Shell’s Prelude FLNG Begins Initial Phase of Production Off Western Australia

Prelude FLNG loads gas from a conventional-sized tanker during systems tests earlier this year. Photo: Shell Australia

Shell Australia announced this week it has opened the wells at its massive Prelude FLNG facility located off Western Australia.

The Floating Liquefied Natural Gas facility now enters start-up/ramp-up, which is the initial phase of production where gas and condensate is produced and is moved through the facility.

Shell says once ramp-up has concluded, the facility will be stabilized for reliable production of LPG and LNG.

“The focus continues to be on providing a controlled environment to ensure Prelude will operate reliably and safely now, and in the future,” Shell Australia said in statement.

Located some 295 miles from Broome, WA, the 600,000-tonne Prelude FLNG is one of the largest floating structures ever constructed. It will be permanently moored for period of 20 to 25 years and, at its peak, will produce and export approximately 3.6 million metric tons of LNG per year (mtpa), 1.3 mtpa of condensate, and 0.4 mtpa of LPG from the nearby Prelude field via conventional gas tankers. 

The Prelude FLNG facility arrived in Australian waters under tow from South Korea in March 2017. The facility took on its first gas in June 2018 and has been undergoing tests of systems since.

The facility is designed to weather-vane 360 degrees around a turret moored in approximately 248 meters of water.

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