Chevron will shut the first and third trains at its 15.6mn t/yr Gorgon LNG venture offshore Western Australia in October and January respectively to inspect heat exchangers, after safety regulators issued a new remediation notice.
The new directive, from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety (DMIRS), replaces a previous order that required Chevron to inspect the heat exchangers on the two trains by 21 August. Defects were found on Gorgon's second train in July, sparking the safety checks.
Chevron has presented the DMIRS with comprehensive safety and technical information that supports an accelerated but staged inspection schedule, combined with a range of other controls to be undertaken on the two trains, the regulator said.
The information included details on the origins and nature of the defects as well as the risks associated with various approaches to addressing the uncertainties around trains one and three.
"The proposed schedule will see train one shut down for inspection in early October and train three in January 2021," the DMIRS said.
Analysts had expected both the first and third trains to be taken off line at different times to allow full inspections.
DMIRS has issued eight improvement notices relating to Chevron's propane kettles at the Gorgon LNG plant on Barrow Island, with one notice pertaining to each propane kettle on train one, it said. The notices require Chevron to inspect the train's pressure vessels, also known as propane kettles, by 4 September.
