Regional LNG: NWS gas plant back online

Production has resumed at Australia's biggest LNG production train on the North West Shelf after being out of action for more than a month, The Australian reported Friday.

Train 4 of the NW Shelf joint venture's Burrup Peninsula plant, which has an annual capacity of 4.2 million tonnes, went offline after a compressor fault on August 11. Project operator Woodside confirmed production had resumed late on Tuesday night.

But Woodside continues to have problems resuming drilling in the Timor Sea with the Chinese-owned but Danish-operated Nan Hai VI semi-submersible drill ship. While repairs to the rig, which was damaged in a blast on July 23, have been completed, regulators are apparently demanding that the operator, Maersk, demonstrate that the rig crew is adequately trained to operate the Nan Hai VI safely.(*)