The Wheatstone project’s nameplate capacity to produce natural gas for the Western Australian market has increased by about seven percent to 230 terajoules per day (Tjpd).
Chevron Australia Pty. Ltd. announced the completion of the upgrade just as workers plan to return to strike over wages.
In 2023 the Chevron Corp. subsidiary started what it says is a multi-year plan to expand the facility, which also exports liquefied natural gas to Asia. Last year’s expansion had raised Wheatstone’s domestic gas production capacity to 215 Tjpd, from the original design capacity of 205 Tjpd.
“The combined result of these two increases means that Wheatstone now has the capacity to produce approximately 12 percent more domestic gas than it could just two years ago”, Chevron Australia said in a statement on its website.
Combined with output from the Gorgon project, the Wheatstone expansions have increased the company’s domestic gas production capacity to 530 Tjpd, which it says represents nearly half of the state’s daily production. Last year the two facilities accounted for 44 percent of Western Australia’s daily gas output, and Gorgon continues to deliver more domestic gas in the state than any other facility, Chevron Australia managing director Mark Hatfield said.
“Last year our Gorgon domestic gas facility achieved record production, supplying more domestic gas into the WA market than any other facility and, for the second year in a row, we have safely and reliably increased production rates at the Wheatstone domestic gas facility”, Hatfield said in the company press release.
“Achievements such as this reflect our ongoing commitment to safeguard the state’s energy security, ensure continued supply to our WA customers, and help to meet the rising demand for gas”.
The Wheatstone expansions “optimize existing infrastructure”, Chevron Australia said. Last year’s capacity upgrade involved technical enhancements and plant modifications.
Most gas exports from Gorgon and Wheatstone, as well as the North West Shelf facility, in which Chevron Australia holds a non-operated stake, go to Asian countries, according to the company.
It announced the completion of the new upgrade amid a strike threat over pay. Strikes hit Gorgon and Wheatstone last year around the same time Chevron Australia launched expansion works.
On Friday, the Offshore Alliance, a union comprising the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia, said its members would vote no to a “substandard maintenance agreement” to be put forward by Altrad, a contractor at Gorgon and Wheatstone. After the vote, the coalition plans to apply before the Fair Work Commission for a ballot for so-called protracted industrial action.
“Once again, the Chevron facilities will be an industrial battleground as our Altrad maintenance members take the fight up to Chevron and Altrad for industry-standard EBA [enterprise bargaining agreement] outcomes”, the Offshore Alliance said in a statement on Facebook. In Australia, an EBA, or EA, represents terms agreed on by workers and their company laying out minimum conditions of employment.
Altrad, Altrad Australia and Chevron Australia have yet to reply to requests for comment that Rigzone sent Friday.
Chevron Australia operates Wheatstone with a 64.14 stake. Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. holds 13.4 percent, Woodside Energy Group Ltd. 13 percent and Kyushu Electric Power Co. 1.46 percent.
At Gorgon Chevron has a 47.3 percent operating stake. ExxonMobil Corp. owns 25 percent, Shell PLC 25 percent, Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. 1.25 percent, MidOcean Energy LLC one percent and JERA Co. Inc. 0.417 percent.
In the Wheatstone and Gorgon developments, Chevron has about 235 million barrels of oil equivalent in undeveloped resources, according to the corporation’s annual report for 2023.
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