Royal Dutch Shell and its partners have achieved the first shipment of liquefied natural gas cargo from the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas facility (Prelude FLNG facility) located offshore Australia.
The cargo headed to reach customers in Asia is being shipped by the Valencia Knutsen vessel.
Operated by Shell, the Prelude FLNG project produces gas and condensate from the Prelude and Concerto gas fields in Block WA-44-L offshore Western Australia. The facility, located nearly 475km north-north east of Broome, has been in production since December 2018.
Shell integrated gas and new energies director Maarten Wetselaar said: “Today’s first shipment of LNG departed from Prelude FLNG, safely. Everyone involved should be very proud of the work taken to reach this important milestone.
“Prelude forms an integral part of our global portfolio and plays an important role in meeting the growing demand for more and cleaner energy for our customers around the world.”
Production capacity of Prelude FLNG facility
Prelude FLNG has a production capacity of 3.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, 1.3 mtpa of condensate and 0.4 mtpa of LPG. Shipment of its condensate cargo began in March 2019.
Shell Australia chairman Zoe Yujnovich said: “Prelude FLNG combines human endeavour and ingenuity from across the globe and here in Australia. We are proud to work with our local communities, suppliers and partners to ensure its safe, reliable operations into the future.”
Shell holds 67.5% stake in the floating LNG project and is partnered by Inpex (17.5%), KOGAS (10%) and OPIC (5%).
Construction on the floating LNG facility began in October 2012. With dimensions of 488m in length and 74m in width, the Prelude FLNG facility is said to be the largest offshore floating facility ever built. When fully equipped and with its cargo tanks full, the LNG facility weighs over 600,000 tonnes.
The Prelude FLNG vessel was built by the Technip Samsung Consortium at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) shipyard located in Geoje, South Korea.
