Shell’s Never-Ending Maintenance Adventure Down Under: Prelude LNG Facility to Restart in Mid-November!

Posted 18 October 2023 by John Donovan.

Oh, the suspense! Shell’s Prelude liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility off the picturesque Australian coast is set for yet another grand reopening – it’s like a never-ending carnival of maintenance and mishaps!

Our dear friends at Shell decided to kick off maintenance work at this 3.6-million metric ton a year floating LNG plant back in August. A top Shell executive, probably with a straight face, mentioned in September that it was merely a “major turnaround” work that would last roughly two months. Oh, how naïve they were!

Now, our sources (who we assure you are absolutely reliable) tell us that this maintenance extravaganza is expected to be completed by mid-November. Just a slight delay, nothing to worry about, right? Well, apparently, they discovered a few “new issues” along the way, but hey, who doesn’t love a surprise challenge during their maintenance work?

And the icing on the cake: “The first LNG delivery cargo is now expected by mid-November,” says our trusty second source. Because, really, what’s the rush? It’s not like Australia has any pressing energy needs or anything.

The last time something left the facility was on Aug. 19. But who’s counting, right? It’s only been a couple of months.

But wait, there’s more! A Shell spokesperson chimed in with some wisdom: “Shell regularly undertakes maintenance at all its facilities as required to ensure they are delivering safe and reliable performance over the long-term.” Of course, why not do it now and then to keep things interesting?

In case you’ve forgotten, Prelude is the world’s first floating LNG facility, a marvel of modern technology that only cost a mere $12 billion. Because, let’s be honest, who needs to stick to a budget when you’re pioneering revolutionary technology?

And let’s not forget the string of outages since it started production in June 2019. Ah, the memories of fires and full power losses – just another day at the office for our friends at Shell!

In case you missed it, Reuters reported in September that Shell pondered shutting down Prelude for a year to fix its endless issues but, in a stunning twist, decided to opt for a “shorter” maintenance period. We can only imagine what their definition of “shorter” is.

As always, Shell is invited to point out any factual inaccuracies.

ARTICLE ENDS

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