Jay Johnson
Executive Vice President, Upstream at Chevron
Thanks, Pierre.
Second quarter oil equivalent production decreased about 7% year-on-year due to expiration of our contracts in both Indonesia and Thailand, the sale of our Eagle Ford asset and CPC curtailments impacting TCO during April. This was partially offset by shale and tight growth, primarily in the Permian. In the Permian, we're delivering on our objectives of higher returns and lower carbon. Our development costs are down about 25% since 2019, and we expect to keep them flat this year by offsetting inflation with productivity improvements. An example of simul frac, where we performed completion activities on 4 wells at a time, reducing cycle time by a quarter. We continue to design, construct and operate facilities to limit methane emissions. 2 of our Midland Basin sites recently earned the highest ratings from Project Canary's independent certification program.
Production is at record levels and growing in line with guidance with our royalty position, providing a distinct financial advantage for our shareholders. At TCO, the drilling program is complete, and the final metering station is online. We expect to complete construction by year-end with remaining project activities, primarily focused on systems completion, commissioning and start-up. Total project cost guidance is unchanged. WPMP startup is expected in the second half of next year and FGP expected timing remains first half of 2024. TCO's operations continue to generate strong cash flow, enabling a midyear dividend. With project spend decreasing, we're expecting higher dividends going forward. In Australia, we shipped 87 LNG cargoes from Gorgon and Wheatstone in the first half of this year, up over 10% from last year.
Our reliability benchmarks in the first quartile and we intend to stay there with an ongoing focus on operational excellence. Gorgon Stage 2, the first backfill project, is on track to deliver first gas in September. Our Gulf of Mexico projects are progressing well, with Ballymore receiving FID as a tieback to Blind Faith, an example of leveraging our existing infrastructure to improve returns. The Anchor hull is currently sailing from Korea and work on its top sides continues in Texas. Lastly, we recently signed agreements to export 4 million tons a year of LNG from the US Gulf Coast, with 1.5 million tons a year expected to start in 2026. These agreements leverage our growing US natural gas production and expand our value chains in Atlantic Basin markets.
Now back to you, Pierre.