Cyclone Shuts Woodside’s 14.3 mtpa North West Shelf LNG Facility
Cyclone halted output at Woodside’s North West Shelf LNG facility (14.3 mtpa), compounding outages at Chevron’s Gorgon (15.6 mtpa) and Wheatstone (8.9 mtpa). Asian LNG spot prices jumped 143% since February, prompting proposals for an Australian windfall tax on energy producers.
1. Cyclone Disrupts Woodside Operations
A tropical cyclone on March 27 forced a full shutdown at Woodside’s North West Shelf LNG project, which processes 14.3 million tonnes annually, as safety protocols were enacted to protect personnel and infrastructure.
2. Capacity Impact
This outage adds to concurrent disruptions at Chevron’s Gorgon (15.6 mtpa), Wheatstone (8.9 mtpa) and Santos’ Barossa-fed Darwin terminal (3.7 mtpa), removing a significant chunk of Australia’s LNG export capacity.
3. Price and Policy Implications
Asian spot LNG prices have surged 143% since late February, and the Australian government is drafting windfall profit levy proposals aimed at energy producers to shield domestic customers from rising costs.