MOSCOW (MRC) -- Forced to shut its USD54 B Gorgon LNG export plant twice in its first five months, Chevron Corp. now faces calls from union officials for a probe into the site's safety, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.
Chevron denies there have been any safety breaches at the plant but is under pressure to resolve problems that have limited exports to just two cargoes since starting operations in March. The Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union (AMWU) has told Reuters it has formally requested access to the site. A failed weld on a valve casing called a trunnion caused the gas leak that forced the plant to close on July 1, he said.
"The AMWU wants to know why it failed, and what checks were carried out to ensure it met Australian standards," McCartney said. Chevron called the leak "minor", although it did evacuate some workers. On Wednesday the company said it expected to resume production shortly.
"Chevron Australia is in discussions with the AMWU to visit the site as part of usual union engagement with its members," a spokeswoman said, adding that there had been no safety breaches at the plant.
Chevron, which is counting on Gorgon to help it become an LNG leader in Asia, reported its first shutdown in April and was forced to shut again following a gas leak on July 1.
According to information provided by one engineer at the plant, liquid propane in the refrigerant circuit flooded into a section of pipeline meant to handle gases only.
Metal debris inside the piping was propelled along at speed, damaging equipment and producing "very loud clunking noises" which prompted operators to initiate emergency shutdown procedures, according to one worker and corroborated by AMWU's McCartney.
Chevron said the problem occurred in the propane refrigerant circuit where natural gas is cooled into a liquid but declined to provide further details.
As MRC informed earlier, a USD36.8bn expansion of the Tengiz oilfield in Kazakhstan, the largest investment by private sector oil companies this decade, has been given the go-ahead by Chevron of the US, bucking the trend of delays and cancellations resulting from the slump in crude prices since mid-2014.
MRC