Posts under ‘Shell Project Overruns’

abc.net.au

Shell, unions reach agreement in Prelude gas facility industrial dispute

ABC Kimberley / By Taylor Thompson-Fuller

Key points:

• The industrial action began in early June

• It resulted in Shell stopping shipments and suspending activity aboard

• Shell and unions say they are happy to have finally reached an agreement

Industrial action aboard Shell’s floating LNG facility Prelude is set to come to an end after unions and the company reached an in-principle enterprise agreement for workers.

The industrial action, which began in early June, led to Shell putting a halt to shipments leaving the facility 400 kilometres off the Kimberley coast and a shutdown in production amid soaring gas prices. read more

abc.net.au

Oil giant Shell feels heat over giant $21 billion Prelude floating LNG plant

By energy reporter Daniel Mercer

Key points:

• The Prelude project has been beset by cost and time blowouts, as well as technical problems
• A lobbyist and former engineer says safety issues are the biggest concern
• There are claims Prelude may never pay royalties for the gas it processes off Australia’s north-west coast

When Dutch-Anglo oil giant Shell decided to build a massive floating gas factory known as Prelude in 2011, it was billed as the dawn of a new era for the industry.

Australia was midway through a once-in-a-lifetime $300 billion splurge that would make the country the world’s biggest producer of super-chilled, shipped gas.

Floating gas plants were supposed to be the logical evolution, vacuuming up gas wherever they went and making fortunes for shareholders and taxpayers. read more

Nasdaq

Shell (SHEL) Gets Nod to Restart Production at Prelude FLNG

The British oil and gas giant, Shell Plc SHEL, recently got regulatory clearances and approvals to restart production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility at Browse Basin in Australia. The go-ahead signal came after Australia’s offshore petroleum supervisory body removed all restraints and cleared the route for restart after production was halted at the facility in December 2021 due to a fire incident and a power outage. read more

WHAT THE PRELUDE FLNG WHISTLEBLOWER SAID IN DEC 2013: “…god for bid if anything should happen on that vessel in the future I want it known that I raised my concerns officially.”: “It will go down like a lead balloon (or possibly prelude) but if I was an Australian I would refuse to work on the vessel…”

Nine years later, the ill-fated vessel has been shut down because of repeated dangerous occurrences and near catastrophe. Shell will not be able to claim that it was not warned again and again. 

By John Donovan

The headline arises from email correspondence between retired Shell Global HSE Group Auditor Bill Campbell and John Donovan on 10 Jan 2022 relating to the Shell Prelude project. The name of a third party copied in on the correspondence has been redacted. 

But first, some extracts from emails from nearly a decade ago sent to me by a high-level whistleblower in the Prelude FLNG project. In the event of a disaster, I feel sure the authorities will be seeking all such evidence, but by then it would be too late to save lives. 

19 Dec 2013

…and also warned shell on several occasions and this advice has been ignored by all party’s as financial interests come before safety and I have serious enough concerns to want my name removed from all records.

I have documentary evidence of the state of the packages being installed on the vessel and manufactured by totally unqualified personnel, failure of any understanding of the standards and regulations by management.

The list goes on and on but regardless of my own feelings my concerns are for the whole industry if this kind of practice goes on and god for bid if anything should happen on that vessel in the future I want it known that I raised my concerns officially. read more

WebWire

Shell and Deutsche Telekom agree to advance digital innovation in pursuit of climate goals

• Memorandum of understanding signed to accelerate transitions to net zero
• Shell supplies renewable energy to T-Mobile US
• Deutsche Telekom engineers to install more than 10,000 electric vehicle chargers in Germany

WEBWIRE – Monday, July 12, 2021

Shell Gas & Power Developments BV (Shell) and T-Systems International GmbH (T-Systems), Deutsche Telekom’s corporate customers arm, have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to advance digital innovation as both companies accelerate their transitions to net-zero emissions.

The MOU builds on an existing technological relationship between Shell and T-Systems. Under the terms of the agreement the two companies will: read more

LNG production at Shell’s Prelude gas processing plant in Western Australia restarts following 11-month closure

“As for making money from this project, that’s extremely unlikely because the cost overruns and completion delays are in the horrendous category,”…

Key points:

• The facility was shutdown for 11 months after electrical and safety problems
• Some analysts hold concerns about the facility’s economic and environmental performance
• Shell has never revealed the cost of constructing Prelude

Liquified natural gas (LNG) production has restarted this month on the world’s largest floating object, Shell’s half-kilometre long Prelude gas processing facility.

The restart is much-needed good news after an 11-month shutdown following a technical issue only described as an “electrical trip” by Shell, and three incidents that the offshore energy regulator NOPSEMA described as “dangerous occurrences”. read more

MYSTERY OVER SUDDEN DIVERSION OF LNG TANKERS BOUND FOR SHELL’S TROUBLED PRELUDE FLNG 

Extracts from Reuters article – Two LNG tankers bound for Australia’s Prelude facility divert..

It is not clear why the ships changed their destinations from Prelude…: Shell declined to comment on the matter.

EXTRACTS FROM RELATED SPECULATION BY RETIRED SENIOR SHELL EXPERTS

Your the wiz kid on tanker movements

….seems to me the only logical reason for such diversion of for example the Gaslog Glasgow was there was not a sufficiency of LNG to load on or around the 15 January (the first load was offtaken on 8 January) when to meet the 3.6m tonnes design output it would have been required to load around this time and I think you calculated that to meet the 3.6 mt/a  given an average LNG carrier capacity an offload would be expected every circa 7 –  10 days,… read more

Australia’s Prelude FLNG shipments resume: Shell

Published date: 11 January 2021

Cargo shipments have resumed at the 3.6mn t/yr Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) offshore Western Australia (WA), around 11 months after it went off line in February 2020 because of technical issues.

“LNG cargoes have resumed from Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility,” said operator Shell.

Prelude FLNG in the Browse basin has been plagued by technical issues since it started shipments in June 2019. read more

Prelude was planned as a flagship floating LNG project for the Anglo-Dutch supermajor. Like most other large-scale offshore LNG projects, however, it ran into delays and cost overruns.

Shell Restarts Production At Huge Prelude Project As LNG Prices Soar

By Irina Slav – Jan 11, 2021, 11:00 AM CST

Shell has restarted production of liquefied natural gas at its Prelude offshore project in Australia after almost a year’s suspension.

“LNG cargoes have resumed from Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility,” Argus reported, citing a company statement. read more

Shell’s Prelude FLNG becomes a big headache!

By Bill Campbell

According to a recent article in Forbes “the biggest vessel in the world costing todate between 12 and 17 billion US may have also turned into Shell’s biggest blooper.”

It’s all been Technically very challenging as Shell has attempted to squeeze a complex LNG plant into a relatively small space Forbes say. (this website has covered this as a fundamental concern a number of times) – (1)

Goodman Sachs are also of the opinion that when eventually fully operational Prelude, the worlds most expensive LNG project, will only break even in current market conditions at around 20 dollars per a thousand cubic feet. read more

Expert comments received in response to the BoilingCold article by Peter Milne “No winners from Shell’s $US17B Prelude floating LNG”

Comment from retired Shell International Global Safety Consultant, Bill Campbell:

It’s all rather depressing, most worrying aspect as implied in the article is the potential gas supply, or lack of it, from the homogeneous and shared reservoir with another operator bleeding off volumes.

The boilingcold.com.au journalist Peter Milne has given the most detailed analysis yet of the Prelude story, elements of both tragedy and farce.

COMMENT FROM “AN OLD SHELL E&P ENGINEERING SEA DOG”

As before I feel very sorry for the Aussies who are under extreme pressure to get this unit up and running.  I do not quite understand the journalist comment of “gas is running out”.  It is a shared reservoir therefore there will be an agreement for the total volumes in place and a regular review taking place to determine the remaining producible volumes and the agreed volume share for each operator.

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 above, 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.

The fears voiced by Bill Campbell about a loss of containment (see article link 3) have proven well-founded.

Ask the Australian National Offshore Petroleum and Environmental Management Authority.

ARTICLE: Voser wisely abandons an unstable ship: 28 December 2013

ARTICLE: Royal Dutch Shell Prelude to disaster?: 10 Jan 2014

ARTICLE: Shell Prelude FLNG: loss of containment of hydrocarbons almost inevitable: 21 Feb 2014

ARTICLE: What should frighten stiff Royal Dutch Shell shareholders: 15 March 2014

ARTICLE: Tales of the Unexpected and Royal Dutch Shell Prelude FLNG: 28 March 2014

ARTICLE: Prelude FLNG: A case of all your eggs in the one basket: 10 July 2014

ARTICLE: Prelude FLNG risks are on par with modern offshore oil and gas facilities say Shell – but are they?: 23 Sept 2014 read more

By John Donovan

For several years, retired Royal Dutch Shell experts, including Bill Campbell, have rung alarm bells about safety issues in relation to Shell’s Prelude FLNG project. See Royal Dutch Shell Prelude to disaster 

We have also published related information supplied to us by an insider. The person in question has been intimately involved in the project at a high level. He is deeply concerned that warnings issued to Shell (and other parties) have been ignored and that financial considerations are taking priority over safety issues. The whistleblower supplied me with internal information and photographic material. 

Bill Campbell made a chilling assessment: “The revolutionary concept of offshore LNG installations (FLNG) is said to have economic and environmental advantages. A distinct disadvantage however is that the risks to health and safety of persons employed offshore on the LNG FPSO’s, such as Prelude, will be higher, when compared to onshore LNG plants of similar capacity, specifically the potential for loss of life; …loss of containment of hydrocarbons is likely to occur on Prelude during its operational life, either through flaws in the design, human error or failure to inspect and maintain. It’s almost inevitable.  It’s only to be hoped that the consequences of these losses never reach their full potential.”  read more

Protest event in Ireland during “Shell to Sea” campaign

Joe Brennan: 4 Sept 2017: Extracts from article: “Vayu warns of volatile prices for winter gas”

Ireland imports much of its gas needs through the UK, even though the Corrib field off the Mayo coast, which started production in late 2015, has the potential to meet up to 60 per cent of the country’s gas needs and is expected to supply fuel for up to 20 years. Discovered 21 years ago, the field was dogged by years of opposition before natural gas started flowing almost two years ago. FULL ARTICLE read more

By John Donovan

US local newspaper, The Beaver County Times has published several enthusiastic articles welcoming “Shell Chemicals’ $6 billion ethane cracker plant on the banks of the Ohio River” and all of the jobs that will be created.

Shell’s Corrib gas project in Ireland was welcomed on the same understandable basis by most of the Irish population.

There is another similarity; opposition on health and safety grounds to the laying of necessary pipelines.

Shell’s aggressive approach to the relatively few protestors at the beginning of the Corrib project built up resentment and significant determined opposition. Costs escalated out of control  and construction was delayed by a decade. Shell has just  cut its losses by exiting the entire project. read more

By John Donovan

An article we published on 3rd July 2005 warned in relation to the Corrib Gas project in Ireland: “Do we spy another PR disaster on Shell’s horizon…”

I went on to warn:

..there appears to be all of the ingredients present for another Shell PR disaster…

At the 2005 Shell AGM, the then Chairman of Shell Transport and Trading Company Lord Oxburgh, was gung-ho about  jailing land owner opponents of the Corrib gas pipeline, who became known as the Rossport Five. read more

By John Donovan

A Reuters article published today reports that a collapse in the benchmark price of gas has hit Shell’s “long-delayed $12.6 billion Prelude project off northwest Australia”.  Citing Shell Prelude, it says that FLNG projects are being relegated to the backburner.

Shell executive VP Steve Hill is quoted as admitting: “There was maybe an expectation when Prelude was being conceived that this was the future and every LNG project would look like that. I think that got kind of superseded by the U.S. being the primary source of new LNG supply ..” read more