Chevron is ordered to temporarily shut down its massive $76billion natural gas plant on an island off Western Australia after cracks are found
- Chevron was ordered to put massive liquefied natural gas plant into shutdown
- Workers last month identified large cracks in pressurised propane kettles
- Authorities confident Chevron has taken measures to mitigate any gas leaks
Chevron has been ordered by the West Australian regulator to place its massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas plant into a temporary phased shutdown.
The demand comes after workers at the $76billion project last month identified large cracks in pressurised propane kettles on one of three LNG trains.
Train two has been in a period of scheduled maintenance but the discovery of its cracks raised concerns about possible issues with the rest of the plant.
Chevron has been ordered by the West Australian regulator to place its massive Gorgon liquefied natural gas plant into a temporary phased shutdown
WA's Department of Mines, Industry Regulation and Safety had ordered Chevron to check the propane heat exchangers on the other two trains for similar cracks by Friday.
But on Friday the regulator said it had agreed to Chevron's plans for a staged inspection schedule after being presented with safety and technical information.
Train one will shut down for inspection in early-October and train three in January 2021.
It is not immediately clear how long the trains would need to shut down for.
DMIRS dangerous goods director Steve Emery said the supporting evidence provided by Chevron was comprehensive.
'This 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,' he said.
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DMIRS was satisfied the proposal provided an acceptable level of risk under the Dangerous Goods Safety Act, he added.
Authorities are also confident Chevron has taken sufficient measures to mitigate potential gas leaks.
Workers had identified cracks of up to one metre long and 33mm deep on train two's kettles, according to the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union.
The plant on Barrow Island, 60km off the Pilbara coast, supplies gas locally and across Asia.
Chevron has been issued improvement notices for each of the eight propane kettles on train two and it has until September 4 to make them compliant.
A further 24 improvement notices were issued earlier this month relating to other issues at the plant.
'We are committed to operating safely and reliably and continue to work closely with DMIRS in planning and implementing inspections in the safest and most effective way,' Chevron said in a statement on Friday evening.
'The appropriate safety measures are in place and we continue to deliver LNG to customers and natural gas to the Western Australian domestic market under our contractual commitments.'
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