Posts under ‘Bill Campbell’

WAtoday

Shell’s Prelude gas ship hit by safety, crewing and industrial problems

By Peter Milne: June 10, 2022 — 5.00am

Shell is running its $23 billion Prelude floating LNG plant with critical positions filled by crew who are not fully qualified, and more than 200 safety alarms out of action, ahead of industrial action due to start on Friday.

Gas exports recommenced from the world’s largest floating vessel just two months ago after it was shut down for four months following a complete power failure in December that the offshore safety regulator said could have led to a “catastrophic failure”. read more

energynewsbulletin.net: 

Prelude potentially facing another shut down 

Helen Clark: Editor: 9 June 2022

Australia’s Fair Work Commission has approved the action as unions hammer out a new enterprise bargaining agreement with Shell. The protected industrial action runs until June 21.

The 3.6 million tonne vessel sold four cargoes through May and has varied contracts including with Korea’s Kogas. Other cargoes go into Shell’s wider LNG portfolio. This comes as the global gas market tightens amid far higher demand for LNG from Europe as it tries to swiftly pivot from Russian pipe gas. read more

energynewsbulletin.net

Serious fire dangers at Prelude FLNG

Paul Hunt: Senior Journalist: Energy & Commodities: 08 June 2022

THE union representing offshore oil and gas workers at Shell Australia’s Prelude FLNG facility have outlined serious safety concerns to the safety regulator, warning employees’ lives are at stake because fire suppression systems are not working.

The Offshore Alliance – part of the Australian Workers Union and Maritime Union of Australia – lodged the complaint yesterday which revealed that over 200 smoke detectors on the facility were not relaying to the control room and workers would not be aware of an explosion or fire at the giant floating gas project. read more

ENERGY VOICE

Shell sends ‘thug’ to stop industrial strike action on Prelude FLNG, says labor union

Production at Shell’s (LON:SHEL) Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility offshore Western Australia may soon be affected by industrial strike action after the Offshore Alliance issued the supermajor with a notice of protected industrial action starting 10 June.

Production at Shell’s (LON:SHEL) Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) facility offshore Western Australia may soon be affected by industrial strike action after the Offshore Alliance issued the supermajor with a notice of protected industrial action starting 10 June.

In response to the formal notice served by lawyers representing the Offshore Alliance, a labor union, as well as the Electrical Trades Union (ETU), issued on 30 May, Shell has “now resorted to industrial thuggery in a desperate effort to try and stop protected industrial action on Prelude,” the Offshore Alliance claimed in a post on Facebook today.

“One of the Shell leads, who has been parachuted onto Prelude, is throwing his weight around like he’s some sort of big king dick…this self-styled hero tough guy has been doing his best to intimidate some of the younger female tech’s by demanding they tell him whether they are in the Union and whether they intend to take Protected Industrial Action,” claimed the Offshore Alliance.

“Shell’s senior management need to pull this idiot into line as the Offshore Alliance will bang both him and Shell into the Federal Court for breach of Freedom of Association provisions if he doesn’t pull his head in. Pull off your management thugs, Shell,” added the union. read more

Shell to develop Crux project in Western Australia

May 30, 2022

Shell Australia Pty Ltd (Shell Australia) and its joint venture partner, SGH Energy, have taken a final investment decision to approve the development of the Crux natural gas field, off the coast of Western Australia. Crux will provide further supplies of natural gas to the existing Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility.

“This project forms an important part of Shell’s integrated gas portfolio,” said Wael Sawan, Integrated Gas, Renewables and Energy Solutions Director at Shell. “Natural gas from Crux will play a key role in helping Asian customers move from coal to gas as a cleaner-burning fuel. The project will help us to meet the increasing demand for LNG as the energy market transitions to a lower carbon future.

“The project will also boost our customers’ security of supply, which is becoming an ever more significant consideration for global consumers.”

“Developing the Crux project reinforces our commitment to Australia, including boosting the regional economy, creating jobs and providing training opportunities,” said Shell Australia Chair Tony Nunan. “The use of Prelude’s existing infrastructure enables significantly reduced development costs, making Crux competitive and commercially attractive.”

The Crux field is in Commonwealth marine waters in the northern Browse Basin, 620 kilometres north-east of Broome. The development will consist of a platform operated remotely from Prelude,. Five wells will be drilled initially, and an export pipeline will connect the platform to Prelude, which is around 160 kilometres to the south-west of Crux. read more

The Sydney Morning Herald

Shell, Seven Group invest $3.5b in Crux gas for Prelude as unions take action

By Peter Milne: May 30, 2022 — 4.37pm

Shell and Seven Group have sanctioned the $US2.5 billion ($3.5 billion) Crux gas field off Western Australia’s Kimberley coast to supply the world’s largest vessel – Shell’s Prelude floating LNG plant – on the same day unions gave notice of industrial action.

The announcement comes one week into the prime ministership of Anthony Albanese, who said he wants to be remembered for action on climate and is under pressure from the Greens to stop all new fossil fuel projects.

Wood Mackenzie analyst Michael Song said without Crux, before 2030 the 488 metre-long Prelude would not have sufficient gas to operate at full capacity.

Prelude was meant to be the world’s first floating LNG plant and a prototype for Shell to deploy globally to develop gas in remote areas that would otherwise be stranded.

Construction of Crux will start this year with the first gas from an unmanned platform with five wells expected to flow in 2027.

The disappointing Concerto reservoir is another setback for a project that has fallen well short of most metrics that determine a successful project. read more

abc.net.au

Oil giant Shell feels heat over giant $21 billion Prelude floating LNG plant

By energy reporter Daniel Mercer

Key points:

• The Prelude project has been beset by cost and time blowouts, as well as technical problems
• A lobbyist and former engineer says safety issues are the biggest concern
• There are claims Prelude may never pay royalties for the gas it processes off Australia’s north-west coast

When Dutch-Anglo oil giant Shell decided to build a massive floating gas factory known as Prelude in 2011, it was billed as the dawn of a new era for the industry.

Australia was midway through a once-in-a-lifetime $300 billion splurge that would make the country the world’s biggest producer of super-chilled, shipped gas.

Floating gas plants were supposed to be the logical evolution, vacuuming up gas wherever they went and making fortunes for shareholders and taxpayers. read more

CITYA.M.

Shell restarts LNG shipments from giant floating gas site

NICHOLAS EARL: TUESDAY 12 APRIL 2022

Shell has restarted shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Prelude, its massive floating plant off the coast of Western Australia.

This follows operations at the world’s largest floating object being halted for four months after a fire and safety scare.

The oil and gas giant has confirmed the Prelude facility resumed shipping cargos after demonstrating to regulators that it was safe to do so. read more

Nasdaq

Shell (SHEL) Gets Nod to Restart Production at Prelude FLNG

The British oil and gas giant, Shell Plc SHEL, recently got regulatory clearances and approvals to restart production at its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility at Browse Basin in Australia. The go-ahead signal came after Australia’s offshore petroleum supervisory body removed all restraints and cleared the route for restart after production was halted at the facility in December 2021 due to a fire incident and a power outage. read more

The Hindenburg, The Titanic and Shell Prelude FLNG

By John Donovan

A huge bomb the size of several aircraft carriers welded together is floating off the coast of Australia. It was never meant to be a bomb but is now deemed to be so dangerous, susceptible to an explosion, that it is on emergency shutdown after a fire. 

This article is written in collaboration with a retired Shell Global HSE Consultant Mr Bill Campbell. For several years we have been jointly ringing alarm bells about the Shell Prelude FLNG project. read more

COMING SOON: The Hindenburg, The Titanic and Shell Prelude FLNG (in collaboration with Bill Campbell)

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upstreamonline.com article

Shell’s Prelude FLNG to remain offline for most of Q1: Ben van Beurden

By Josh Lewis in Perth: 4 FEB 2022

Prelude has been offline since an electrical fire in December last year resulted in a complete loss of power at the facility, with a subsequent report into the incident suggesting the FLNG vessel was at risk of ‘catastrophic failure’ as a result of the fire and subsequent power outages.

While Shell has not given a definitive timeline of when it anticipates to have its flagship FLNG development back up and running, chief executive Ben van Beurden conceded in a media call on Thursday the operator expected Prelude to be offline “for most of Q1”.

FULL ARTICLE

RELATED UPSTREAMONLINE.COM NEWS

Power outage could have led to ‘catastrophic failure’ at Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility read more

More information here about John Donovan (above), his website royaldutchshellplc.com and his main contributor on Shell safety issues, Mr Bill Campbell. 

Links here to several hundred articles and features by a host of publishers including the FT, Wall Street Journal, Reuters etc., containing references to Donovan Shell focussed websites, my late father or me, or in respect of Shell safety issues, our valued contributor, Mr Campbell. read more

By John Donovan

Following the airing of a Channel 4 TV documentary Joe Lycett vs the Oil Giant on 24th October 2021, seismic changes have taken place at Royal Dutch Shell. 

Based on the timing of the chain of events, it appears that the documentary may have contributed to the decision to bring a sudden end to the oil giant in its Anglo-Dutch form, under which it operated for over a hundred years. 

Joe’s controversial impersonation of Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden including Ben shown literally talking shit about the green energy transition was cringe-making but made an impact. read more

Appearing on this website soon, a joint production with retired HSE Group Auditor of Shell International, Bill Campbell…

The Hindenburg, The Titanic and Shell Prelude FLNG

Will include the astonishing story of how Shell lawyers wrote to Mr Campbell’s solicitors as part of a coordinated military-style plan to “detach” him from us. The plan backfired spectacularly. 

From Wikipedia: RMS Titanic departing Southampton on April 10, 1912. Public Domain

The Hindenburg disaster was an airship accident that occurred on May 6, 1937. Public Domain.  read more

Shell Prelude meltdown: Something went very badly wrong here…

EXPERT COMMENT ABOUT PRELUDE MELTDOWN BY “AN  OLD SHELL E&P ENGINEERING SEA DOG”

With reference to cargo loading operations at Prelude.

It’s been a while since I was involved with these activities but the principles remain the same.  As always there have been many revisions with the objective to improve overall safety for people and property.

Prelude in particular is unique as it exports three differing products with very different properties. 3.6 million tons of LNG, 1.3 million tons condense and 0.4 million tons of LPG. read more

Bill Campbell provides further expert comment on the Shell Prelude debacle

By Bill Campbell

I was a bit under the weather yesterday and was a bit fed up really with banging head against the wall, short of time when got an email about NOPSEMA so apologise for what was a scrawl but an attempt to give you both a flavour of what must have been putting guys offshore under pressure.  An inordinate amount of Alarms and musters also. But remember a number of the DO were happening in the period when the plant was down so risk levels may not have been high.  read more