Australia's Prelude FLNG not expected to resume full production by year-end

Singapore — Shell doesn't expect full production at its Prelude FLNG facility in Australia to resume before the end of this year, a company spokeswoman said by email on Oct. 15.

The 3.6 million mt/year LNG production facility in offshore Western Australia went offline early this year and it hasn't shipped any LNG cargoes since then. Continued suspension of Prelude FLNG will contribute to the tightness of the Asian LNG market through winter.

Besides LNG, Prelude FLNG also has capacity for producing 1.3 million mt/year of condensate, and 400,000 mt/year of LPG.

Shell had announced the suspension of activities at Prelude FLNG on Feb. 4, after receiving a notification from the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority, or NOPSEMA in January.

"We continue to work through the process for hydrocarbon restart of Shell's Prelude FLNG facility, with safety and stability foremost in mind. Full production is not expected to resume before year end," the company spokeswoman said in the statement.

"Prelude is a multi-decade project, and our focus is on delivering sustained performance over the long term," the statement said.

Shell operates the Prelude FLNG, located 475 km from Broome in Western Australia, with a 67.5% stake, while Japan's Inpex holds a 17.5% stake, South Korea's Kogas 10%, and Taiwan's CPC Corp. 5%.