Damage to a mixed refrigerant compressor forced the Train 4 shutdown on August 28 and repairs are now expected to take more than five weeks.
It is believed that nine cargoes will be affected by the latest shutdown.
But the revenue and profit lost will be made up in future, so the joint venture’s top priority is preserving the North West Shelf's history as a reliable supplier. Since 1989, more than 1900 LNG cargoes have been delivered on time.
With a fifth train now planed to come onstream in 2008, the NWS project is trying to attract new customers across the world with marketing emphasis on its reliability as a supplier.
NWS operator Woodside said it was having "ongoing discussions with customers to minimise the impact on LNG deliveries".
The equal one-sixth partners in the LNG export phase of the NWS project are Woodside (operator), BHP, BP, Chevron, Shell and Mitsubishi/Mitsui.
The other three trains have not been affected by the shutdown of Train 4, which started production last August to help meet the partners’ $25 billion contract to supply gas to China National Offshore Oil Corp (CNOOC).
