Weeks-Long Australian LNG Outage Will Further Tighten Supply

A weeks-long outage at a major Australian liquefied natural gas export plant has dealt a further blow to a global market still reeling from the halt of operations in Qatar.

Storm damage to Chevron Corp.’s Wheatstone gas plant is hampering efforts to restart operations and the facility won’t be back online fully for “a number of weeks,” the company said Sunday. The facility accounted for 2.4% of global LNG trade in February, shipping 11 cargoes — of which 10 went to Japan and one to Thailand, according to advisory EnergyQuest.

Wheatstone was one of three LNG plants in Western Australia that had their output curbed by Tropical Cyclone Narelle late last week. Woodside Energy Group Ltd. said Sunday it’s working to resume normal operations at its North West Shelf facility, while Chevron said its Gorgon site was operating at “full rates” after an outage at one of its three production units.

LNG supply has already been squeezed by the war in the Middle East, with the critical Strait of Hormuz effectively shut and the closure of the world’s biggest plant in Qatar earlier this month. Most of that supply went to buyers in Asia, who have been looking to offset the shortfalls.

Woodside said output is continuing at its Macedon and Pluto gas facilities. It also said ship loading at Pluto LNG, which wasn’t affected by the storm, is restarting following the reopening on Saturday of Dampier port.

Top photo: Chevron Corp. said its Gorgon LNG facility was operating at full rates after an outage at one of its three production units in Barrow Island, Australia. Photographer: Lisa Maree Williams/Bloomberg.