Prelude FLNG: Shell’s $17.5 Billion Disaster Gets Another ‘Turnaround’—Because the First One Worked So Well

Stop the presses—Shell is once again “fixing” Prelude FLNG, the world’s most expensive floating LNG catastrophe. Yes, the very same Prelude that has lurched from one disaster to another since production began in 2018. The plan? A leadership shake-up, mass restructuring, and yet another grand vision: Turnaround 2026. Because when all else fails, slap a new label on the mess and hope investors don’t notice. If history is any guide, don’t hold your breath—unless you’re on Prelude, in which case, you might want to really avoid breathing in those unvented hazardous gases.

Prelude, Shell’s $17.5 billion floating headache, was supposed to be a marvel of engineering. Instead, it’s been a slow-motion trainwreck of operational failures, safety nightmares, and regulatory smackdowns. The company has already confirmed the departure of long-serving Asset Manager Peter Norman, but, surprise—no successor has been named. Meanwhile, a quiet exodus of senior figures, including Operations Manager Andrew Harvey and Offshore Installation Manager Kerry Lambert, is underway.

Shell Australia remains suspiciously vague on how ‘Turnaround 2026’ will impact the crew aboard Prelude, but industry whispers suggest a major workforce overhaul is coming. Translation: expect layoffs, new hires, and yet another round of Shell pretending it has everything under control.

Prelude’s Never-Ending Crisis Mode

Where do we even begin? A fire in December 2021 knocked out the entire power system, shutting down Prelude for five months and forcing Shell to grovel before regulators. The National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) refused to let Prelude restart until Shell could prove it had actually fixed its safety issues. And let’s not forget the great smoke detector debacle of 2022—because what’s an offshore facility without functioning fire alarms?

Then, in February 2025, NOPSEMA caught Shell failing to properly vent hazardous gases like benzene and hydrogen sulfide, endangering workers. Another Improvement Notice. Another black mark on Shell’s already toxic safety record. But don’t worry—Shell definitely has things under control this time.

A History of Warnings (That Shell Ignored)

It’s not as if Shell wasn’t warned. Former Shell HSE expert Bill Campbell (sadly now deceased) and whistleblower Irina Woodhead called out the company’s incompetence. The website Royaldutchshellplc.com has been publishing alarming reports about Prelude for over a decade. Yet somehow, Shell always finds a way to be “shocked” when yet another disaster unfolds.

Prelude: A $17.5 Billion Sinkhole

Originally budgeted between $10.8 billion and $12.6 billion, Prelude’s costs ballooned to $17.5 billion, with repeated outages and disputes grinding production to a halt. Shell even recorded a massive impairment charge against Prelude in 2020—a rare moment of honesty about what an absolute boondoggle this project has become.

Even when production improved in 2023, NOPSEMA’s latest warnings suggest the facility is still teetering on the edge of another shutdown. And now, with the Crux gas field set to backfill Prelude from 2027, Shell is under pressure to make this floating disaster actually work.

Turnaround 2026: The Last Gasp?

So, what’s the grand plan? Shell is being predictably cagey, but industry insiders suspect ‘Turnaround 2026’ is code for mass workforce changes, proactive maintenance, and another desperate attempt to stop Prelude from hemorrhaging money.

The big question: Will Shell actually fix the problems, or is this just another rebrand of failure? If history is any guide, don’t hold your breath—unless you’re on Prelude, in which case, you might want to really avoid breathing in those unvented hazardous gases.

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