Chevron ships first Wheatstone LNG cargo to Japan

Chevron’s first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has departed from the Wheatstone Project located 12 kilometers west of Onslow in Western Australia. 

To remind, Chevron started production of LNG from its giant Wheatstone development on October 9, 2017.

The cargo will be delivered to one of Chevron’s foundation buyers, JERA for delivery into Japan, Chevron said on Tuesday. It will be delivered by the Asia Venture, one of six new LNG carriers recently added to Chevron’s operated fleet.

Chevron Australia Managing Director, Nigel Hearne, said: “The first shipment of LNG from the Wheatstone Project signifies our commitment to be a safe and reliable long-term supplier of cleaner-burning natural gas for our customers in the Asia-Pacific region.”

“The first Wheatstone cargo also represents the significant contribution of our partners, contractors and suppliers and efforts of thousands of people onsite, throughout Australia and around the world during the engineering, construction and operations phases.”

Hearne continued, “The Wheatstone Project is Australia’s first third-party natural gas hub enabling future development of the vast natural gas resources offshore Western Australia. Through collaboration our goal is to efficiently develop and commercialize this resource.”

At full capacity, the Wheatstone Project’s two train LNG facility is expected to contribute around six percent of the Asia Pacific region’s total future LNG production, delivering 8.9 MTPA of LNG for export to customers in Asia. The Project’s domestic gas plant also has the capacity to produce 200 terajoules per day of domestic gas for the Western Australian market.

The Chevron-operated Wheatstone LNG facility is a joint venture between Australian subsidiaries of Chevron (64.14 percent), Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Company (KUFPEC) (13.4 percent), Woodside Petroleum Limited (13 percent), and Kyushu Electric Power Company (1.46 percent), together with PE Wheatstone Pty Ltd, part owned by JERA (8 percent). Chevron holds an 80.2 percent interest in the offshore licenses containing the Wheatstone and Iago fields.