Today, Shell International resumed shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the Prelude facility, the world’s largest floating LNG terminal, located off northwest Australia, after a 4-month shutdown due to a major blackout.
A Shell spokesman said that a shipment of liquefied gas had completed its loading and had left the site, yesterday evening, Sunday, refusing to disclose the destination.
“Our focus at Prelude, the world’s largest floating LNG terminal, remains the long-term and safe, sustainable and reliable performance for the future,” Shell said in a statement.
Prelude Crisis
The Prelude gas facility, which has a capacity of 3.6 million tons per year, lost power on December 2, and Shell was unable to restore a reliable power source after trying for 3 days.
Shell was allowed to resume operations last month after convincing Australia’s National Oil Safety Authority and Marine Environment Administration that the problems had been resolved and the company could operate the facility safely in the event of a power outage.
The four-month shutdown at the world’s largest floating LNG terminal was just the latest setback that Prelude has faced since its late start in 2019.
Gas Prices
The outage at Prelude was one of the factors driving up LNG prices last December, and prices have since rocketed to record levels as Europe seeks gas to replace sanctions-hit Russian exports.
Electricity at the Prelude plant had been cut off after smoke was detected in the electrical utility area, and Shell sought to restore electricity to the ship, the largest floating LNG plant, during the first days after the fire, but its attempt was unsuccessful.
The Australian Oil Control Authority opened the way for Shell to restart Prelude, the world’s largest floating liquefied gas production plant, northwest of Australia, after it was stopped by a fire due to a power outage at the beginning of last December; This led to the closure of the station.
The Prelude is anchored 400 kilometers north of Broome on the Kimberley coast, and the facility employs about 200 people.
Built in South Korea, the Prelude is 488 meters long and 74 meters wide, at an estimated cost of $17 billion (A$24 billion), and was towed to Australia in mid-2017, some 18 months behind schedule.
Global LNG body urges governments to support fuel buyers amid Ukraine crisis
An international liquefied natural gas (LNG) body has appealed to governments to help mitigate fuel price spikes and promote new LNG developments to secure a stable global supply.
“This is the first time the International Group of Liquefied Natural Gas Importers (GIIGNL) has issued such an urgent message, underlining the sense of crisis,” Michiaki Hirose, GIIGNL’s vice president for Asia told reporters on Tuesday.
It also said governments should encourage technological development and LNG contracts through policy and financial support to underpin final investment decisions in the LNG value chain.
Source: XglobalMarkets
