(Bloomberg) -- Storm damage to Chevron Corp.’s Wheatstone gas plant in Australia is hampering efforts to restart operations and the facility won’t be back online fully for weeks, adding further strain to the global LNG market.
Tropical Cyclone Narelle disrupted production from liquefied natural gas facilities along Australia’s northern and western coasts during the past week. LNG supply is already squeezed by the war in the Middle East, with the critical Strait of Hormuz effectively shut and a giant Qatari export plant knocked offline earlier this month.
“The Wheatstone gas facility near Onslow has had equipment damage from the severe weather, which has impacted restart activities,” Chevron said in a statement. It will be a “number of weeks” before the site returns to full production, the company said.
Chevron said earlier in the week that one of three LNG production units at its Gorgon plant was halted, as well as a platform that feeds Wheatstone. On Sunday it said the Gorgon facility was operating at “full rates.”
The storm also hit infrastructure feeding Woodside Energy Group Ltd.’s North West Shelf export plant. The company said it’s working to resume normal operations, and output continues at its Macedon and Pluto gas facilities.
Woodside also said ship loading at Pluto LNG is restarting following the reopening on Saturday of Dampier port.
Gorgon, Wheatstone and North West Shelf accounted for almost half of Australia’s exports last month, or about 8.4% of the global trade, according to researcher EnergyQuest.
--With assistance from Paul-Alain Hunt.
(Updates with Woodside comments in fifth and sixth paragraphs.)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2026 Bloomberg L.P.
latest_posts
- 1
6 U.S. States for Climbing - 2
RFK Jr. guts the US childhood vaccine schedule despite its decades-long safety record - 3
How did this 20-light-year-wide 'Diamond Ring' form in space? Maybe a cosmic bubble burst - 4
Consumer experts: German petrol hikes rule won't bring down prices - 5
Shrapnel hits across central Israel, injuring several, causing property damage
A mom stopped giving her kids snacks — and sparked a debate about eating habits
Tickets for 'Stranger Things' Season 5 finale, to be shown in movie theaters on New Year's Eve, go on sale today. Here's how you can save your seat.
Trump declares Christmas Eve and Dec. 26 federal holidays: What does that mean?
Full SNAP benefits must be paid ‘promptly,’ USDA tells states as government reopens
Dutch police probe a small blast outside a pro-Israel Christian center
The next frontier in space is closer than you think – welcome to the world of very low Earth orbit satellites
This star-forming galaxy is blowing out powerful winds topping 2 million mph
74 suicide warnings and 243 mentions of hanging: What ChatGPT said to a suicidal teen
What to know about MIT professor Nuno Loureiro and the investigation into his shooting










