Chevron orders key Jansz-Io element worth over $500 million from South Korean shipyard

Energy giant Chevron has ordered a Field Control Station (FCS) from South Korea’s Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in a contract worth around 650 billion won or about $545 million.

The Korean shipyard revealed the order on Wednesday, saying that the FCS will be used for Chevron’s Jansz-Io. The gas field is located around 200 kilometres offshore the northwest coast of Western Australia at approximately 1,350 meters below the surface. The field has been supplying gas to the Chevron-operated Gorgon LNG plant located on Barrow Island since 2015.

DSME said that the FCS, which will be capable of supplying electric power to and controlling the gas field, will be built at the Okpo Shipyard in Geoje. It is expected to be completed by the third quarter of 2025.

Offshore Energy has reached out to Chevron, seeking confirmation and further details about the deal. A spokesperson for Chevron confirmed the contract had been signed but no other details were shared.

Chevron sanctioned the Jansz-Io Compression (J-IC) project in early July 2021. This was Chevron’s most significant capital investment in Australia since the sanctioning of the Gorgon Stage 2 project in 2018. The installation of compression and supporting infrastructure will also enable the future tie-in of other fields within the Greater Gorgon Area.

A modification of the existing Gorgon development, J-IC will involve the construction and installation of a 27,000-tonne normally unattended floating FCS, approximately 6,500 tonnes of subsea compression infrastructure, and a 135km submarine power cable linked to Barrow Island. The floating facility will be tied to the seabed by 12 mooring lines. Construction and installation activities are estimated to take approximately five years.

Chevron has already lined up several contractors to work on the project. These include Aker Solutions, which will provide subsea compression technology as well as dynamic subsea umbilicals for the project. The umbilicals will provide power from the platform to the subsea compressor and pump modules.

Furthermore, ABB will supply the overall electrical power system and MAN Energy Solutions will provide five subsea compression units. Three compressor units will be installed into the subsea modules, while the remaining two will serve as spare units.

The Chevron-operated Gorgon Project is a joint venture between the Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (47.333 per cent), ExxonMobil (25 per cent), Shell (25 per cent), Osaka Gas (1.25 per cent), Tokyo Gas (1 per cent) and JERA (0.417 per cent).

DSME last week also received an order for two liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers from the Greek shipping company Maran Gas Maritime.