Following an outage at the Chevron’s Wheatstone domestic gas plant near Onslow on the evening of 5 January, the Western Australian Government is yet to confirm if gas production has recommenced.
The source of the failure has been identified and a staged restart of the operation was planned for 8 January. The restart was delayed by at least a further two days owing to technical problems by the operator.
Western Australian Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Bill Johnston, said, “Western Australia’s energy network is complex and challenges like these will occur.”
“However, the State Government has responded by working with industry to ensure WA continues to be well supplied with gas.
“Increased production and the use of stored gas as well as reduced consumption by industry means gas supplies have continued to meet demand.”
While the number of commercial production facilities being offline or at reduced output is unprecedented, there is no risk to household gas or electricity supply.
Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) Executive General Manager WA and Strategy, Kate Ryan, said, “At this stage, there is no impact to electricity supplies in the South West Interconnected System, with sufficient supply available to meet demand.”
“AEMO will continue supporting the government and gas industry by sharing information through the Western Australia Gas Bulletin Board’s Emergency Management Facility, as required.”
The incident follows reduced supply from the Santos-operated John Brookes facility at Varanus Island and Devil Creek facility following recent interruptions.
Gas suppliers and marketers are actively seeking to meet gas demand from industry, and the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline remains in a stable state.
