Regional LNG: North West Shelf to lose 9 LNG cargoes from shut plant: Report
Friday, September 9 2005 - 05:20 AM WIB
Woodside, operator of the A$14 billion ($11 billion) North West Shelf joint-venture, shut the LNG train on Aug. 31 to fix blades and rotor damage on a refrigerant compressor, with repairs now expected to take 38 days, up from an original estimate of 30 days.
The company said on Friday it estimated 2005 revenue could be cut by A$40 million to A$50 million because of the shutdown. Woodside booked total oil and gas revenue of A$1.23 billion in the six months to June 30.
The company said it was negotiating with customers to avoid missing shipments to mainly Japanese and South Korean customers. Last month, it did not rule out the use of force majeure clauses in contracts, which would excuse it from delivering some cargoes due to an unforeseeable event.
"Discussions are still ongoing," said North West Shelf spokeswoman Kirsten Stoney. "But so far we have continued to make deliveries as scheduled."
Any delay in fulfilling shipments would represent the first such occurrence in the 16-year history of Australia's only LNG-producing facility. Last month, Woodside said it did not have spare capacity to replace cargoes lost due to the shutdown.
LNG cargoes from the North West Shelf are typically around 60,000 tonnes.
Tokyo Gas Co. , Osaka Gas Co. Ltd. , Kyushu Electric Power Co. Inc. , Toho Gas Co. Ltd. , Shizuoka Gas Co. Ltd. and Tohoku Electric Power Co. all buy LNG from the North West Shelf under long-term contracts.
The six equal partners in the North West Shelf joint-venture are Woodside, BHP Billiton Plc./Ltd. , Chevron Corp. , BP Plc. , Japan Australia LNG (MiMi) Pty. Ltd., a joint-venture of Mitsubishi Corp. and Mitsui and Co ; and Woodside's 34 percent shareholder, Royal Dutch Shell Plc . (*)