On Friday, Western Australia’s industrial safety regulator ordered Chevron Corp. to inspect the propane heat exchangers on two of the three trains at its Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in response to safety concerns raised by a trade union.
The inspection for trains one and three have to proceed before August 21.
Previously in July, Australia’s Department of Mines, Industry Regulation, and Safety (DMIRS) stated that it would examine the plant following the calls by a trade union after Chevron reported a weld problem in the propane kettles on train two while the unit was undergoing maintenance.
Steve Emery, director of the department’s Dangerous Goods and Petroleum Safety expected that there may be similar defects in trains one and three if train two is having cracks.
At the moment, Chevron is working closely with the regulator in planning and implementing repair work at Gorgon and planned to restart the train 2 early in September after the repairs complete.
