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.