Chevron announced that production outages had begun at its Gorgon and Wheatstone liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in Western Australia on March 26 2026, following the passage of Tropical Cyclone Narelle. The Gorgon outage involved one of the plant’s three LNG trains, while the Wheatstone outage was caused by a shutdown of its offshore platform, halting onshore gas production.
The combined loss of about 24.5 million tonnes per year—roughly 6.5 % of global LNG output—could reduce Chevron’s gas volumes and associated revenue for the remainder of the year. Management said restoration work is underway and that full operations will resume once it is safe to do so, but no specific timeline has been provided.
Cyclone Narelle was notable for being the third storm in recorded history to make landfall in three Australian jurisdictions and the first such event in over two decades. The cyclone’s path and intensity added a rare weather‑related risk to the region’s LNG supply chain, a factor that investors are monitoring closely.
In addition to Chevron, Woodside Energy experienced production disruptions at its North West Shelf Project during the same cyclone, further tightening global LNG supply. Meanwhile, Chevron’s Macedon domestic gas plant and Pluto LNG facility remained unaffected, limiting the overall impact to the two highlighted sites.
The outages come at a time when global LNG markets are already strained by Middle East geopolitical tensions, including strikes in Qatar and disruptions in the Strait of Hormuz. The combination of these factors is expected to increase market tightness, particularly in Asia and Europe, and could influence LNG pricing dynamics for the coming months.
Chevron’s management emphasized that the company is prioritizing safety and will resume full production at Gorgon and Wheatstone once conditions allow. The company’s focus on operational resilience and its ability to manage such disruptions will be closely watched by investors and analysts as they assess the short‑term impact on cash flow and earnings.
The event underscores the vulnerability of large LNG export facilities to extreme weather events and highlights the importance of robust risk management strategies in the energy sector. Investors will be looking for updates on restoration progress and any potential financial impact in Chevron’s next earnings release.
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