Shell closes Prelude FLNG after fire

Energy giant Shell has shut down its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility offshore Western Australia due to a fire incident.

Shell operates the Prelude FLNG, located at Browse Basin, 475 kilometres from Broome in Western Australia.

Shell temporarily suspends production at the FLNG due to a fire that occurred at the facility yesterday, on 2 December.

Sources told Argus that smoke detected in an electrical equipment area triggered the automatic fire detection onboard the facility. This caused the loss of main power, thus the facility is currently operating on backup.

The company will suspend the facility’s activities until the main power is restored. However, how long it will take, remains unknown.

To remind, the FLNG unit was offline from February 2020 to January 2021 due to an electrical trip.

The Prelude FLNG has the capacity to produce 3.6 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) of LNG, 1.3 mtpa of condensate, and 0.4 mtpa of LPG. Shell holds a 67.5 per cent stake. Additionally, Japan’s Inpex holds a 17.5 per cent stake, Korea’s Kogas 10 per cent, and Taiwan’s CPC holds 5 per cent.

In June 2019, it reached a significant milestone, shipping its first liquefied natural gas cargo to customers in Asia.