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In brief

*The number of accidents per man-hour worked has risen again for the first time in a long time last year.

*A series of incidents, criminal investigations and warnings from regulators are damaging Shell’s safety image.

*Shell CEO Van Beurden himself is also not satisfied and wants to do more to guarantee safety.

Printed below is an English translation of an article published today by the Dutch Financial Times, Financieele Dagblad.

Beeld: Getty Images/ bewerking: FD Studio

Shells gas leaks, fires and accidents

Bert van Dijk: 13 March 2019

Last year the number of accidents per hour worked increased at the oil company. Supervisors warn that Shell needs to do more about safety.

In December 2017, during regular maintenance work, a lifeboat suddenly came loose on the Shell platform Brent Alpha in the North Sea. The lifeboat fell into the sea and was recovered a day later. Although no one is injured, it was not the first time. In 2008, it was discovered that two lifeboats on another nearby Shell platform, Brent Bravo, were technically in such poor condition that they had to be replaced. And in 2007 a rescue boat on another Shell platform broke loose and collapsed into the sea. read more

It is worth bearing in mind that Mr Campbell correctly predicted the tragic avoidable disaster that cost the lives of workers on the Shell Brent Bravo North Sea platform.  Shell ignored his chilling forecast put in writing that a fatal accident was inevitable.  read more

The Prelude project will be fired up 475 kilometres north-east of Broome, ready to liquefy natural gas straight from the ocean floor and ship it around the world.

Shell’s Prelude floating LNG vessel will come into production when it is safe to do so, and not before, Australia chairwoman Zoe Yujnovich told the Melbourne Mining Club today.

Ms Yujnovich also called for Australia to reconsider a carbon price as she discussed political, economic and social tensions in Australia.

In what may be an attempt to lower expectations about when first production will occur, Ms Yujnovich said the 488m-long giant was simple in concept but complex in execution. read more

By John Donovan

For several years, retired Royal Dutch Shell experts, including Bill Campbell, have rung alarm bells about safety issues in relation to Shell’s Prelude FLNG project. See Royal Dutch Shell Prelude to disaster 

We have also published related information supplied to us by an insider. The person in question has been intimately involved in the project at a high level. He is deeply concerned that warnings issued to Shell (and other parties) have been ignored and that financial considerations are taking priority over safety issues. The whistleblower supplied me with internal information and photographic material. 

Bill Campbell made a chilling assessment: “The revolutionary concept of offshore LNG installations (FLNG) is said to have economic and environmental advantages. A distinct disadvantage however is that the risks to health and safety of persons employed offshore on the LNG FPSO’s, such as Prelude, will be higher, when compared to onshore LNG plants of similar capacity, specifically the potential for loss of life; …loss of containment of hydrocarbons is likely to occur on Prelude during its operational life, either through flaws in the design, human error or failure to inspect and maintain. It’s almost inevitable.  It’s only to be hoped that the consequences of these losses never reach their full potential.”  read more

MELBOURNE, Feb. 5, 2019: By Rick Wilkinson OGJ Correspondent

The Perth-based Australian subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell PLC has begun the approval process for a potential $2-billion (Aus.) development of its Crux natural gas-condensate field in the Browse basin license AC/L9 offshore Western Australia as a tie in to the company’s Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) facilities. FULL ARTICLE read more

• 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

FULL ARTICLE

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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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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

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

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

This year will be the year of the oil and gas revival, as prices lift performance and major projects come online. The Department of Industry, Innovation and Science has forecast LNG exports to reach $35 billion in value 2018. This will be driven by Chevron’s second Wheatstone LNG train coming online in the second quarter of the year, Inpex’s Ichthys project ramping up production, and Shell’s floating LNG ship Prelude coming into full operation. FULL ARTICLE