The Hague-based energy giant Shell is working on restarting production at its giant Prelude FLNG facility offshore Western Australia but the first cargo could be months away.
Shell hasn’t exported any cargoes from the FLNG for eight months following an electrical trip on February 2.
“The process for hydrocarbon restart of Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility has commenced,” a Shell spokesperson said in a emailed statement.
“Once we have safely started up, we will be in a stronger position to talk about timing of production and cargo,” the spokesperson said.
“As we have said consistently, our focus has been and remains very much on a safe and stable facility, and we’ve continued to work methodically through the multi-faceted process required for production to re-commence with that foremost in mind,” the spokesperson added.
To remind, Prelude shipped its first cargo last year after several start-up delays.
The FLNG has the capacity to produce 3.6 mtpa of LNG, 1.3 mtpa of condensate and 0.4 mtpa of LPG.
Shell operates the Prelude FLNG, located 475 km from Broome in Western Australia, with a 67.5 percent stake.
Japan’s Inpex holds a 17.5 percent stake, Korea’s Kogas 10 percent, while Taiwan’s CPC holds 5 percent.