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Prelude FLNG Project

Shell’s Prelude Facility: Where Safety Takes a Backseat to Explosive Ambitions

Repeated Safety Violations: Because One Breach Just Isn’t Enough

Posted By John Donovan 18 August 2023

In an awe-inspiring display of audacity, Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility has recently unveiled its unconventional approach to workplace safety – one that is sure to set new standards in the realm of fiery entertainment. The facility, nestled off the picturesque coast of Western Australia, doubles as a thrilling unintended firework extravaganza, exposing workers to risks of explosions and flames. read more

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Shell suspends production at Prelude FLNG after fire breaks out

Report: Output from Shell’s Prelude FLNG Shut Again

BY Bartolomej Tomic, managing editor of Offshore Engineer.

December 22, 2022

Shell has stopped production at its Prelude floating LNG plant off Western Australia after a fire.

A Shell spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the fire at the giant FLNG unit “was rapidly extinguished.”

The 488-meter-long, Shell-operated, Prelude FLNG unit forms part of an offshore development that produces natural gas from the remote namesake field, located approximately 475 km north-northeast of Broome in Western Australia. The Prelude is the world’s largest FLNG unit. read more

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Australia’s Prelude LNG cleared for restart

Argus Media

Australia’s Prelude LNG cleared for restart

Published date: 18 March 2022

Production at the 3.6mn t/yr Prelude floating LNG project in the Browse basin offshore Western Australia (WA) has been granted approval to restart, Australia’s offshore security regulator said.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) has closed a direction issued to project owner and operator Shell on 23 December 2021, instructing it to “demonstrate that the facility can operate safely in the event of power loss before production can commence”. Shell also confirmed that the direction has closed, but has no further comment at this stage. read more

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Australia’s Prelude LNG faces indefinite shutdown

ArgusMedia

Australia’s Prelude LNG faces indefinite shutdown

Published date: 28 December 2021

Production at the 3.6mn t/yr Prelude floating LNG project in the Browse basin offshore Western Australia (WA) will be halted until Shell demonstrates that its facility is able to operate safely in the event of power loss, Australia’s offshore security regulator said.

The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) issued a notice to project owner and operator Shell on 23 December, instructing it to investigate the “incidents and associated consequences” that took place at the Prelude facility early this month and present a plan for all necessary corrective actions. read more

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Shell resumes production at massive floating LNG plant

Shell resumes production at massive floating LNG plant

Article by Adam Duckett: 14JAN 2021

SHELL has resumed production of LNG from its huge floating processing plant – Prelude – following a series of project setbacks that halted output for almost a year.

The oil major said this week: “LNG cargoes have resumed from Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility.”

Shell repeated the statement it has made in response to a series of setbacks at the project, which at 488 m long is the largest ship ever built: “Prelude is a multi-decade project, and our focus remains on delivering sustained performance over the long-term.” read more

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Shell resumes LNG shipments from world’s largest floating structure

Shell resumes LNG shipments from world’s largest floating structure

Jan. 11, 2021 11:46 AM ET Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A)By Carl SurranSA News Editor (Comments)

  • Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A -0.8%) says cargo shipments have resumed at its 3.6M mt/yr Prelude floating LNG offshore Western Australia, 11 months after it went offline because of technical issues.
  • Prelude FLNG in the Browse basin has been plagued by technical issues since it started shipments in June 2019.
  •  The Symphonic Breeze LNG carrier is scheduled to arrive at Japan’s Himeji port on Jan. 16 after leaving Prelude on Jan. 9, and the Gaslog Glasgow is scheduled to arrive at Prelude on Jan. 21, Argus reports.
  • Prelude’s restart follows a spike in prices for northeast Asian spot liquefied natural gas as colder than expected weather in northeast Asia has fueled urgent demand for cargoes.
  • read more

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    2020 Was One of the Worst-Ever Years for Oil Write-Downs

    2020 Was One of the Worst-Ever Years for Oil Write-Downs

    Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating facility has struggled to deliver income. PHOTO: ROYAL DUTCH SHELL AUSTRALIA/REUTERS

    By Collin Eaton and Sarah McFarlane: Dec. 27, 2020 9:00 am ET

    The pandemic has triggered the largest revision to the value of the oil industry’s assets in at least a decade, as companies sour on costly projects amid the prospect of low prices for years.

    Oil-and-gas companies in North America and Europe wrote down roughly $145 billion combined in the first three quarters of 2020, the most for that nine-month period since at least 2010, according to a Wall Street Journal analysis. That total significantly surpassed write-downs taken over the same periods in 2015 and 2016, during the last oil bust, and is equivalent to roughly 10% of the companies’ collective market value. read more

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    Shell, Inpex near finish line in race to export north Australian LNG

    Henning Gloystein: APRIL 24, 2018

    SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Shell and Inpex are on the final stretch of a years-long race to export gas from offshore northern Australia, where both have spent billions of dollars building the world’s biggest maritime vessels to grab a slice of Asia’s booming LNG market.

    Anglo-Dutch energy major Royal Dutch Shell and Inpex, Japan’s biggest oil and gas producer, are vying for first gas from two overlapping fields after delays and cost overruns that have plagued both projects. 

    The pair have spent billions on offshore facilities, including Shell’s 490 meter (1,600 ft) long Prelude floating liquefied natural gas unit and Inpex’s Ichthys Explorer semi-submersible platform, both the world’s largest of their class. read more

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    Where does the cancellation of Browse and Masela leave Prelude?

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    Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 12.53.14From a Regular Contributor

    Cancellation of both the Browse and Masela FLNG developments on the same day suggests that the issues about which Bill Campbell has warned may finally have won the day. 

    If so, this is a huge climbdown for Shell, with several billion dollars in probable write-offs. 

    It’s perhaps not surprising, given the plethora of warnings from technical sources that there were serious risks involved. 

    Could Prelude be next to be axed? Parking a multi-billion dollar vessel in cyclone alley for 20 years never seemed like the most appropriate use of the pension funds invested in Shell… read more

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    One Floating LNG Dream Sinks As Another Gets Ready To Float

    Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 12.29.49

    One Floating LNG Dream Sinks As Another Gets Ready To Float

    Screen Shot 2016-03-15 at 10.34.57Unfortunately for Shell it formally committed to the Prelude development in May, 2011, a time when oil was selling for around $120 a barrel, three-times the current price of around $41/bbl.

    Screen Shot 2016-03-23 at 12.32.16

    By Tim Treadgold: March 23, 2016

    No-one blinked and share prices barely fluttered when a $40 billion plan by Australia’s Woodside Petroleum ngIf: ticker to develop a floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) project was torpedoed earlier today.

    However, the knock-on consequences of sinking the Browse project will be felt most acutely at Europe’s biggest oil company, Royal Dutch Shell ngIf: ticker .

    The immediate impact on Shell is that it has a 27% interest in the Woodside-led Browse LNG project, but it is also nearing completion of the world’s biggest floating LNG barge, the $12.6 billion Prelude project. read more

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    Shareholders should demand that Shell’s activities in the Arctic be stopped

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    Screen Shot 2015-07-31 at 12.52.57By a Regular Contributor

    Hopefully, Shell will soon accept that in the US Arctic their position is now untenable…

    If RDS wants to cut capex (and exposure), FLNG is a good place to start, as Simon Henry suggested yesterday. The Arctic should be next. 

    The Arctic is rapidly acquiring a similar profile to the Brent Spar fiasco. The issue is not whether Greenpeace is right or wrong, it is whether Shell can win the hearts and minds of the public to support their efforts. So far, Shell’s own incompetence has been the most significant issue in eliminating any public support they once enjoyed. 

    The destruction of drilling vessels and criminal convictions for polluting the environment and failing to keep the required records support the view that Shell do not know what they are doing. Neither Shell’s army of lawyers nor the judges on whom they rely have ever worked offshore and have no idea of what it entails. However, the first time that there is any illegal discharge into the sea or the air (and it will happen), or a fatality, injury or  well control incident, the lawyers who are supporting Shell’s current efforts will have nothing constructive to say.  read more

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    Royal Dutch Shell signals Browse FLNG go-ahead far from certain for 2016

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    Screen Shot 2015-07-30 at 13.55.01

    By Angela Macdonald-SmithJul 30 2015

    Royal Dutch Shell has signalled that a final go-ahead next year for the Browse floating liquefied natural gas project in Western Australia is far from a certainty given the cost challenges of the venture in the depressed oil price environment.

    Chief financial officer Simon Henry listed Browse among several large international projects that would be subject to “the dynamic nature of decision making as we take both the oil price environment but also the supply chain and the cost level into account.” read more

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    World’s Largest Turret Mooring Ready for Prelude

    Screen Shot 2015-07-06 at 07.46.28

    By Wendy Laursen 2015-07-05 

    Drydocks World has marked a major milestone by completing the world’s largest turret mooring system.

    At almost 100 meters high, weighing over 11,000 tons and with a diameter of 26 meters, the turret will ensure Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility can operate safely in the most extreme weather conditions. 

    The FLNG will be stationed in the Prelude gas field off the northwest coast of Australia. It will be Shell’s first FLNG deployment. The technology allows for the production, liquefaction, storage and transfer of LNG at sea, as well as the ability to process and export liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate. read more

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    Shell awards contracts for its $40bn Browse project

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    Screen Shot 2015-07-03 at 07.59.45

    Written by Rita Brown – 03/07/2015

    Shell has awarded the Technip Samsung Consortium two contracts for its $40billion natural gas project in Australia.

    Shell’s Browse project covers the installation of three FLNG units to develop the Brecknock, Calliance and Torosa fields in the Browse Basin.

    Shell, which has a 27% interest in the scheme, will use its floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology to leveraging the site’s 15.4 trillion-cubic-feet of gas.

    The Technip Samsung Consortium will manage the front-end engineering design (FEED) elements of the Browse FLNG project, taking into account the composition of the gas, local weather conditions and factors specific to each of the three fields. read more

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    WA inquiry shines spotlight on floating LNG safety fears

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    Article by Angela Macdonald-Smith published by The Sydney Morning Herald: 8 May 2015

    WA inquiry shines spotlight on floating LNG safety fears

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    Royal Dutch Shell and Woodside Petroleum have insisted that workers to be stationed on vast floating liquefied natural gas plants far off the Western Australian coast will be safe despite serious concerns having been raised in a parliamentary inquiry that they won’t be evacuated even for severe tropical cyclones.

    A WA parliamentary committee examining the safety of floating LNG highlighted fears that workers would be thrown around within their accommodation modules during cyclones and could experience psychological stress at being unable to leave the vessel. read more

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    Damning Verdict on Shell’s Prelude FLNG Propaganda

    These claims do not appear to be founded on fact but appear to be simply propaganda; …the Shell claims are fiction, wishful thinking. Royal Dutch Shell, bound by its general business principles of honesty and integrity, casts these principles aside by simply fabricating stories re the health and safety risks of FLNG, as a means to an end. 

    An article by Mr Bill Campbell, retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International.

    By Bill Campbell

    Is Shell prepared to stand by the public statements they make about FLNG risks? Not likely it appears 

    In recent articles I challenged the unsubstantiated claims, with respect to the health and safety risks associated with FLNG, made by Shell on its websites. These claims do not appear to be founded on fact but appear to be simply propaganda. Shell would dearly wish that the risks of Prelude FLNG for example were quote on par with the risk levels of modern offshore installations, but this is a statement drawn from the ether, with no credible analysis to support it. 

    The industry itself does not support the Shell euphoria with their more down to earth and sober assessment of the risks as we venture into the unknown by locating a hazardous substances plant on a vessel on the high sea for the first time.  read more

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    Sunday Times Article: Shell Prelude a potential white elephant

    Screen Shot 2014-11-11 at 19.58.31By John Donovan

    According to an article by Dominic O’Connell published in a whole page article in The Sunday Times on 9 November 2014, Prelude is in danger of becoming a white elephant. (See page 5 of the Business Section)

    The article correctly describes Prelude as the brainchild of Royal Dutch Shell (unless it turns out that Shell pirated the technology).

    Shell is described as a venerable oil and gas company said to have a history of making big plays that might not generate dividends for decades. read more

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    Prelude a giant production and processing barge masquerading as a ship

    Screen Shot 2013-11-16 at 09.16.49

    By John Donovan

    A parliamentary inquiry into the safety of floating LNG (FLNG) processing plants is underway in Western Australia this week.

    On 28 December 2013, I published an article revealing that a whistleblower inside the Shell Prelude project – the first of these gigantic processing plants, had contacted me.  The person in question supplied me with internal information and photographic evidence supporting his anxiety about potentially dangerous, shoddy workmanship.

    The whistleblower was intimately involved in the project at a high level and had deep concerns that warnings issued to Shell (and other parties) were ignored and financial considerations were taking priority over safety issues. He was particularly anxious about alleged use of totally unqualified personnel. read more

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    SpaceShipTwo Explosion: Shell Prelude another pioneering venture fraught with risk

    Screen Shot 2014-10-17 at 10.07.59The New York Times magazine has published an informative article by Robert Sullivan about Prelude, under the appropriate headline:

    “The Biggest Ship in the World (Though It Isn’t Exactly a Ship)”

    The dangers associated with innovative  technology, with potentially disastrous consequences, are heightened following the Virgin Galactic SpaceShipTwo rocket ship explosion in the US.

    To obtain an overall assessment on risks relating to Prelude, the article by Robert Sullivan is best read in conjunction with a series of articles by experts triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the equally pioneering Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Bill Campbell, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and Hans Bouman, another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects. read more

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    Royal Dutch Shell Prelude Project ‘A Step Too Far’

    Screen Shot 2014-09-25 at 17.11.37By John Donovan

    I have received a comment about the most recent Bill Campbell Prelude article from another expert, a former Shell executive. 

    I refer to Hans Bouman, the retired Groningen Gas Field Asset Manager for NAM, a joint Royal Dutch Shell/ExxonMobil operation.

    Mr Bouman is the expert who in 2002 warned Shell/Sakhalin Energy internally of his concerns over the Sakhalin2 project, including an unforgiving schedule, a theme he returned to a number of times. 

    Extract from a May 2002 internal email from Hans Bouman to Engel van Spronsen, Technical Director, Sakhalin Energy: read more

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    Prelude FLNG risks are on par with modern offshore oil and gas facilities say Shell – but are they?

    Screen Shot 2014-09-23 at 18.54.34Final article in a series of five articles by Bill Campbell, retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International, about risks relating to the Shell Prelude FLNG project.

    Prelude FLNG risks are on par with modern offshore oil and gas facilities say Shell – but are they? Let’s discuss 

    With the implementation of the recommendations post Piper A, turned quickly into legislation, the potential consequences of hydrocarbon releases have been markedly reduced, but Floating FLNG facilities cannot comply, other than that front end gas feed from the reservoir will be shut in and the process gas flared, huge amounts of volatile hydrocarbon liquids remain stored in the hull, which is also the primary structure supporting the process, utilities and the living quarters.

    Prelude for example has in its hull, tanks with a capacity to hold 220,000 m3 of LNG, when the cryogenic liquid is returned to gas this equates to 132 million m3 of methane. It also has capacity for 90,000 m3 of LPG and 126,000 m3 of Condensate, with an overall capacity Shell states equivalent to 175 Olympic swimming pools. read more

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    FLNG Prelude: A New Dawn in the Age of Maritime & Energy

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    Extracts from a highly informative MarineLink.com article by Patricia Keefe about the pioneering Shell FLNG Prelude project

    Aptly named Prelude, at 488 meters long, 74 meters wide, and clocking in at 600,000 tonnes when fully ballasted, the FLNG facility, which is under construction at the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea, will be the largest object ever floated on the ocean. Bruce Steenson, Shell’s general manager of integrated gas programs and innovation, has been widely quoted as confirming that Shell is working on an even larger design. “That next one will be off the rails,” he told Reuters. Prelude will be sitting out in the middle of nowhere in cyclone alley central. Shell has no intentions of untethering the facility every time a bad wind blows and towing it to shore. Instead, a number of factors are supposed to ensure that Prelude sits tight in savage seas. read more

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    A plea for early safety design in FLNG

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    Extract from an article by LNG INDUSTRY Written by Mike Johnson, Principal Consultant, DNV GL. Edited by Callum O’Reilly: published 9 July 2014

    Floating LNG (FLNG) production plants are approximately the size of four football pitches. As these vessels are set afloat in the middle of the ocean to face nature’s wrath, and have people working in the restricted space available, it is simple to understand the mammoth undertaking, in not only their construction, but also making them seaworthy, safe and environmentally sustainable. Every single step of the design, construction and operation process is abound with risk…

    FULL ARTICLE – EXTENSIVE AND INFORMATIVE read more

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    Bonaparte Surrender

    By John Donovan

    It seems that the alarming articles we have published about the Royal Dutch Shell Prelude FLNG project, highlighting risks based on insider information and expert opinion, may have had an unintended impact. 

    According to a Dow Jones news report published today, GDF Suez SA and Santos Ltd have both withdrawn from their plans to develop their own floating liquefied natural gas project off the northern coast of Western Australia – the Bonaparte venture.

    The Capital.gr article points out that budget overruns at a number of LNG developments in Australia “have underscored the risks for international energy companies weighing new projects.” read more

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    Breakthrough Technology Unlocks Hidden Natural Gas Reserves

    Screen Shot 2014-03-03 at 18.55.08Extracts from an article by Tim Maverick published 17 April 2014 by trefis.com

    The recognized leader in FLNG technology globally is Royal Dutch Shell PLC. FLNG vessels, which dwarf aircraft carriers in size, serve as floating liquefaction, storage and offtake facilities. And they certainly come with a host of advantages. You see, a floating project is estimated to take only two-thirds of the time of a land-based project. That’s not surprising, since you’re able to sidestep land development. This is of particular concern in Australia, where natural gas fields are located close to environmentally sensitive coastal areas. read more

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    Shell Prelude: Tales of the Unexpected – When the party ended with a bang!

    Screen Shot 2014-04-03 at 00.47.46Tales of the Unexpected – When the party ended with a bang!: 3rd in a series of articles by Bill Campbell (right), retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International, about safety issues relating to the Shell Prelude FLNG project

    Screen Shot 2014-04-02 at 18.10.18

    Thus methane-air explosions are unpredictable, and by definition unpredictable events take you by surprise and can occur when you least expect them, and often when you are least prepared.  And unfortunately, from time to time, these unpredictable events can have catastrophic consequences as history tells us.

    By Bill Campbell

    LNG is natural gas (methane) refrigerated, the chilling process eventually turning the gas into a liquid shrinking its volume by 600  times. As we are aware from elementary physics, energy cannot be created or destroyed, so the whole economic model of the use and transportation of LNG worldwide, which really started in the 50’s and is due to exponentially expand in the next decade, is that the heat energy contained in one metre cubed of the liquid equates to six hundred metres cubed of methane.  So the physical characteristics of liquified natural gas is what makes it economically viable in its transportation over in some cases many thousands of miles from its source to where it will be used when converted again into its natural state.  But it’s this conversion that can make it so dangerous should it spill or leak into the atmosphere accidentally. read more

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    Asian Gas Demand Spawns Floating Superfactories

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    Extract from an article by

    The concept of a floating gas factory is so far untested. Alain Poincheval, project director for Prelude at Technip said… the vessel is being designed for the harshest environmental conditions at sea including Class 5 cyclones. Prelude, which is being built by Samsung Heavy Industries, is expected to finish construction by the first half of 2016 and industry estimates put the project cost at roughly $11 billion-$12 billion. Despite the unproven technology, a number of other FLNG projects are already under development. read more

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    Tales of the Unexpected and Royal Dutch Shell Prelude FLNG

    Tales of the Unexpected – 2nd in a series of articles by Bill Campbell, retired HSE Group Auditor, Shell International, about safety issues relating to the Shell Prelude FLNG project

    A Prelude to disaster?

    Introduction by John Donovan

    On 28 December I broke the news that a whistleblower had supplied me with photographic evidence to support their concerns over the safety of the construction of Shell’s Prelude FLNG flagship vessel.  The Prelude insider source alleges that packages are being installed on the vessel by totally unqualified personnel and accuses management of a failure to understand standards and regulations and claims the construction work would never pass UK standards. The source has been intimately involved in the project and is genuinely concerned that warnings issued to Shell management (and other parties) have been ignored and financial considerations are taking priority over safety issues. His warnings prompted a regular contributor, Bill Campbell, the retired HSE Group Auditor of Shell International to author articles on the subject that take into account his decades long experience and expertise. This is the second in an intended series. read more

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    Pipelines and welding risks for Shell: Kashagan and Prelude

    Screen Shot 2014-02-12 at 13.18.45…customers of certain Far Eastern shipyards have found that in spite of vessels being delivered with all of the necessary certification, unsurveyed welds have not always been up to the standards of the specific “randomly selected” welds on which the certification had been based. This may have interesting implications for the Prelude vessel…. Since Shell does not seem to be able to ensure that the welds on their pipelines in Kashagan were properly executed, all of which should have been inspected, are they any more likely to be sure of the welds on Prelude?

    From an oil industry expert

    Mitsui paid $1.1 bn, and Anardarko perhaps $2.66bn to settle their liabilities in respect of Macondo.
     
    Mitsui and Anadarko shared responsibility with BP because they were fully appraised of what was going on, and gave their approval to the Macondo operations. Shell is in the same position in Kashagan. It is rather naïve to compare Shell’s role as a partner in Kashagan with that of a shareholder in a public company.
     
    In order for partners to give approval they require adequate information, to which they have ready access.
     
    See this Wall Street Journal article for more information.
     
    On another related subject, customers of certain Far Eastern shipyards have found that in spite of vessels being delivered with all of the necessary certification, unsurveyed welds have not always been up to the standards of the specific “randomly selected” welds on which the certification had been based. This may have interesting implications for the Prelude vessel…. Since Shell does not seem to be able to ensure that the welds on their pipelines in Kashagan were properly executed, all of which should have been inspected, are they any more likely to be sure of the welds on Prelude? read more

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    Royal Dutch Shell Prelude Safety Debate

    Screen Shot 2014-02-12 at 13.18.45

    Screen Shot 2014-02-10 at 16.29.29OFFSHORE EXPERT: “Having read this Prelude document a few times to take it all in, it seems to me that the main issue is how do you design for a 10,000 year event?” COMMENT: “I am not an expert and would only say that so-called 10,000 year weather events seem to be occurring annually at the moment. If Noah was still around, and residing in Southern England, he might well be looking for his carpentry tools.”

    COMMENT FROM A RETIRED SHELL OFFSHORE MANAGER

    John,

    Regarding recent discussions on this website about Shell Prelude FLNG project, information available via this link provides useful input.

    The 28 page section of a 75 page Shell document gives a description of the development and goes into great detail, providing answers to most of the issues raised by a fellow Shell Retiree.

    Having read this Prelude document a few times to take it all in, it seems to me that the main issue is how do you design for a 10,000 year event?

    The many issues raised with respect to cyclonic activity, waves, wind and the ability to weather vane are answered.  There are two thrusters located near the stern with a total power of 6 megawatts or 8,000 HP.  More than ample to ensure the heading of the facility is optimum at all times. Other issues with respect to Green house gas emissions during operations and other environmental are dealt with in detail. read more

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    World’s largest ship launched but bigger one planned

     Screen Shot 2013-12-03 at 23.38.36

    World’s largest ship launched but bigger one planned

    Screen Shot 2013-12-03 at 23.36.49 3 December 2013

    By Edd GentThe world’s largest ship has been launched but developer Royal Dutch Shell already has plans for something bigger.

    The Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) plant The Prelude is half a kilometre from bow to stern, room for four football pitches on deck were it not for a clutter of kit towering up to 93m high that will draw gas from under the sea bed for dispatch to Asia by the boatload.

    But as the partly-built structure floats out of dry dock for the first time, Shell has said it wants to consolidate its advantage as the first mover in FLNG – an as-yet untried technology for which Prelude will be the flagship. read more

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    Woodside offshore gas push blow to Barnett

    Screen Shot 2013-04-29 at 20.08.26

    COLIN Barnett’s push to create thousands of construction jobs by keeping the huge Browse gas project onshore has suffered another blow after Woodside Petroleum said it wanted to develop the project using radical floating LNG technology.

    Woodside and its joint venture partners are now expected to formally commit within months to using FLNG for the Browse gas fields.

    ACCESS TO FULL ARTICLE (Subject to subscription)

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    Woodside to Recommend Floating LNG to Develop its Browse Project

    Screen Shot 2013-03-05 at 14.17.28 By James PatonAug 20, 2013 1:12 AM GMT+0100

    Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (WPL), Australia’s second-biggest oil producer, will recommend using Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA)’s floating liquefied natural gas technology to its partners to develop the Browse project.

    The selection of floating LNG requires the approval of the Browse partners, including BP Plc (BP/), PetroChina Co. and Shell, Perth-based Woodside said today in a statement.

    “A compelling case has emerged for floating LNG as the best option for early commercialization” of Browse, off the West Australian coast, Chief Executive Officer Peter Coleman said in the statement. read more

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    Shell Highlights Benefits of Prelude Project to Australia

    Screen Shot 2013-07-02 at 09.42.31

    by  Cheang Chee Yew: Rigzone Staff: Tuesday, July 02, 2013

    The Prelude FLNG project had strong cost fundamentals and would make a significant contribution to the Australian economy, Shell Australia’s General Manager for Production, Michael Schoch said in a media statement released by the AGT’s official public relations agency Avviso PR.

    “We estimate that Prelude will bring benefits to Australia of some $41.3 billion (AUD 45 billion) over the life of the project, of which taxes would be around $11 billion (AUD 12 billion). The overwhelming majority of people who work on the FLNG facility will be Australians. By 2015, we expect to double the workforce in Shell Australia’s Perth office from 500 to 1,000 – and many of these new people will be working on Prelude,” he added. read more

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    Shell plans more FLNG after Prelude

    Screen Shot 2013-07-02 at 09.30.14

    PERTH, July 2 AAP

    Oil and gas major Shell plans to build more floating LNG plants after developing its world first Prelude project off the coast of Western Australia.

    But the global leader in floating gas processing would not reveal whether it would develop more than one floating LNG vessel for Woodside’s Browse joint venture project.

    “I don’t believe any one of the players has actually mentioned any numbers,” Shell Australia General Manager for Production Michael Schoch told a gas technology conference in Perth. read more

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    Shell boss defends floating LNG

    Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 22.29.32

    The West Australian: July 2, 2013

    Shell has defended its proposed $12 billion Prelude floating LNG project off the Kimberley coast insisting it would make a significant contribution to the Australian economy.

    Premier Colin Barnett has strongly opposed the use of floating LNG technology on offshore WA oil and gas projects, arguing it will cost local jobs, deny benefits to indigenous groups and cost the State royalties.

    But Shell Australia’s General Manager for Production, Michael Schoch, will told a conference in Perth today that Prelude would bring benefits to Australia of some $45 billion over the life of the project, $12 billion of which would be paid in taxes. read more

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    Premier renews attack on FLNG

    Premier Colin Barnett has renewed his attack on Royal Dutch Shell’s “unreliable” floating gas processing technology, claiming its susceptibility to cyclones is worrying customers in Asia.

    Screen Shot 2013-06-19 at 22.29.32 Peter Kerr, The West Australian June 19, 2013, 7:17 am

    Premier Colin Barnett has renewed his attack on Royal Dutch Shell’s “unreliable” floating gas processing technology, claiming its susceptibility to cyclones is worrying customers in Asia.

    In a remarkable intervention during Parliament’s Question Time yesterday, Mr Barnett also showed he had refused to accept the loss of a land-based LNG hub at James Price Point. He issued a veiled threat that he would strip Woodside Petroleum and its Browse Basin partners of their State-based gas retention leases next year if they pursued FLNG. read more

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    Unionists protest against potential loss of jobs

    Screen Shot 2013-06-11 at 14.09.58

    Hundreds of unionists gathered outside Parliament House in Perth to protest against the potential loss of jobs in the gas industry.

    They have blocked all the entrances stopping MPs and staff from entering the carpark.

    The Australian Metal Workers Union say a decision by Woodside and Shell to use floating LNG platforms rather than onshore gas processing hubs will cost thousands of jobs.

    Woodside recently shelved plans to build a $45 billion gas hub at James Price Point, north of Broome.

    It is believed the company is investigating the use of floating LNG technology to process gas from the Browse Basin. read more

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    Union protests against floating LNG in WA

    Screen Shot 2013-06-11 at 10.02.52

    AAP: June 11, 2013 9:05AM

    UNION members have protested outside Parliament House in Perth saying floating LNG projects will rob locals of jobs.

    Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union (AMWU) members gathered on Tuesday to voice their concerns about the vessel-based liquefied natural gas projects.

    Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell is using floating LNG technology for its Prelude gas project off the West Australian coast.

    And Woodside is leaning the same way, having abandoned plans for an onshore processing plant for Browse Basin gas. read more

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    Highest-Paid Workforce Driving Shell Offshore Australia: Energy

    Screen Shot 2012-11-30 at 18.51.08

    Screen Shot 2013-04-26 at 09.03.23

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Prelude vessel, seen here in an image illustration, vying to be the first floating LNG facility in the world, will be as long as the Empire State Building and six times the weight of the largest aircraft carrier. Source: Rex Features via AP Images

    April 26, 2013

    Escalating costs to build liquefied natural gas plants on land in Australia, where energy workers earn the highest salaries in the world, are driving developers out to sea in search of billions of dollars in savings. read more

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    No delays from Prelude rig issues: Shell

    Screen Shot 2013-04-04 at 08.33.44 Peter Klinger, The West Australian April 4, 2013, 6:21 am

    Royal Dutch Shell says the development schedule for the industry-leading Prelude floating LNG venture in the Browse Basin has not been affected by technical problems that have beset its drilling rig.

    The Shell-chartered Noble Clyde Boudreaux had been out of action for more than a month off the coast of Exmouth, where it was scheduled to drill the Palta-1 exploration well. The Palta permit, owned by Shell and Mitsubishi, is 70km from the Ningaloo Reef. The drilling of the Palta-1 well has sparked widespread condemnation from environmental groups. read more

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    Shell to move gas centre as Asia LNG comes to the fore

    By Sarah Young

    LONDON | Wed Dec 5, 2012 6:24pm GMT

    (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), the world’s biggest LNG company, will move the headquarters of its integrated gas business to Singapore from Europe as part of its quest to feed Asia’s surging demand for the fuel, the company said on Wednesday.

    “It will be the largest object man has ever built that floats,” Shell’s upstream director Andrew Brown said of Prelude, a 500 metre long vessel costing over $10 billion (6 billion pounds), being constructed to supply Asian markets with gas from Australia. read more

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    Major construction begins on Shell Prelude FLNG project

    Shell Company of Australia Limited : Major construction begins on the Prelude FLNG project

    10/18/2012| 02:38am US/Eastern
    Media Release 18/10/2012

    Today Shell celebrated the cutting of first steel for the game-changing Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility’s substructure with joint venture participants, Inpex and KOGAS, and lead contractor, the Technip Samsung Consortium, at Samsung Heavy Industries’ Geoje shipyard in South Korea.

    Shell’s Projects & Technology Director Matthias Bichsel commented:  “We are cutting 7.6 tonnes of steel for the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility today, but in total, more than 260,000 tonnes of steel will be fabricated and assembled for the facility.  That’s around five times the amount of steel used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge.  Today’s ceremony marks a major milestone in this project, when the innovative thinking and new technology and engineering solutions which will make FLNG possible begin to be realised.” read more

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    Shell On Track To Deliver Growth Targets For 50%-80% Cashflow By 2012

    SEPTEMBER 9, 2011

    LONDON (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA.LN), Friday confirmed that it has made solid progress in starting up three world-class oil & gas projects in 2011, which at peak will add some 400,000 barrels oil equivalent, and is on track to deliver its strategic targets for 50-80% growth in cash flow from operations from 2009 to 2012.

    MAIN FACTS:

    -Shell’s three-year strategic plan, outlined in 2010, is building the foundations for profitable growth for shareholders in the future. read more

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    Shell Reports Higher Earnings on Oil Prices

    Jason Alden/Bloomberg: A Shell station in London, U.K. Shell posted adjusted earnings of $6.6 billion, matching the mean estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg.

    By Eduard Gismatullin – Jul 28, 2011 8:47 AM GMT+0100

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Europe’s biggest oil company, said second-quarter earnings almost doubled on higher oil prices and project startups in Qatar and Canada.

    Net income rose to $8.66 billion from $4.39 billion a year earlier, The Hague-based Shell said today in a statement. Excluding one-time items and inventory changes, profit matched analyst estimates. read more

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    Shell to Stop Processing at Australian Refinery by Mid-2013

    By Ben Sharples and James Paton – Jul 27, 2011 7:19 AM GMT+0100

    Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA), Europe’s largest oil company, will halt refining operations at its Clyde plant in Sydney before mid-2013 and convert the facility into a fuel-import terminal.

    The plant, which processes about 79,000 barrels a day of crude oil and employs 310 people, is no longer regionally competitive against Asian “mega-refineries,” the Hague-based company said in an e-mailed statement today. The plan was initially announced in April. read more

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    Shell Approves Floating LNG Project

    May 20, 2011

    By ROSS KELLY

    SYDNEY—Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Friday approved construction of a giant vessel designed to chill natural gas for export at sea, allowing it to unlock gas deposits stranded hundreds of miles from land.

    Similar vessels are being considered for several projects in deep water around the world where piping gas back to land to be liquefied would be too costly. Shell’s final investment approval for its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas development marks the first time that construction of such a vessel has been approved anywhere. read more

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    Shell: Prelude FLNG Go-Ahead ‘Next Few Months,’ More Planned

    FEBRUARY 22, 2011

    PERTH (Dow Jones)–Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSA) said Tuesday that it expects to sign off on its first floating liquefied natural gas project within months, and plans to build at least six FLNG plants around the globe.

    Shell hopes to take a “final investment decision in the next few months” on the company’s multibillion-dollar Prelude FLNG project offshore northwestern Australia, Shell Australia Chairman Ann Pickard, told a business event in Perth. read more

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