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Shell postpones Prelude turnaround

amid industrial action

PROJECTS SHELL said this week that it was postponing off period” that would have allowed it to prepare
planned maintenance on the Prelude floating for a turnaround. However, the commission
LNG (FLNG) project offshore Australia. The rejected the request.
move came amid ongoing industrial action relat- The Offshore Alliance had most recently
ing to a pay dispute that has disrupted operations extended its work stoppages until this week, but
at the facility. they appear likely to be extended further still as
“As a result of the ongoing protected indus- the pay dispute remains unresolved. On August
trial action and inability to complete prepara- 8, the alliance said it was willing to enter media-
tion work, we are not able to proceed with the tion with Shell.
planned turnaround at this time,” a Shell spokes- The last cargo was exported from the 3.6mn
person told Reuters in emailed comments. tonne per year (tpy) Prelude facility on July 8.
According to the spokesperson, the turna- According to the Sydney Morning Herald, rev-
round will be pushed back to 2023, with specific enue losses relating to the strike are estimated at
timing depending on various factors including between AUD500mn ($355mn) and AUD1.1bn
when the industrial action ends, weather condi- ($781mn).
tions and contractor availability. The newspaper also reported that Shell had
Protected industrial action means work stop- begun consultations with Australia’s National
pages have been approved by Australia’s Fair Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental
Work Commission. In Prelude’s case, the action Management Authority (NOPSEMA) to deter-
has resulted in the facility being shut since July, mine what had to be done to keep Prelude safe
with Shell telling customers last month that it until the delayed maintenance could be com-
would be unable to supply scheduled LNG car- pleted. A NOPSEMA spokesman told the Syd-
goes for the duration of the industrial action. ney Morning Herald that the regulator had told
Shell had asked the Fair Work Commission to Shell it must continue to satisfactorily manage
stop the industrial action and impose a “cooling risks on Prelude.™

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