project includes a 15.6 million-metric-tonne-per-annum LNG production plant; upstream facilities; carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration (carbon-capture storage); onshore and offshore pipelines; a 300-terajoule-per-day (or 285 million standard-cubic-feet-per-day) natural gas processing plant; a monoethylene glycol (MEG) unit; a power station; and additional infrastructure.
The CO2 sequestration project reached a milestone with the start of drilling in the Dupuy Formation underneath Barrow Island. Carbon dioxide will be injected into a deep reservoir at a rate of between 3.4 million to 4 million tonnes per year, with about 100 million tonnes of CO2 sequestered over the lifetime of the project.
Construction of the domestic gas processing plant, known as the Gorgon DomGas project, has progressed with little urgency, as the first gas delivery has been delayed to 2016. Mechanical completion on the domestic gas pipeline began this quarter, with full completion on schedule for the end of this year.
The project's two LNG storage tanks are clearly visible from above. Concrete pours for the outer shells of both tanks are progressing, and the project team is getting ready for the roof pour on Tank 1. The four condensate storage tanks are coming together with internal roofs partially raised. Construction on the outer roofs of tanks 1 and 3 has begun.
The project's power plant will require five gas turbine generators. Three of these are now in place on their foundations.
Offshore, the last of the 18 subsea trees have been delivered, and 12 of them are in place. The first two of five subsea manifolds are on the way to the site. The Sapura 3000 vessel will continue installation of offshore pipelines. The Solitaire and Lorelay vessels also have been used to lay pipe.
The scarp crossing has been completed. This was a complicated project, requiring the MEG, utility and main production pipelines to be laid on the continental shelf escarpment in depths of 200 meters, eventually reaching a depth of 730 meters.
Mechanical, electrical and instrumentation work will reach peak capacity in about eight months, when 5,000 personnel will be needed on site.
The project's equity participants expect cost overruns to make the total project hit $60 billion.
For more information, see December 9, 2011, article - Domestic Gas Supply Deal Finalized for Australia's Gorgon Gas Project; August 10, 2012, article - Chevron Announces Detailed Cost Review for Australia's Gorgon LNG Project; and December 7, 2012, article - Gorgon Cost Blowout: $52 Billion Total Project Value.
View Plant Profile - 1080943 1087217
View Project Report - 86000906 200001234 300014320 300030115 200001486 300011633 300014045 300015186 300032411
Industrial Info Resources (IIR), with global headquarters in Sugar Land, Texas, three offices in North America and nine international offices, is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. Industrial Info's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.
