Australia’s Gorgon LNG plant ships first cargo

The U.S. Energy Information Administration announced on Thursday that Australia’s Gorgon liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility shipped its first cargo to Japan last week.

The Gorgon project is one of the largest and most expensive LNG projects to date. It includes a carbon dioxide injection project, a domestic natural gas plant and an LNG export facility with a capacity of 6.2 billion cubic feet per day (Bcf/d).

The LNG export facility has three liquefaction units, or trains, with others under construction. By 2019, the facility may have a combined capacity of 11.5 Bcf/d, making it the largest LNG export facility in the world.

The Gorgon project, located on Barrow Island, off the northwest coast of the mainland, is only one of four energy projects commissioned on off the northern coast of Western Australia. The Prelude, Wheatstone and Ichthys sites are currently under construction and are expected to be fully operational between 2016-18, with a combined capacity of 2.8 Bcf/d.

Australia contracts its LNG capacity on a long-term basis to international parties. Japan purchases the largest portion of LNG output, followed closely by China.