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Prelude FLNG Project

The Hindenburg, The Titanic and Shell Prelude FLNG

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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Did Joe Lycett Slay the Oil Giant Shell in its Anglo-Dutch Form?

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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Coming soon: The Hindenburg, The Titanic and Shell Prelude FLNG

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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Prelude FLNG a GIANT MISTAKE?

The Times

Prelude to brighter future for gas runs into a storm

Emily Gosden Energy Editor: Monday 17 Jan 2022

In the open ocean more than 120 miles off the coast of Australia lies Prelude, Shell’s floating liquefied natural gas plant — the biggest floating object ever made. The energy group spent billions of dollars building the vessel, the length of four football pitches, to tap gas beneath the seabed in this remote location, superchill it to a liquid and offload it to tankers to sell worldwide. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Almost…no tax or LNG royalties from… Shell’s Prelude projects?

…no tax or LNG royalties from… Shell’s Prelude projects…

The Guardian

Western Australia’s offshore gasfields pay almost no royalties and stoke carbon emissions, report finds

Australia Institute report finds state received only $430m of its revenue from industry that generated $27bn in exports last year

Peter Hannam: Sun 16 Jan 2022 16.30 GMT

Australia’s giant offshore gasfields are paying almost no royalties, create few jobs and are a large and rising source of greenhouse gases, according to a new report from the Australia Institute. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell Prelude Meltdown: Something went very badly wrong here…

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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s Prelude FLNG risked major failure due to power issues

OFFSHORE ENERGY

Shell’s Prelude FLNG risked major failure due to power issues

January 13, 2022, by 

Australia’s offshore security regulator NOPSEMA said Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility risked the “catastrophic failure” in December due to a power outage.

Prelude is a floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility, located offshore, north-northeast of Broome, in Western Australia. It is designed to extract, liquefy and store natural gas at sea before it is transferred and shipped to customers. It arrived at its current location back in mid-2017.

At the beginning of December 2021,  Shell had to temporarily suspend production at the facility because of a fire that occurred at the facility the day before. Previously, the FLNG unit went offline from February 2020 to January 2021 due to an electrical trip. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Further expert comment on the Shell Prelude debacle

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

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Will Shell have to abandon the Prelude experiment?

Will Shell have to abandon the Prelude experiment?

From John Donovan: 8 Jan 2022

Dear Mr Andrew Smith

I am writing to you in your capacity as Country Chair of Shell Australia.

I have copied the email to Shell Legal Director Mr Donny Ching and Shell CEO Mr Ben van Beurden because the subject is a matter of great importance. Namely the lives and well-being of Shell employees and contractors working on the Prelude experiment. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Alarm Bells Still Ringing About Shell Prelude

By John Donovan

Printed below in italics is the content of an email sent earlier today to the Australian National Offshore Petroleum and Environmental Management Authority (NOPSEMA) by Bill Campbell, a retired senior Shell HSE expert and long-term Shell shareholder. Bill led Health, Safety and Environmental Audits for Shell worldwide. His credentials to comment on such specialist issues are impeccable.

Bill’s email to NOPSEMA is about an article published days ago by the Brisbane Times under the headline: Shell’s Prelude gas vessel faced ‘catastrophic failure’ from power outage. It was authored by a tenacious energy journalist Peter Milne who has been responsible for a series of revealing articles in recent years about the $24b Prelude vessel. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

The Many Growing Pains of Shell’s Prelude FLNG Continue

The Many Growing Pains of Shell’s Prelude FLNG Continue

January 4, 2022: Trent Jacobs Journal of Petroleum Technology

Once heralded as an engineering marvel, it has now become one of the biggest engineering disappointments in recent history. This is the story so far of Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plant which suffered a new setback last month after it was ordered to halt production following an onboard fire.

According to multiple reports, the fire occurred in the late evening hours of 2 December and caused a complete power outage on the facility where around 200 personnel live and work. Over the next 3 days, the crew made multiple attempts to regain power but were successful only in restoring intermittent power. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Australia Tells Shell to Keep Prelude FLNG Unit Offline Until It’s Proven Safe for Workers

gCaptain

Australia Tells Shell to Keep Prelude FLNG Unit Offline Until It’s Proven Safe for Workers

Mike Schuler: December 28, 2021 Regulators in Australia have ordered Shell to keep its giant Prelude FLNG facility offline until it can demonstrate that its safe for workers.

Under the direction of Australia’s offshore energy regulator NOPSEMA, Shell Australia is to “undertake an investigation and create a plan, schedule and commitment to take all necessary corrective actions and demonstrate that the facility can operate safely in the event of power loss” before production can be restarted.

The direction comes after an electrical fire on December 2 led to a complete loss of power to the facility, resulting unreliable and intermittent power for three days. Media reports say the facility was partially evacuated, leaving only a skeleton crew for essential functions. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell (RDS.A) Upholds Order to Stall Work at Prelude FLNG Plant

Nasdaq

Shell (RDS.A) Upholds Order to Stall Work at Prelude FLNG Plant

CONTRIBUTOR

Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A) received an order from NOPSEMA, the Australian oil and gas industry’s safety regulator, to keep the massive Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility (offshore Western Australia) closed. The directive will remain enforced until RDS.A can prove to the regulator that the facility is adequately powered and its safety measures are in working order.

The order came after manufacturing at the floating plant was halted earlier this month due to a power outage and the repeated attempts to re-establish stable electricity were unsuccessful. The inability to restore adequate power seemed unending, thus jeopardizing the health and safety of the facility’s staff. Due to this shutdown, FLNG LNG capacity will most certainly be unavailable for several months. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

SHELL PRELUDE WHITE ELEPHANT

Expert comments relating to the Peter Milne article for WAtoday:

Shell ordered to shut down Prelude floating LNG until it is safe: 24 December 2021

Comment by Bill Campbell the retired HSE Group Auditor at Shell EP International

Actions by the Regulator should be welcomed.

Not surprisingly, it’s obvious and should be obvious to the keenest shellites that Prelude has serious design and operational problems raising workforce risk levels to unacceptable levels. You simply cannot continue to operate if you are unable to demonstrate through weekly testing that safety-critical equipment, fire pumps and emergency generators et al are available automatically and immediately when called on. This is a legal requirement and a commitment given by Shell in the installations Safety Case. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

How Shell lost control of its $24B Prelude floating gas factory

WAtoday

How Shell lost control of its $24B Prelude floating gas factory

By Peter Milne

In early December a small fire on Shell’s 488-m Prelude gas facility off WA’s coast kicked off a cascade of failures that left about 250 workers, 475 km from Broome, without communications, lights, running water or access to helicopters.

With almost every system on Australia’s most complex offshore facility out of action workers scrambled to restart power that everything depended on, with at least two stretchered to the Prelude’s hospital with heat exhaustion. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.

Shell’s $12 Billion Prelude LNG Barge Drifts Toward A Finale

Shell’s $12 Billion Prelude LNG Barge Drifts Toward A Finale

Prelude’s future darkens as losses mount.

Tim Treadgold Asia: April 26, 2021

Prelude or finale, that’s a question some observers are starting to ask about a $12 billion ship called Prelude which was supposed to revolutionize the liquefied natural gas (LNG) industry.

Built by Royal Dutch Shell, Prelude is designed to move from one offshore gasfield to another, avoiding the need for costly offshore structures and pipelines to shore-based gas processing facilities. read more

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.
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