Shell made their decision to build the offshore Prelude LNG platform in May 2011, following that March 2011 earthquake. South Korea, Taiwan, and China were also expected to be LNG buyers. A few years later the price of LNG began declining.
Shell’s floating LNG-factory, the Prelude FLNG, is 1,600 feet long -- the largest floating facility ever built, and at a cost estimated between $12 and $17 billion. It operates in the undersea-gas-producing Browse Basin, 125 miles off the coast of northwestern coast of Australia.
The Prelude transferred the first load of LNG to a tanker in June 2019. It has a production capacity of “at least” 3.6 million tonnes per year of LNG, 1.3 million tonnes per year of condensate, and 0.4 million tonnes per year of liquefied petroleum gas..
Shell owns 67.5% of the Prelude. Japan's INPEX owns 17.5%. South Korea’s KOGAS owns 10%. Taiwan’s CPC Corporation owns 5%. One advantage of a floating production platform is no land-based government approvals were required to build it.
Shell said “regular offtake of LNG, LPG and condensate cargoes” had taken place until January 2020, until a shutdown occurred due to “an electrical trip.” But the facility was still shut down after six months, with no notice of when, or if, production would restart.
Shell later made the mysterious announcement that: “This is the final phase in the multi-stage, multi-faceted, restart process. We will be in a stronger position to talk about timing of production and cargo once that has been completed. Prelude is a multi-decade project and its success will be measured by delivering sustained performance over the long-term."
Right now this engineering marvel it is moored by eight huge chains to the seabed off the coast of Australia, long after the high LNG prices from 2011 to 2014. The plan was to keep the Prelude at the Australia location for 20-25 years. In April 2020, Shell said it would delay a final investment decision on developing a gas field needed to keep the Prelude operating in future years.