Jan 17th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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The Times
Prelude to brighter future for gas runs into a storm
Emily Gosden Energy Editor: Monday 17 Jan 2022
In the open ocean more than 120 miles off the coast of Australia lies Prelude, Shell’s floating liquefied natural gas plant — the biggest floating object ever made. The energy group spent billions of dollars building the vessel, the length of four football pitches, to tap gas beneath the seabed in this remote location, superchill it to a liquid and offload it to tankers to sell worldwide.read more
Jan 16th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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…no tax or LNG royaltiesfrom… Shell’s Prelude projects…
The Guardian
Western Australia’s offshore gasfields pay almost no royalties and stoke carbon emissions, report finds
Australia Institute report finds state received only $430m of its revenue from industry that generated $27bn in exports last year
Peter Hannam: Sun 16 Jan 2022 16.30 GMT
Australia’s giant offshore gasfields are paying almost no royalties, create few jobs and are a large and rising source of greenhouse gases, according to a new report from the Australia Institute.read more
Jan 14th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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Shell Prelude meltdown: Something went very badly wrong here…
EXPERT COMMENT ABOUT PRELUDE MELTDOWN BY “AN OLD SHELL E&P ENGINEERING SEA DOG”
With reference to cargo loading operations at Prelude.
It’s been a while since I was involved with these activities but the principles remain the same. As always there have been many revisions with the objective to improve overall safety for people and property.
Prelude in particular is unique as it exports three differing products with very different properties. 3.6 million tons of LNG, 1.3 million tons condense and 0.4 million tons of LPG.read more
I was a bit under the weather yesterday and was a bit fed up really with banging head against the wall, short of time when got an email about NOPSEMA so apologise for what was a scrawl but an attempt to give you both a flavour of what must have been putting guys offshore under pressure. An inordinate amount of Alarms and musters also. But remember a number of the DO were happening in the period when the plant was down so risk levels may not have been high.read more
Jan 10th, 2022
by John Donovan.
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WHAT THE PRELUDE FLNG WHISTLEBLOWER SAID IN DEC 2013: “…god for bid if anything should happen on that vessel in the futureI 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 futureI want it known that I raised my concerns officially.read more
Royal Dutch Shell expects profits at its gas trading division to be ‘significantly higher’ in the last quarter of 2021 as it cashes in on rising prices.
The oil giant also said it would go ahead with its plan to return $5.5billion to shareholders through share buybacks after the sale of its US shale business.read more
The FTSE 100 oil behemoth said earnings from its gas division will be “significantly higher” in the fourth quarter of its financial year than during the previous three-month period.
Shell has a large portfolio of gas that is pumped through pipelines or carried on cargo ships in its liquefied form. However, its trading fell short in the third quarter because of production problems in several locations.
The company said it had overcome these issues, allowing it to benefit from a huge rally in which natural gas prices more than tripled in 2021.read more
John F Kennedy once said: “In a crisis, be aware of the danger — but recognise the opportunity.”
For Shell CEO Ben van Beurden and his colleagues, the opposite might be true: when grasping opportunity, be aware of the danger.
The oil major today told investors that profits from its gas trading business were set to be “significantly higher” thanks to surging prices. In the same update, Shell announced plans to return another $5.5 billion to investors through a buyback.read more
Shell expects a significant boost in profits in its natural gas division, thanks to soaring prices, when it reports its latest results next month, as the oil and gas company said investors would benefit from the continuation “at pace” of its $7bn share buyback scheme this year.
Shell, the world’s largest producer and trader of liquified natural gas, expects trading results at its integrated gas business in the fourth quarter to be “significantly higher” year on year as the rocketing price of gas outweighs a drop in production volume because of unplanned maintenance works.read more
Power problems on Shell’s giant Prelude gas vessel in December with almost 300 workers on board risked the “catastrophic failure” of parts of the ship’s structure, according to a report by the offshore safety regulator.
While the crew off the WA coast battled in tropical heat without air conditioning or ventilation to restore power, the steel spine of the vessel was cooling towards a point where it could have lost the strength to support the 80,000 tonnes of gas processing equipment on top of the 488 metre-long vessel.read more
Once heralded as an engineering marvel, it has now become one of the biggest engineering disappointments in recent history. This is the story so far of Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant which suffered a new setback last month after it was ordered to halt production following an onboard fire.
According to multiple reports, the fire occurred in the late evening hours of 2 December and caused a complete power outage on the facility where around 200 personnel live and work. Over the next 3 days, the crew made multiple attempts to regain power but were successful only in restoring intermittent power.
The incident prompted an onboard inspection and investigation by Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA), which on 23 December ordered the supermajor not resume production.
Shell must now prove to the regulator that Prelude can safely recover from such power losses in the future before it can resume gas production.
Based on its initial investigation, NOPSEMA concluded that “the operator did not have a sufficient understanding of the risks of the power system on the facility, including failure mechanisms, interdependencies, and recovery.”read more
Dec 28th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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gCaptain
Australia Tells Shell to Keep Prelude FLNG Unit Offline Until It’s Proven Safe for Workers
Mike Schuler: December 28, 2021Regulators in Australia have ordered Shell to keep its giant Prelude FLNG facility offline until it can demonstrate that its safe for workers.
Under the direction of Australia’s offshore energy regulator NOPSEMA, Shell Australia is to “undertake an investigation and create a plan, schedule and commitment to take all necessary corrective actions and demonstrate that the facility can operate safely in the event of power loss” before production can be restarted.
The direction comes after an electrical fire on December 2 led to a complete loss of power to the facility, resulting unreliable and intermittent power for three days. Media reports say the facility was partially evacuated, leaving only a skeleton crew for essential functions.read more
Comment by Bill Campbell the retired HSE Group Auditor at Shell EP International
Actions by the Regulator should be welcomed.
Not surprisingly, it’s obvious and should be obvious to the keenest shellites that Prelude has serious design and operational problems raising workforce risk levels to unacceptable levels. You simply cannot continue to operate if you are unable to demonstrate through weekly testing that safety-critical equipment, fire pumps and emergency generators et al are available automatically and immediately when called on. This is a legal requirement and a commitment given by Shell in the installations Safety Case.read more
Australia’s offshore safety regulator has ordered Shell to shut down its giant Prelude floating LNG vessel off Western Australia’s North West coast while damning the company’s ability to operate the facility after it descended into chaos in early December following a series of power failures.
The direction from regulator NOPSEMA means Prelude, the biggest floating vessel ever built, will be shut down until Shell can convince them there will be no repeat of the recent dangerous episode.read more
Dec 6th, 2021
by John Donovan.
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World Oil
Shell evacuates Prelude floating LNG plant after power outage
By STEPHEN STAPCZYNSKI AND MATTHEW BURGESS on 12/6/2021
(Bloomberg) –Royal Dutch Shell Plc has evacuated non-essential staff from its floating liquefied natural gas facility in northwest Australia as the operator struggled to restore power that knocked out operations earlier in the week, according to people familiar with the matter.
The delay in bringing essential power generators back online at the Prelude LNG export plant had left workers without ventilation, potable water services and a sewage treatment system, said one of the people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as they’re not authorized to speak to media. The evacuation of non-essential staff was assisted by Inpex Corp.’s helicopter and rescue vessel, the people said.read more
In the 90s and up to 2004 carrying on Audits on Woodside Energy offshore installations on behalf of SIEP I was made aware that Woodside along with other operators held the then Regulator in low regard. They were not enough of them, underfunded and considered not competent and also because of this did not have the authority and respect of the Industry.
A forward looking COO of Woodside had the revolutionary idea of involving Regulators in his Audit process and requested I also discuss my findings etc with them. Now the old Regulatory organisation has been redesigned with more resources, a wider brief, and much more support it appears from state and national government.
Bogus Group has made both a succinct but most meaningful contribution.
If as covered on their blog the operator is considered Not Yet Competent to understand his own operational risks by a rejuvenated, well resourced, self confident, and authoritative Regulator, and that finding seems to be accepted by Shell Australia, then we begin to understand better how the events of 2nd December developed
Bill Campbell.
Bogus Group: When the regulator determines that an operator does not have sufficient understanding of the risks of the Prelude facility power systems, including failure of mechanisms, interdependencies, and recovery, alarm bells should be ringing.
Bogus Group: Following yet another Prelude safety issue, I wonder if ‘mortification’ is in Rob Jager’s’ vocabulary, after his legacy idiotic statements (August’19 blog). Or does he just develop amnesia as he moves through the executive revolving door to his next role, where he can continue to utter Hans Christian Andersen like proclamations.
Gail: As a very concerned South African citizen I wish to point out that Shell is supposed to respect people and have ethics.
You are going against the wishes of many South African citizens with this proposed exploration.
Citizens have stood together and have brought two court cases against Shell, the first one was not successful and we are awaiting the decision on the second case.
We appeal to Shell HO to take notice of our concerns and cease with this exploration.
USA USA USA: I think this site is loosing its purpose. The next batch of Shell reorg has removed most of the people who would be willing to post comments. Shell is just lost - thinking its green when its about 0.5% green...
Eliece Horton: I really like my local Shell Gas Station, they have always been very helpful, so I am sad that we can no longer go there.
Our family will be BOYCOTTING SHELL in the USA to STOP Seismic Testing on the South African Coast to protect Marine Life.
The oil will not go anywhere. Leave it there until Britain has a generation of inhabitants that appreciate it. Meanwhile the present numpty generation can cope with windmill energy and 51'N solar.
David Tallboys
Fortunately the Japanese have seen sense and are encouraging new oil and gas projects:
Government officials have been quietly urging trading houses, refiners and utilities to slow down their move away from fossil fuels, and even encouraging new investments in oil-and-gas projects.
Robin Beckett
Shell won't care too much, they have exploration and new developments going on worldwide, as do the other big oil and gas companies. Gas/petrol was $2.76 a gallon in Texas yesterday, that's 15c down on earlier in the week.
colin whyte
Am I missing something here? Wasn't Scotland's financial state based on oil/gas receipts during their last independence referendum? I'm to suspect that Krankie now realises independence is a no go so is doing her utmost to trash the Nation. Nice to be able to turn down a thousand jobs as well.
R Morley
Unless we have zero requirement for oil and gas we have two options:
1) Exploit UK national resources and extract it ourselves
2) Pay another country and import it.
It is astonishing/depressing that UK Plc is having its energy policy dictated by a group of juvenile eco extremists.
Stuart Robertson
Few of these green eco nuts were alive or old enough to remember when in the early 1970’s when OPEC put our economy into a tailspin and we started to explore for our own resources. Now thanks to meaningless virtue signally we are about to become even more dependent on foreign powers to keep us warm and our way of life alive. I say meaningless because industry is already working towards transition from fossil fuels but it can’t happen by tomorrow afternoon and meanwhile our friends in Russia and Mid East will be rubbing their hands in glee at our naivety.
Len RMaC
Green activism is a cancer that will erode this country’s competitiveness and our standards of living. Somehow, it needs cutting out before it’s damage has gone too far.
graeme scott
We don’t develop national resources, we don’t develop our infrastructure to cope , we import resources from Qatar and yet we have shale gas in North Yorkshire that will meet our needs for 50 years
John Condon
The ecowarriors use ICE cars possibly Diesel. They probably have gas central heating and ovens. It’s OK according to them to import coal, oil and gas to power these - but we must stop producing fossil fuels ourselves?!?!?! They seem oblivious to the additional transportation costs associated with importation.. They seem oblivious to the strategic risk of trusting Putin and OPEC to maintain supplies and prices. They have essentially put the cart before the horse. FIRST STOP IMPORTS and when coal, oil and gas are no longer needed for fuel and raw materials such as plastic THEN STOP INDIGENOUS SUPPLIES. This is so obvious how come they can’t see it?!?!?!
Clitherow Kid
It will go ahead but with lower public profile investors. Recent projects have seen a slew of equity partners with unrecognised names. The wider picture though is the message it sends to the highly skilled and well paid UK workers in the sector. They represent the jobs that we need to retain, and could be deployed in the urgently needed new nuclear plant developments. Instead it looks like a lot will be relocating to the middle east to be replaced here with what? More Deliveroo cyclists?.
Ogden Nash
Could somebody at the DT please commission a simple piece of research and write an article to show the requirements for electricity should the Government plans come into being - namely that all cars and all domestic heating is converted over to electric. So something like ..... No' of cars is the UK x average mileage x no' of KWh per mile = total KWh required for transport. ( you could even make it optimistic and assume everyone converts to a Nissan Leaf - no more Chelsea Tractors ) Then a similar calculation for homes ... No' of homes x average KWh used per year = Total KWh.
Add these together and divide by one of the outputs of a major Nuclear rector, This will show how many more reactors we would need to supply these crazy ideas.
Oil giant has pulled out of the Cambo field amid lack of support from UK and Scottish governments: Small selection of comments from this Telegraph article
Kathryn Jones
Let me correct that headline for you."victory for Nicola Sturgeon, Saudi Arabia and Russia as Shell walks away..." Fixed it for you.
J Thomas
Oh no! We are going to have to send more charity payments to Scotland under the Barnett formula! Additionally, if no one drills for gas and oil two things will happen. Many of us will freeze to death and the price of oil and gas will zoom upwards to include what I call G.T.T. The Greta Thunberg Tax!
Kelland Hutchence
Well done Shell! At least the oil and gas will still be there to be exploited when all this fake climate crisis is revealed for what it really is.
Ian Mclaren
If that's a victory? I'd hate to see what one of her defeats looks like.
Dale Carmichael
I think we going to massively regret this.
The eco loons don't care about the decent people this decision will effect.
James Hammett
These people are ridiculous. We are still going to use oil and all its by-products. This makes no positive difference to the country's carbon output, it just means a little more of it will be from burning oil from other countries' oil fields when we could have been drilling our own.
Scot Way
In 2014 gas and oil were the bedrock of an independent Scotland's financial future. Her new stance is mere posturing and destructive towards future jobs and industry. Wind power ain't gonna cut it. She's like rudderless ship being tossed about at sea during a storm.
Echo Fish
Reply to Scot Way - view message
Especially if the plan is to sell the energy to the "hated" English. She may well find England finds other independent energy sources.
Steve Graham
It seems that the Scottish economy or jobs dont matter any more to Sturgeon's SNP. While the UK push for a Zero Carbon economy, China are burning everything they can find the push their economy forwards. Mini countries like Scotland need to stop virtue signaling their Green smugness and realise their input is so minute that they are irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.
Andrew Pierce
Your headline describes this as "a victory"! How the hell can this be described as a victory? Anything which reduces our own self-sufficiency, and leaves us more reliant on importing a vital resource from countries who's leaders seek to destroy us can only be described as a monumental own-goal!
Jiminy Cricket
Sturgeon only ‘opposed’ Cambo on the 16th November 2021. Before that she sat on the fence and blamed Boris. Then during Cop26 she realised her mistake and opposed it. Boris is the winner here - he knew that this would be an ‘own goal’ for Sturgeon and the SNP, now in league with the Scottish Green Party who also oppose the Scottish fishing industry. 10000 jobs lost to Scotland and much more. Environmental issues marooned in the in-tray for the Scottish Government- while power cables are still not fixed and people in Scotland are freezing. If that’s a win for Sturgeon I’d like to see her Financial Plan for her Independence Referendum.
If this had been the other way around, this article would have featured prominently in the main news page, rather than under the “Business” section. This is why people question the BBC’s impartiality..
(P.S. I voted remain)
No2EU: 10:54 15 Nov
to rl"
If this had been the other way around, this article would have featured prominently in the main news page, rather than under the “Business” section.This is why people question the BBC’s impartiality..(P.S. I voted remain)
"
No2EU replied: And Brexit would be blamed.
Smile dont shout: 10:57 15 Nov
Can't imagine what prompted this move:
"Earlier this year, a court in the Netherlands ruled that by 2030 Shell must cut its CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels.” This only applies to the Netherlands
greenbird10 11:01 15 Nov
to Smile dont shout
"
Can't imagine what prompted this move:"Earlier this year, a court in the Netherlands ruled that by 2030 Shell must cut its CO2 emissions by 45% compared to 2019 levels."This only applies to the Netherlands
"
greenbird10 replied:
Think that's all the article needed to say to explain the move.
U17881151: 10:48 15 Nov
The truth is corporations are concerned about EU bureaucratic interference.
We saw with AstraZenica that the EU will block trade if they believe it gives them an advantage.
Google and other tech companies are increasingly being fined billions to fund EU wages and pensions.
The EU is a bit anti business.
It would be better to just focus on trade and creating friendly partnerships.
Arcangel: 10:56 15 Nov
to U17881151
"
The truth is corporations are concerned about EU bureaucratic interference. We saw with AstraZenica that the EU will block trade if they believe it gives them an advantage. Google and other tech companies are increasingly being fined billions to fund EU wages and pensions. The EU is a bit anti business. It would be better to just focus on trade and creating friendly partnerships.
"
Arcangel replied:
Agreed, but tbh I would rather we were stricter on companies like Shell given they are responsible for a large amount of the worlds pollution
Insider: Joe Lycett should talk to his friend Jimmy Carr about Shell. Jimmy worked in Shell marketing dept during the 1990s at Shell Mex House in the Strand.
Listen and read proof in audio and transcript form of Shell CEO Ben van Beurden’s cover-up tactics in the OPL 245 Nigerian corruption scandal. The instruction given by him in the covertly recorded call to CFO Simon Henry was at odds with Shell’s claimed core business principles. Cover-up and obstruction, instead of transparency and integrity, says Shell critic John Donovan
JOHN DONOVAN TV DOCUMENTARY INTERVIEW
SHELL EXECUTIVES AT THE CENTER OF A SCHEME TO STEAL $1.3 BILLION FROM NIGERIA’S PEOPLE
SHELL ADMITS DEALING WITH NIGERIAN MONEY LAUNDERER – BBC NEWS
SHELL, ENI AND NIGERIAN OFFICIALS IN OPL 245 CORRUPTION SCANDAL
INVESTIGATION OF OPL 245 NIGERIAN OIL CORRUPTION SCANDAL
DUTCH EARTHQUAKES CAUSED BY SHELL/EXXON
SHELL KILLS FOR OIL IN NIGERIA
ESTHER KIOBEL SUES SHELL FOR COMPLICITY IN HUSBANDS MURDER
ESTHER KIOBEL: EVIL OIL GIANT SHELL COLLUDED IN THE EXECUTION OF MY INNOCENT HUSBAND
SHELL LIED ABOUT CLEANING UP OIL IN NIGER DELTA
SHELL SPIES INFILTRATED NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT
LEGO DROPS SHELL OVER GREENPEACE OIL SPILL VIDEO
SHELL ARCTIC DRILLING ACCIDENTS
SHELL KNEW ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE DECADES AGO
ABANDONED BY SHELL: KEITH MACDONALD & FAMILY, VICTIMS OF RADIOACTIVE CONTAMINATION AT WORK
ROYAL DUTCH SHELL FOUNDER SIR HENRI DETERDING, NAZI FINANCIER
JOHN DONOVAN PROMOTIONAL GAMES FOR SHELL AND OTHER CLIENTS
EBOOK TITLE: “SIR HENRI DETERDING AND THE NAZI HISTORY OF ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON EBOOK TITLE: “JOHN DONOVAN, SHELL’S NIGHTMARE: MY EPIC FEUD WITH THE UNSCRUPULOUS OIL GIANT ROYAL DUTCH SHELL” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON. EBOOK TITLE: “TOXIC FACTS ABOUT SHELL REMOVED FROM WIKIPEDIA: HOW SHELL BECAME THE MOST HATED BRAND IN THE WORLD” – AVAILABLE ON AMAZON.
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…no tax or LNG royalties from… Shell’s Prelude projects…
Shell Prelude meltdown: Something went very badly wrong here…
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