News and information on Shell PLC
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.
…problems included repeated outages at its Prelude liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility off the western coast of Australia…
REUTERS
Shell CEO creates chief of staff role in management overhaul
By Ron Bousso: February 23, 2023: 4:15 PM GMT
LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) – Shell (SHEL.L) Chief Executive Officer Wael Sawan has created a senior role of chief of staff as part of a management overhaul to improve performance after technical problems and other disruption, three company sources said.
The most recent incident happened only a year after a similar fire forced the vessel to go down for nearly five months.
Shell’s Prelude FLNG Restarts First Cargo Since Fire
According to Shell, the fire was promptly put out and the area was declared safe; it also stated that no one was hurt and all of the facility’s workers were safe and well.
Following a small fire at the 3.6M metric tons/year facility, Prelude, the largest floating plant for natural gas liquefaction in the world, had paused its gas production last month due to an ongoing investigation.
RIGZONE
Prelude FLNG Loads Out First Cargo Since Fire
by Bojan Lepic| Rigzone Staff| Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Even though Shell has not confirmed any restart on its massive Prelude FLNG, Reuters reported that the Methane Becki Anne LNG tanker has begun loading.
The Methane Becki Anne was the first LNG tanker to berth at Shell’s Prelude floating LNG site off Western Australia since it was shut down after a fire.
According to Reuters, the LNG carrier vessel berthed at the Prelude plant on January 17, Refinitiv ship-tracking data showed. Refinitiv’s data also showed that LNG has already begun loading.
Report: Output from Shell’s Prelude FLNG Shut Again
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.
REUTERS
Shell, unions reach wage deal to end industrial action at Prelude FLNG
Sonali Paul: PUBLISHED AUG 23, 2022 09:48PM EDT
MELBOURNE — Shell and unions representing workers at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility have reached a wage deal to end a long-running strike and restart production at the site off northwest Australia, they said on Wednesday.
Shell shut the 3.6 million-tonnes-a-year Prelude facility in July and told customers it would be unable to supply LNG for the duration of the protected industrial action, or strikes approved by Australia’s Fair Work Commission, over a wage dispute.
Shell to Stop Paying Prelude LNG Workers From Monday, After Industrial Action Extended
By Reuters: July 20, 2022, at 3:47 a.m.
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Shell Plc has told workers at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility it will stop paying them as of Monday if they are not on site, a Shell spokesperson said on Wednesday. Shell was meeting with workers after their combined union, the Offshore Alliance, extended protected industrial action, which began 40 days ago, to Aug. 4, the spokesperson said.
THE TIMES
Shell shuts gas plant after strike
Emily GosdenThe TimesShell has been forced to shut its troubled Prelude floating liquefied natural gas plant as workers escalate a strike over pay.
The oil and gas group was yesterday in the process of halting production at the plant off the coast of Australia after informing customers it would be unable to offload cargoes.
Shell had already been forced to reduce output from Prelude after workers at the floating plant went on strike last month.
The latest strike plans effectively prevent tankers being moored alongside the plant to offload cargoes and, with storage facilities on the plant nearing capacity, Shell was forced to shut down production. Strike action is expected to continue until July 21.
abc.net.au
Shell, Australian Workers Union in stalemate over Prelude dispute
Shell has cancelled gas shipments from its offshore facility Prelude as an industrial dispute between unions and the Anglo-Dutch resources company come to a head.
Contractors set to fly out to the resources rig on Wednesday were told to stand down in response to the disagreement over pay increases, rostering and job security.
The dispute has also caused Shell to advise their customers they will be cancelling some gas shipments from the facility until mid-July.
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.
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.
Shell resumes production at massive floating LNG plant
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.”
Shell resumes LNG shipments from world’s largest floating structure
2020 Was One of the Worst-Ever Years for Oil Write-Downs
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.
TIMELINE-Twists and turns in Russia’s Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany
By Reuters Staff: OCTOBER 7, 2020
Oct 7 (Reuters) – Poland has fined Russia’s Gazprom more than $7.6 billion for building the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline without Warsaw’s approval, its watchdog said on Wednesday.
Russia’s bid to double its gas export capacity across the Baltic Sea has prompted opposition, including U.S. sanctions, stalling completion of the $11 billion pipeline.
In addition to Europe’s increased reliance on Russian gas, opponents are wary of Moscow’s motives as the pipeline will allow it to curb gas transit via Ukraine, cutting off a source of revenue for Kiev.
Australia trims 2020-21 LNG export forecasts on COVID-19, production issues
Sydney — Australia has cut forecasts for the country’s LNG exports for 2020-2021 (July-June) by some 6% to 75.6 million mt, citing the expected impacts of both the COVID-19 pandemic and domestic technical issues.
If realized, the forecast for the current fiscal would see volumes fall by 3.7 million mt year on year. They are expected to recover in 2021-2022 to 80.1 million mt, the Department of Industry, Science, Energy and Resources said Sept. 28 in a report.
Shell begins restart of Prelude FLNG after seven-month suspension
LNG revenues smashed on price slump
Angela Macdonald-Smith, Senior resources writer:12 Aug 2020
Australia’s revenues from LNG exports slumped a massive 52 per cent in July compared with a year earlier as export prices followed crude oil prices into the basement, cementing prospects for a big dip in export earnings from the commodity this financial year.
LNG export revenues for the country were likely about $1.98 billion last month, sinking from north of $4 billion a year earlier, according to an analysis released on Wednesday by consultancy EnergyQuest.
Shell to change-up FIFO roster at Australian operations
Paul Hunt: Senior Journalist: Oil & Gas, Policy. 07 August 2020
SHELL is urging its staff to move to a new fly-in, fly-out, roster, a move that has been described by unions as “unsafe.”Currently FIFO staff work three weeks on, four weeks off, then three weeks on and five weeks off but under the new proposed agreement, employees would simply do a four week on, four week off roster.
In a power-point presentation leaked to Energy News this week, Shell Australia said a new roster was needed due to interstate travel restrictions, and the combined impact of a 14-day quarantine requirement for FIFO staff.
Shell gets green light for huge Crux backfill project
SHELL Australia has been granted approval by the national oil and gas regulator for development of its massive Crux field offshore Western Australia, though the company earlier flagged a delay to the development thanks to pandemic and oil price concerns.
The 2 trillion cubic feet Crux gas field project will be the source of backfill for the Prelude floating LNG vessel, which has not sent a cargo since February.
The development will consist of five subsea production wells tapping into the northern Browse Basin, which will then be tied back to an unmanned platform.
by Andreas Exarheas: Rigzone Staff: Monday, December 23, 2019
Shell Australia has announced a “significant” gas and condensate discovery in the Browse Basin off the North West Coast of Western Australia.
The find was made through the Bratwurst-1 exploration well, which was said to be successfully concluded after a 78-day campaign. The discovery is located 99 miles north east of the Shell operated Prelude FLNG facility and presents an opportunity for a future tie-back to Prelude, according to Shell.
No figures were released in connection with the discovery, but it was said to support Shell’s growth plans for “more and cleaner energy, with LNG being the predominant focus for Shell in Australia”.
Royal Dutch Shell Plc got caught into the same earnings trap as many of its peers, reporting second-quarter earnings that fell well short of expectations as the slowing global economy hit everything from natural gas to chemicals.
Profit in Shell’s integrated gas division was down by 25%, but earnings were lower across all of its businesses, including upstream oil and gas production, and refining and chemicals.
“We’ve seen some very severe macroeconomic headwinds — probably most pronounced in our downstream business where we saw some weaker refining margins — but especially a much weaker trading environment for petrochemicals,” Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden said in a Bloomberg TV interview on Thursday. “In our upstream, we’ve seen headwinds particularly in North American gas.”
London — Shell expects to ship its first LNG cargo from its Australian floating LNG production facility, Prelude in the second quarter, its CFO Jessica Uhl said Thursday.
Speaking after the release of its Q1 earnings, Uhl said the first LNG would follow the shipment of the first condensate cargo from Prelude last month.
Prelude FLNG is one of the most anticipated LNG projects in recent years due to its deployment as the world’s largest floating facility, though it has experienced delays due to unspecified production issues.
Shell has loaded the first condensate cargo from Australia’s Prelude FLNG project, the company said Monday.
“We can confirm that the first shipment of condensate has sailed from the Shell-operated Prelude FLNG facility. This is another step towards steady state operations,” a Shell spokesperson said in an emailed response.
The Shell-controlled Aframax tanker, Advantage Atom, departed from Prelude FLNG on March 20, S&P Global Platts vessel tracking software cFlow showed.
MARCH 25, 2019
MELBOURNE, March 25 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell on Monday said it had shipped the first condensate cargo from its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project off northwestern Australia over the weekend.
“We can confirm that the first shipment of condensate has sailed from the Shell-operated Prelude FLNG facility. This is another step towards steady state operations,” a Shell spokeswoman said in emailed comments.
Shell had hoped to start generating cash flow from Prelude in 2018, but has yet to start shipping LNG from the project, which was to have been the world’s first floating LNG facility but was beaten by Malaysia’s Petronas.
By Tim Daiss – Feb 25, 2019, 3:00 PM CST
More developments are underway that show just how far global liquefied natural gas (LNG) markets have progressed in the last five years. Until recently, the super-cooled fuel was mostly bought and sold via restrictive long-term off-take agreements where the buyer usually signed up for 15 or 20-year deals that helped producers finance massive capex projects.
However, in the last few years, as more supply hit the market, a long-term supply overhang developed that not only put downward pressure on prices but gave buyers more options as well as more leverage in contract negotiations. In addition to more supply flooding the market, a robust spot market for LNG in Asia has been developing which has seen buyers, for example, Tokyo Gas and several others, also become traders.
By Jordan Blum:
Royal Dutch Shell’s new LNG outlook report projects that global liquefied natural gas demand will continue to rise in the years ahead – led by Asian growth – as Shell seeks to solidify its stake as the world’s LNG leader.
With natural gas continuing to replace coal as a cleaner-burning power source from the United States to China, Shell expects annual LNG demand worldwide to surge more than 30 percent from 292 million metric tons in 2017 to 384 million tons in 2020. Last year, demand grew by 27 million tons, or more than 9 percent, to 319 million, and this year demand should spike by another 11 percent or 35 million tons, Shell said.
Singapore — Shell’s first condensate cargo from the Prelude FLNG project in Australia has been delayed further from its original February load date and possibly to March, due to production issues, trade sources said Friday.
Shell did not immediately respond to an email query seeking comment.
The first Prelude condensate cargo was originally scheduled to load over January 31-February 2, shipping reports showed at the start of January. Later reports subsequently showed this was delayed to February 12-14, and then to February 24-26.
GAS TODAY
Shell proposes multi billion dollar LNG project
14 February 2019
Shell and its joint venture (JV) partners are officially seeking approval to develop the Crux gas field off the coast of Western Australia.
With JV partners Seven Group and Japan’s Osaka Gas, Shell has submitted a proposal – estimated to be worth more than $2 billion – to the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority to develop the field, located approximately 160 km northeast of the Prelude field in WA’s Browse Basin.
The Prelude project will be fired up 475 kilometres north-east of Broome, ready to liquefy natural gas straight from the ocean floor and ship it around the world.
Peter Milne: The West Australian: July: Prelude arrives from Korea
May: Tow line to tug fails, mooring lines fail
June: LNG loaded onto Prelude, gas leak, flood detection not working
July: Hydrogen sulfide leak, flooded machinery room, fire dampers did not close
August: No power to fire-fighting foam
September: Smouldering insulation
October: Small fire
December: 750-bed accommodation vessel for additional workers leaves, wells opened and gas flows to Prelude.
February: Preparing for first export of condensate
RELATED
The links below are to a series of articles, many triggered by a well-placed whistleblower directly involved in the pioneering Royal Dutch Shell Prelude project. Includes articles by Mr Bill Campbell, the retired distinguished HSE Group Auditor of Shell International and another retired Shell guru with a track record of spotting potential pitfalls in major Shell projects.
Shell will use these as a source of backfill gas supply to the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas vessel, with the platform drying the gas and exporting gas/condensate to Prelude via a new 160-km (99-mi) multi-phase pipeline.
Wood and KBR’s engineering and project management teams in Perth will manage the program over 18 months, supported by Wood’s Kuala Lumpur division, providing integrated FEED for the topsides, jacket, export pipeline and subsea pipeline end manifold.
MELBOURNE, Feb. 5, 2019: By Rick Wilkinson OGJ Correspondent
The Perth-based Australian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC has begun the approval process for a potential $2-billion (Aus.) development of its Crux natural gas-condensate field in the Browse basin license AC/L9 offshore Western Australia as a tie in to the company’s Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) facilities.
Crux has long been considered a likely second phase to Shell’s $16.6-billion (Aus.) Prelude development that has recently been brought on stream via the world’s largest FLNG vessel permanently moored in the field.
Initially the hook-up was not envisioned for many years, as a back-fill when production of gas from Prelude began to decline late next decade. A development plan recently submitted to Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety & Management Authority (NOPSEMA), however, outlines the start of front-end engineering and design work for Crux later this year leading to a final investment decision in 2020.
Shell’s Prelude floating LNG project has taken longer than expected to start up. Shell Australia
By Angela Macdonald-Smith: 01 Feb 2019
Energy giant Shell has brushed off persistent talk about technical problems dogging the start-up of the huge Prelude floating LNG project off Australia’s far north-west coast but has signalled the first LNG cargo from the closely watched venture may still be several weeks away.
The multinational announced the beginning of production from the offshore Prelude gas field in late December but is still in the process of commissioning the complex LNG processing systems on board what is the world’s largest floating structure.
(Repeats with no changes to text. The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.)
That sounds perfectly plausible, but doesn’t quite tally with the fact that delivered volumes into the major consuming region of Northeast Asia hit a record-high in December.
Singapore — Shell will load the first condensate cargo from Australia’s Prelude FLNG project at end January, according to shipping reports and sources Thursday.
The condensate will be loaded in a 80,000 mt clip over January 31 to February 2, shipping reports showed.
A vessel has not been fixed for the cargo, and shipbrokers said Shell began looking for an Aframax tanker to load the cargo Thursday.
Shell did not immediately respond to an email query seeking comment.
The destination of the cargo is unclear, though trade sources have said that the oil major will likely use the cargo within its own network of splitters and refineries.
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it has begun output at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Australia, the world’s largest floating production structure and the last of a wave of eight LNG projects built in the country over the last decade.
Though the project started up later and cost more than originally estimated, it is expected to further cement Australia’s lead as the world’s biggest LNG exporter, after the country took the crown in November.
Shell’s giant Prelude floating LNG vessel is edging closer to production as the accommodation vessel that housed up to 750 workers over the year moves away to allow the final stages of start-up to occur.
The Posh Arcadia accommodation vessel sailed to a station about 6km north of Prelude on Thursday morning, according to vessel tracking website MarineTraffic.
A Shell spokeswoman said the company continued to prepare Prelude for operations. “We expect to see production around the end of the year,” she said.
Australia will further cement its top position as the final new project in the pipeline, Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude, comes online by next year.SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Australia overtook Qatar as the world’s largest exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the first time in November, data from Refinitiv Eikon showed on Monday.
The surge in Australian exports follows the start up of a number of export projects in the country over the past three years, most recently the Ichthys project offshore its northern coast.
In November, Australia loaded 6.5 million tonnes of LNG for exports while Qatar exported over 6.2 million tonnes, the data showed.
Jessica Jaganathan: DECEMBER 4, 2018
SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell expects production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit to start at the end of the year, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.
“We continue to progress Prelude towards operations, with safety and quality being our main focus … We expect to see production around the end of the year,” she told Reuters in an emailed statement.
Prelude – which will process natural gas produced offshore northern Australia and export it as LNG – is expected to have an annual LNG production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes. It will also produce 1.3 million tonnes a year of condensate and 400,000 tonnes a year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG).
November 04, 2018, 07:19:00 AM EDT By Tyler Crowe, Motley Fool
This past quarter, Royal Dutch Shell ‘s (NYSE: RDS-A) (NYSE: RDS-B) results showed the company can fund just about anything it wants right now. A large capital expenditure program? Yup. Pay down some debt? Sure! Fund its dividend? Of course! How about a $2 billion share repurchase program on top of all of that? Why not! The reason it is able to do this is that the company is generating an almost unfathomable amount of cash right now. Shell’s management said this was the most cash it has pulled in since the second quarter of 2008 when oil prices were in the $110-to-$120-per-barrel range.
Dan Murtaugh and Stephen Stapczynski, Bloomberg
And then there was one.
Australia’s nine-year, $200 billion boom in liquefied natural gas still has a final debut in the works: Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s Prelude, floating 200 kilometers (124 miles) off its northwest coast. It’s the last project in that investment cycle to start production after Japan’s Inpex Corp. shipped its maiden cargo from Ichthys LNG on Monday.
Shell’s Prelude is among seven export projects in gas-rich Australia sanctioned since 2009 by global energy giants including Chevron Corp. and Exxon Mobil Corp., as well as regional big hitters such as Australia’s Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and Malaysia’s Petroleum Nasional Bhd. The Pacific nation now rivals Qatar as the world’s biggest seller of LNG, a form of natural gas super-chilled into a liquid that can be shipped on tankers.
LONDON— Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A -0.37% PLC said it will announce plans to lay out targets to manage its emissions of the greenhouse gas methane Monday, joining a handful of major oil companies that have made similar pledges this year.
Shell has been outspoken about the value of natural gas as a “bridging” fuel—a cleaner-burning fossil fuel that can help bolster renewables like solar and wind energy when, for instance, the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing.
The company’s long-term strategy is wedded to gas. In 2016, it spent roughly $50 billion to buy smaller rival BG Group, an acquisition that cemented Shell’s position as one of the world’s biggest liquefied natural gas players.
Jun. 30, 2018 12:54 AM ET
BackgroundRoyal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has been actively focusing on what kind of business it wants to be involved in. Part of this activity is to change the composition of its assets. It has been selling plants and oil licenses, and invested where it wants to position the company.
Disposals have also been done to reduce the total debt level. Much of the debt came from the $35 billion acquisition of BG Group back in March of 2016.
Early this year, Shell communicated that its plans were to leave oil and gas operations in as many as 10 countries and instead focus more heavily on gas-rich Australia and shale opportunities in the United States.
Shell’s giant floating liquefied natural gas plant (FLNG), the Prelude, moved closer to production last week when she received a cool-down cargo from the LNG carrier Gallina.
The 70,000 dwt Gallina transferred a load of LNG to the Prelude on Wednesday and Thursday as the plant prepares for commissioning. It was the first time that Prelude has had an LNG carrier alongside to test the plant’s sophisticated loading arms.
Prelude is now testing its systems in preparation for first gas from Shell’s Prelude field, which holds an estimated three trillion cubic feet of natural gas (in combination with the adjacent Concerto field). Royal Dutch Shell hopes to begin generating revenue from the multi-billion-dollar project sometime this year.
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.
After a decade planning the world’s largest floating gas export plant, Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s supplies could get tapped by a competitor first.
Shell and Japan’s Inpex Corp. are both targeting gas from a connected reservoir in Australia’s remote Browse Basin, about 200 kilometers (125 miles) off its northwest coast, according to consultant Wood Mackenzie Ltd.Meeting its planned start up date this month would give Inpex’s Ichthys LNG project an edge over Shell’s Prelude LNG.
“The difference between Prelude starting six months before versus six months after Ichthys could be a few percent of their reservoir stake,” Wood Mackenzie analyst Saul Kavonic said in an email. “That is a material amount.”
by Angela Macdonald-Smith: Feb 2 2018 at 12:03 PM: Updated Feb 2 2018 at 3:19 PM
Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden has declared that the energy giant’s confidence in the LNG market has been justified with no sign of the oversupply that others had warned of.
“The LNG glut is conspicuously absent isn’t it, much to the surprise of those that thought this was inevitable,” Mr van Beurden told reporters at Shell’s fourth-quarter results briefing in London.
This year will be the year of the oil and gas revival, as prices lift performance and major projects come online.
While Australia is increasing its focus on securing domestic gas supply, it is taking a greater role globally and evolving the industry.
Wood Mackenzie Australasia oil and gas leader Saul Kavonic has outlined the five trends that will mark LNG growth in 2018.
Australia has been ramping up its LNG projects for a number of years, and 2018 will see it finally take the world’s number one spot from Qatar.
In 2018, the 488-meter long facility called Prelude, will begin its job of extracting and processing gas at sea.Displacing as much water as five aircraft carriers is just one eye-popping statistic that attempts to explain the sheer size of the world’s largest vessel.
Construction on Shell‘s huge floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) structure began in 2012 and was finished in July by Samsung’s Heavy Industries in South Korea, before being towed to Australia.
Now the floating facility sits at its first location, Shell’s Prelude gas field, around 125 miles north off the Western Australian coast.
by Angela Macdonald-Smith: Nov 29, 2017
Royal Dutch Shell has sewn doubt in the market about an early 2018 start-up of the oil major’s innovative Prelude floating LNG project off the coast of north-west Australia, with chief executive Ben van Beurden signalling that the project will only start contributing noticeably to cash flow in 2019.
While the ramp-up of the $US54 billion (71 billion) Gorgon LNG project in Western Australia was named by Mr van Beurden as among projects named to help grow cash flows next year, Prelude was included in the later batch.
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Royal Dutch Shell conspired directly with Hitler, financed the Nazi Party, was anti-Semitic and sold out its own Dutch Jewish employees to the Nazis. Shell had a close relationship with the Nazis during and after the reign of Sir Henri Deterding, an ardent Nazi, and the founder and decades long leader of the Royal Dutch Shell Group. His burial ceremony, which had all the trappings of a state funeral, was held at his private estate in Mecklenburg, Germany. The spectacle (photographs below) included a funeral procession led by a horse drawn funeral hearse with senior Nazis officials and senior Royal Dutch Shell directors in attendance, Nazi salutes at the graveside, swastika banners on display and wreaths and personal tributes from Adolf Hitler and Reichsmarschall, Hermann Goring. Deterding was an honored associate and supporter of Hitler and a personal friend of Goring.
Deterding was the guest of Hitler during a four day summit meeting at Berchtesgaden. Sir Henri and Hitler both had ambitions on Russian oil fields. Only an honored personal guest would be rewarded with a private four day meeting at Hitler’s mountain top retreat.
IN JULY 2007, MR BILL CAMPBELL (ABOVE, A RETIRED GROUP AUDITOR OF SHELL INTERNATIONAL SENT AN EMAIL TO EVERY UK MP AND MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS: 
MORE DETAILS:
MORE DETAILS: After a solicitor acting for Shell threatened to make the litigation "drawn out and difficult" with the intention of draining the resources of a financially weaker opponent, my late father (Alfred Donovan) and I decided to mount a wide-ranging campaign as a counter-measure. We jointly founded the Shell Corporate Conscience Pressure Group, which nearly 15% of Shell UK retailers joined. We regularly conducted ethical surveys involving up to 1500 Shell petrol stations. All responses were opened and authenticated by an independent solicitor who supplied Affidavits confirming the results. In whole page announcements in trade magazines (examples above) we challenged Shell to commission and publish the resuits of independent research asking the same questions and offering respondents GUARANTEED anonymity. Shell never took up the invitation. Instead it asked the UK Advertising Standards Authority to investigate our Shell surveys. No problems were found. The head-cut image of Alfred Donovan appears courtesy of The Wall Street Journal. 
See our link list of over 500 articles by the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters, Bloomberg, Forbes, Dow Jones Newswires, New York Times, CNBC etc, plus UK House of Commons Select Committee Hansard records, information on U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission website etc. all containing references to our Shell focussed websites, or our website founders Alfred and John Donovan. Includes TV documentary features in English and German, newspaper and magazine articles, radio interviews, newsletters etc. Plus academic papers, Stratfor intelligence reports and UK, U.S. and Australian state/parliamentary publications, also citing our Shell websites. Click on this link to see the entire list, all in date order with a link to an index of over 100 books also containing references to our websites and/or our activities.
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