Page 7 - GLNG Week 29 2022

GLNG ASIA GLNG

Shell announces extension of

disruption to Prelude FLNG cargoes

PROJECTS SHELL told customers on July 11 that it would be would prevent Shell from contracting out full-
unable to supply cargoes from its Prelude float- time jobs. Prelude workers have also accused the
ing LNG (FLNG) facility offshore Australia until company of constantly changing their conditions
at least July 21. This came as industrial action of employment without consultation.
over a pay dispute was extended after union Data from commodity data provider Kpler
members rejected Shell’s latest offer. show that Shell loaded one LNG cargo at Prel-
Once the offer was rejected, it was reported ude on June 28 and another on July 7. Further
that Shell would have to completely shut down loadings remain disrupted.
Prelude within days, as a result of workers ban- The ongoing outage is contributing to the
ning mooring tankers alongside the vessel as part tight global market for LNG supplies, with an
of their protected action. This effectively pre- outage at Freeport LNG in the US also exacer-
vents Shell from unloading LNG and liquefied bating the situation. Prelude, with a capacity
petroleum gas (LPG) from its storage tanks, and of 3.6mn tonnes per year contributes roughly
leads to the tanks rapidly reaching full capacity. one LNG cargo per week to the market, while
The super-major had previously warned that the 15mn tpy Freeport terminal accounts for
shipments from Prelude would be disrupted around four cargos per week when it is operat-
until at least mid-July. (See AsianOil Week 26) ing normally.
As of press time this week, though, there was no LNG from Prelude is delivered to customers
sign that the dispute could be resolved anytime in Asia, and observers will now be watching to
soon, and thus the outage at the vessel could be see whether these customers turn to the increas-
extended further still. ingly expensive spot market amid the ongoing
While pay is a key issue in the dispute, unions disruption.™
are also demanding job security protections that

Week 29 22•July•2022 www. NEWSBASE .com P7