Regional LNG: NWS 7 cargoes short on plant shutdown

Australian oil and gas producer Woodside Petroleum Ltd. said on Thursday it did not have any spare capacity to replace an estimated seven liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes it will lose from the shutdown of one of its four North West Shelf processing trains, agency reported.

Woodside, the operator of the North West Shelf joint venture, has shut the LNG train to fix a refrigerant compressor with repairs expected to take 30 days.

The company said it was negotiating with customers to avoid missing shipments to mainly Japanese and Korean customers, but it did not rule out the use of force majeure clauses in contracts.

"Based on our preliminary estimate of 30 days we will be down seven cargoes," North West Shelf spokeswoman Kirsten Stoney said.

"We are continuing confidential negotiations with customers to minimise the impact of the situation."

Any delay in fulfilling shipments would represent the first such occurrence in the 16-year history of Australia's only LNG-producing facility, which is largely underpinned by long-term contracts with Japan. (*)