Liquefied natural gas cargoes have resumed from Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility offshore Australia following the latest shutdown, which lasted more than four months.
She said:“Our focus at Prelude remains on the long-term and delivering safe, sustained and reliable performance into the future”
It noted the announcement from Australia’s National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (Nopsema) confirming Direction 1860 has been closed following Shell’s demonstration to the regulator’s satisfaction that the facility can “safely recover essential power and associated essential services following a loss of power, and that the safety systems and essential support systems operate to maintain safety of personnel”.
Prelude FLNG’s most recent incident occurred on 2 December 2021 when the facility experienced an unplanned event that resulted in a complete loss of power at the facility, which subsequently led to unreliable and intermittent power availability over three days.
Essential services including lighting, safety systems, communication systems, potable water systems, sewage treatment and HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) were affected and seven people were treated for heat related conditions.
Nopsema on 23 December instructed Shell 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 commence”.
Prelude FLNG has a nameplate production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG, 1.3 million tpa of condensate and 400,000 tpa of liquid petroleum gas.
Shell operates Prelude with a 67.5% interest on behalf of co-venturers Inpex on 17.5%, Kogas with 10% and CPC having 5%.
UK supermajor Shell with different partners – SGH Energy and Osaka Gas – within months is expected to take the final investment decision on its Crux field development, which will be a tie-back to Prelude FLNG.
