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Prelude going through ‘teething troubles’ says deceiver Ben van Beurden

(The above comment is by John Donovan who challenges Shell to sue him if it disputes the accuracy of what is stated)

WA Today Article (Below)

No quick fix for Shell’s Prelude after December fire

By Peter Milne

Shell is unlikely to return its troubled Prelude floating LNG vessel off the WA coast to production until late March, losing valuable revenue as LNG demand from gas-starved Europe soars.

Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden said the $24 billion vessel that suffered a complete power failure after a small fire on December 2 would be out of action for most of the March quarter.

“Prelude is going through teething troubles,” Mr van Buerden said.

“Quite a few teething troubles, of course, but bearing in mind, this is a unique asset with, of course, quite unique challenges.”

The December fire cascaded into the multiple failures of safety systems on the world’s largest floating vessel that had 293 crew on board. An investigation by offshore safety regulator NOPSEMA concluded the incident could have led to “catastrophic failure” if it had continued.

Mr van Beurden, speaking last week after announcing earnings of $US6.4 billion ($9.0 billion) for the December quarter, said Shell had to carefully and comprehensively solve the problems before production could restart.

“It’s a remote facility, it’s difficult to get people in,” he said;

“It’s not been made easy because of the pandemic as you can imagine.”

“These problems compound the issue a little bit,” he said.

The NOPSEMA investigation concluded that a repeat of the December total power outage was “foreseeable and credible.”

Shell cannot recommence production until it convinces the regulator it can safely recover essential power and other essential services after a loss of power.

The Prelude has suffered a series of safety and production problems since mid-2017, when it arrived at its moorings 475 kilometres from Broome from a South Korean shipyard.

The 488 metre-long vessel was to be the first of many deployed by the Anglo-Dutch oil and gas giant but has been in production for less than 12 months in 4½ years.

Shell’s 67.5 per cent share of Prelude’s 3.6 million tonnes a year LNG capacity is a significant loss as spot prices for LNG in Asia rise to record highs, driven by Europe competing for the gas to replace supplies from Russia.

Shell chief financial officer Jessica Uhl said December was “an absolute standout quarter for our LNG business.”

“There are genuine supply issues that are being felt across the energy system, and that does put pressure on gas prices.

“We’re certainly seeing that in Europe.”

Shell gas division produced earnings of $US4.1 billion ($5.8 billion) in the December quarter, 141 per cent higher than the previous quarter.

SOURCE

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