Posts under ‘Australia’

• Author Andrew Toh    Wanda Wang    Eric Yep
• Editor Wendy Wells
• 03 Jan 2019 | 07:14 UTC

Singapore — Shell will load the first condensate cargo from Australia’s Prelude FLNG project at end January, according to shipping reports and sources Thursday.

The condensate will be loaded in a 80,000 mt clip over January 31 to February 2, shipping reports showed.

A vessel has not been fixed for the cargo, and shipbrokers said Shell began looking for an Aframax tanker to load the cargo Thursday.

Shell did not immediately respond to an email query seeking comment.

The destination of the cargo is unclear, though trade sources have said that the oil major will likely use the cargo within its own network of splitters and refineries. read more

Jessica Jaganathan: December 26, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell said on Wednesday it has begun output at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility in Australia, the world’s largest floating production structure and the last of a wave of eight LNG projects built in the country over the last decade.

Though the project started up later and cost more than originally estimated, it is expected to further cement Australia’s lead as the world’s biggest LNG exporter, after the country took the crown in November. read more

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Jessica Jaganathan: DECEMBER 4, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell expects production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) unit to start at the end of the year, a spokeswoman told Reuters on Tuesday.

“We continue to progress Prelude towards operations, with safety and quality being our main focus … We expect to see production around the end of the year,” she told Reuters in an emailed statement.

Prelude – which will process natural gas produced offshore northern Australia and export it as LNG – is expected to have an annual LNG production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes. It will also produce 1.3 million tonnes a year of condensate and 400,000 tonnes a year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). read more

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Shell comments on deepwater vs. shale: Seeking Alpha: 18 Oct 2018

Shell bets on shale for flexibility in energy transition: Financial Times:17 Oct 2018

Shell’s $31 Billion Gamble On Canadian LNG: Seeking Alpha: 17 Oct 2018

Shell Exits Denmark’s Offshore Oil and Gas Sector: The Maritime Executive: 17 Oct 2018 read more

By John Donovan

Just over a month ago, in the context of informed speculation by retired Shell experts from snippets of information that have leaked out, I asked the question:

“Is all well with the Shell Prelude FLNG Project? 

A number of things have happened since publication, including todays announcement of Tom Summers exit from his VP role at Shell Energy Australia, linked to continuing delays in the Prelude project.

Add in the appointment of Rob Jager as VP Prelude, Shell Australia, and the secondment to Prelude of outside technicians from LNG production company Atlantic, it seems that the project may indeed be in a state of flux. read more

Speculation by retired Shell experts: Is all well with the Shell Prelude FLNG Project? 

There have been past dire warnings about potential safety issues relating to the Shell Prelude FLNG Project, including from a knowledgable insider source, who supplied information and photographic evidence to support various allegations.

The LNG tanker Gallina visited Prelude in Mid April, and again in June, with transfer of LNG for purpose of cooling tanks etc, nothing unusual there other than it seems to be taking an awful long time.

Also here is a Project falling over itself in the early days to tell the world how wonderful things were going, but now there appears no update news at all on how the commissioning is going? read more

Jun. 30, 2018 12:54 AM ET

Summary

• Renewal of assets with great focus on the future.
• Natural gas as energy source will continue to grow.
• Share buybacks and generous dividends.

Background

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS.A) (NYSE:RDS.B) has been actively focusing on what kind of business it wants to be involved in. Part of this activity is to change the composition of its assets. It has been selling plants and oil licenses, and invested where it wants to position the company.

Disposals have also been done to reduce the total debt level. Much of the debt came from the $35 billion acquisition of BG Group back in March of 2016.

Disposals

Early this year, Shell communicated that its plans were to leave oil and gas operations in as many as 10 countries and instead focus more heavily on gas-rich Australia and shale opportunities in the United States. read more

Vera Eckert

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German solar battery maker sonnen has secured 60 million euros ($71 million) in funds from Shell Ventures and existing shareholders to expand at home and abroad. Shell Ventures, a unit of the Anglo-Dutch oil major that has been boosting its investments in solar and other renewables, was a lead investor in the latest funding round, sonnen Chief executive Christoph Ostermann told Reuters. “With this money, we can get started on important investment plans, especially in the United States and Australia,” he said, adding that existing shareholders also contributed extra cash. FULL ARTICLE read more

Henning Gloystein: APRIL 24, 2018

SINGAPORE (Reuters) – Shell and Inpex are on the final stretch of a years-long race to export gas from offshore northern Australia, where both have spent billions of dollars building the world’s biggest maritime vessels to grab a slice of Asia’s booming LNG market. Anglo-Dutch energy major Royal Dutch Shell and Inpex, Japan’s biggest oil and gas producer, are vying for first gas from two overlapping fields after delays and cost overruns that have plagued both projects. The pair have spent billions on offshore facilities, including Shell’s 490 meter (1,600 ft) long Prelude floating liquefied natural gas unit and Inpex’s Ichthys Explorer semi-submersible platform, both the world’s largest of their class. FULL ARTICLE read more

UPDATE 5

Shell has informed other authorities about the suspected wrongdoing, including the U.S. Department of Justice and Britain’s Serious Fraud Office…

* Shell accuses ex-executive of ‘crime’ during oilfield sale

* Says new evidence unrelated to Italy court case

* Evidence of possible kickbacks to Seychelles company – source (Adds reaction from Robinson’s lawyer)

Ron Bousso, Libby George: MARCH 28, 2018

LONDON, March 28 (Reuters) – Royal Dutch Shell has filed a criminal complaint against a former senior employee over suspected bribes in the $390 million sale of an oilfield in Nigeria, where the company is already under investigation over a separate deal.

Dutch prosecutors confirmed they had received the complaint against Peter Robinson, a former vice president for sub-Saharan Africa. They said it would be included in an ongoing investigation into Shell and Italy’s Eni over the acquisition of a different Nigerian oilfield, known as OPL 245. read more

John Benny: 6 March 2018

(Reuters) – Chevron Corp said on Tuesday it expected supply shortage in the global liquefied natural gas (LNG) market by around 2025, echoing comments made last month by top LNG trader Royal Dutch Shell.

Demand for natural gas, which burns cleaner than coal and oil, has surged as countries such as China look to curb environmental pollution.

Chevron, owner of the giant Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects in Australia, said it expects global demand to be nearly 600 million metric tonne per annum (mmtpa) by 2035, while supply could be just about half of that. read more

Reuters: LNG market needs $200 billion investment to meet demand: Shell: 26 FEB 2018

CNBC: Shell warns of liquefied natural gas shortage as LNG demand blows past expectations: 26 FEB 2018

by Angela Macdonald-Smith: Feb 2 2018 at 12:03 PM: Updated Feb 2 2018 at 3:19 PM

Royal Dutch Shell chief executive Ben van Beurden has declared that the energy giant’s confidence in the LNG market has been justified with no sign of the oversupply that others had warned of. “The LNG glut is conspicuously absent isn’t it, much to the surprise of those that thought this was inevitable,” Mr van Beurden told reporters at Shell’s fourth-quarter results briefing in London. FULL ARTICLE read more