Australia LNG disruptions continue after storm Narelle, thousands without power
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Storm clouds gathering over Port Douglas, Queensland on March 19, ahead of the expected arrival of Cyclone Narelle.
PHOTO: EPA
SYDNEY – Australia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) production remained disrupted and thousands were without power in the remote north-west on March 29, more than a week after the Narelle storm system hit the country.
The impact of Narelle, downgraded from a tropical cyclone on March 28, on LNG plants run by Chevron and Woodside has exacerbated a global supply crunch caused by the month-old Iran war.
Australia became the world’s second-largest LNG exporter when Qatar halted production following damage from Iranian strikes.
Woodside Australia said on March 29 that Narelle was still interrupting production at the company’s Karratha gas plant, the onshore processing facility for the North West Shelf project.
“We have commenced remobilising our workforce to some of our offshore facilities and inspections will inform start-up processes and timing,” a company spokesperson said, adding that “production at the North West Shelf Project will recommence once it is safe to do so”.
Production was unaffected at its Macedon and Pluto facilities.
Chevron on March 28 said it was working to restore production at its Gorgon and Wheatstone gas facilities following production outages due to Narelle.
Gorgon is Australia’s largest LNG export facility, producing 15.6 million tonnes a year with three processing trains, while Wheatstone has two trains producing 8.9 million tonnes.
Power remained cut late on March 28 in Exmouth, a town of 2,800 people some 1,100km north of West Australia’s state capital Perth, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services said.
State-owned Horizon Power said extra crews were on their way to Exmouth “to support local crews to restore power to affected properties as soon as it is safe to do so”.
Exmouth, a gateway to the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef, suffered significant damage in the cyclone but no one was injured, the Australian Broadcasting Corp reported.
Narelle made landfall as a severe tropical cyclone in Queensland state on March 20 and crossed the Northern Territory before hitting Western Australia. The storm made landfall at the Western Australian town of Exmouth on March 27, also impacting the town of Karratha. REUTERS
