Inpex News

Esgian reports rig-related updates from Dolphin Drilling, Diamond Offshore, and Seadrill in its Week 9 Rig Analytics Market Roundup.Report Outline:ContractsDespite Tullow Oil’s recent announcement that it would take a break from drilling offshore Ghana, Noble Corp. has stated that there has been no contract termination announcement and that its 12,000-ft drillship Noble Venturer is currently still contracted to Tullow into March 2025.Masirah Oil Ltd has signed a rig contract with…

This week Esgian’s Week 50 Rig Analytics Market Roundup notes developments in the semisub sector including that Shell has decided to exercise its option on Stena Don in the North Sea but not on Deepsea Bollsta in Namibia. Meanwhile, a new contract for the Transocean Barents will see it operate in the Black Sea, and jackup Shelf Drilling Perseverance will move to Vietnam.ContractsShelf Drilling has secured a contract award for the 400ft Shelf Drilling Perseverance jackup rig with PetroVietnam Domestic Exploration Production Operating Company Limited (PVEP POC).

We’ve had the means for a while, now we have the incentive to crush the data siloes that are holding back voyage optimization.Like kids in the sandpit, owners and charterers are being forced to share, perhaps more than they really want to. The IMO and the EU, for starters, are setting data-driven decarbonization rules, and those in the sandpit are having to respond.Ship managers and data analysis specialists are developing technical solutions to boost transparency with the aim of facilitating shared responsibility on CO2 emissions, but it’s no easy task.

Mitsubishi Shipbuilding recently completed a conceptual study with INPEX CORPORATION for an ammonia bunkering vessel capable of supplying ammonia fuel to ships.Since ammonia does not emit carbon dioxide (CO2) when burned, it is expected to be utilized as a stable source of clean energy in the future, and is getting attention as a fuel that will greatly contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the maritime industry.Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group company based in Yokohama…

Shell has stopped production at its Prelude floating LNG plant off Western Australia after a fire.A Shell spokesperson told Reuters on Thursday that the fire at the giant FLNG unit "was rapidly extinguished."The 488-meter-long, Shell-operated, Prelude FLNG unit forms part of an offshore development that produces natural gas from the remote namesake field, located approximately 475 km north-northeast of Broome in Western Australia. The Prelude is the world's largest FLNG unit.The first LNG shipment from the project - originally sanctioned in 2011 - was shipped back in June 2019, via the Valencia Knutsen LNG tanker to customers in Asia.

Unions at Shell Plc's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) site off Australia have extended industrial action to Sept. 1 over a long-running pay dispute, the company said on Thursday. Shell shut down the 3.6-million-tonne-a-year site in July and told customers it would be unable to supply LNG cargoes for the duration of work stoppages approved by Australia's Fair Work Commission, or Protected Industrial Action (PIA). "We can confirm it's been renewed until Sept. 1," a Shell spokesperson said of the protected industrial action. The work stoppages began on June 10 and no cargoes have been shipped from the site in about five weeks, worsening a global LNG supply crunch amid the Ukraine conflict.

Japanese oil and gas company INPEX has filed a $970 million claim against South Korean shipbuilder Daewoo Shipbuilding Marine & Engineering, seeking compensation for alleged delays and construction issues related to a 2012 FPSO order.DSME said in a stock exchange INPEX had filed a request for arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce.In a stock exchange announcement last Friday, DSME said the case was related to an FPSO order made by INPEX in 2012, and that the FPSO was completed and departed from Okpo Shipyard in 2017…

Shell Plc said on Monday it is deferring planned maintenance work at the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility that was due to go ahead in September because of industrial action at the site off northwest Australia."As a result of the ongoing Protected Industrial Action and inability to complete preparation work, we are not able to proceed with the planned turnaround at this time," a Shell spokesperson said in emailed comments.She said the extensive maintenance work, called a turnaround, would be put off to next year, with the timing to depend on a range of factors including weather conditions, contractor availability…

Shell Plc said on Wednesday liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments from its Prelude floating facility off northwest Australia would be disrupted for at least two weeks due to work bans by unions fighting for better pay.Loading disruption at the 3.6-million-tonnes-a-year facility adds to tightness in a global LNG market just as Europe scrambles to secure cargoes to make up for lost Russian gas supply. One of the largest U.S. LNG plants, Freeport LNG is also undergoing an extended outage."We have issued a notice to customers that cargoes will be impacted until at least mid-July due to the industrial action," a Shell spokesperson said in an emailed comment.The last cargo left Prelude on June 26 on the ship Oceanic Breeze…

Workers on Shell Plc's Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility off Western Australia are set to begin 12 days of industrial action on Friday over a pay fight, a union alliance said on Thursday.Shell did not comment on what impact the mix of short work stoppages and bans on certain tasks, to run through June 21 might have on output at the 3.6 million-tonnes-a-year LNG facility."Shell recognizes the entitlement of all workers to exercise their rights, including the right to participate in industrial action," a Shell spokeswoman said in emailed comments.The action comes two months after Prelude resumed shipping LNG after a four-month shutdown due to a major power failure.The Offshore Alliance…

Japan's Inpex Corp plans to conduct scheduled maintenance at its Ichthys liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant in Darwin, Australia, from around July 1 to Aug.

Shell Plc said on Monday it has resumed shipping liquefied natural gas (LNG) from its Prelude floating LNG facility off northwest Australia after a four-month shutdown due to a major power failure.A cargo completed loading and left the site on Sunday night, a Shell spokesperson said, declining to disclose the destination."Our focus at Prelude remains on the long-term and delivering safe, sustained and reliable performance into the future," Shell said in a statement.The 3.6 million-tonnes-a-year Prelude FLNG facility lost power on Dec.

Dutch offshore installation company Heerema Marine Contractors has been selected by Japan's INPEX as a contractor of choice for the transport and installation of the 4,800 metric ton Ichthys LNG Booster Compression Module (BCM), offshore W. Australia.The module will be installed on the Ichthys Explorer Central Processing Facility, located off the northwest coast of Western Australia, as part of the Ichthys LNG phase 2 development.Heerema will transport the BCM from the fabrication yard on Batam Island in Indonesia to the Ichthys field before installing it in a single lift.

Japan will divert some liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargoes to Europe after requests from the United States and the European Union, the industry minister said on Wednesday, a step that aligns the country with the West as tensions flare with Russia.Concern has mounted over the possible disruption of supplies from Russia, Europe's biggest gas provider, following the buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine and heightened tensions between Moscow and the West.The extra shipments are expected to arrive next month, minister Koichi Hagiuda told reporters."We have decided to respond to requests from the United States and EU for sending LNG to Europe, where gas supply is tight," Hagiuda said after separately meeting with the U.S.

Oil major Shell expects its Prelude FLNG unit in Australia, the world's largest unit of the type, will remain shut for most of the first quarter of 2022.The world's largest FLNG facility had in January 2021 resumed LNG cargo shipments, almost one year after a shutdown caused by an electrical trip, only to be shut down again in December 2021 after a sudden loss of power, and subsequent failed attempts to re-establish reliable power aboard.At a Q&A Thursday, as part of Shell's results presentation…

Australian oil and gas industry safety regulator NOPSEMA has ordered Shell to keep the giant Prelude FLNG facility off W. Australia shut until it can convince the regulator that it can keep the facility properly powered and that the safety systems are operational.The order comes after production from the floating facility was shut earlier this month after a sudden loss of power, and subsequent failed attempts to re-establish reliable power aboard.In its report on Thursday, NOPSEMA said: "At around 22:40 on 2 December 2021…

Japan-based Itochu Corporation has this week formed a joint study framework of 23 companies and organizations with the objective of collaboratively discussing common issues in pursuit of the utilization of ammonia as an alternative marine fuel, Bureau Veritas said Friday.The aim of the Joint Study Framework is to verify and organize common issues regarding the use of ammonia as a maritime fuel, which is a new challenge for maritime stakeholders. Also, BV said this was a step toward…

Shell's Prelude LNG, the world's largest floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project, offshore Australia, has resumed LNG cargo shipments, almost one year after a shutdown caused by an electrical trip.In a brief statement sent to Offshore Engineer, a Shell spokesperson said Monday that the Prelude project had restarted LNG cargo shipping.The Shell spokesperson said: “LNG cargoes have resumed from Shell’s Prelude FLNG facility. Prelude is a multi-decade project, and our focus remains on delivering sustained performance over the long-term.”The 488 meters long…

Royal Dutch Shell said on Thursday its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) project off Australia, off line since early February, is working on restarting operations but would not resume full production this year. The troubled Prelude FLNG platform was shut down following an electrical trip and Shell has faced a number of issues over the past few months in trying to restart full production and now does not expect to ship any LNG before next year.Full production is not expected to resume before year-end. Prelude is a multi-decade project, and our focus is on delivering sustained performance over the long term,” Shell said in a statement.The company hopes to resume shipping LNG from Prelude in the first quarter of 2021…

Flowserve Corporation (FLS), a provider of flow control products and services for the global infrastructure markets, has entered into a five-year contract with Shell Australia to provide general maintenance services for Shell’s Prelude Floating Liquified Natural Gas (FLNG) facility, which is producing natural gas from an offshore field in Western Australia.A press release from the American multinational corporation said that it will support Prelude from its recently refurbished Quick Response Center (QRC) in Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory.Flowserve QRCs are dedicated maintenance, repair and manufacturing workshop facilities that provide customers with responsive, local support.

Japan's largest oil and gas exploration and production company Inpex Corporation has submitted a revised plan of development (POD) for the Abadi  LNG Project, a gas field on the remote Masela Block in the Arafura Sea off Indonesia. The revised POD is based on an onshore LNG development scheme with an annual LNG production capacity of 9.5 million tons. The Project involves developing the Abadi gas field in the Masela Block located in the Arafura Sea in Indonesia.The submission of the revised POD follows a series of dialogues between the authorities and Inpex, as the operator of the project on behalf of the Joint Venture (Inpex Masela and Shell Upstream Overseas) to secure the Project’s competitiveness through a Heads of Agreement (HOA) signed with authorities on June 16…

The first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) has sailed from Shell’s Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) facility offshore Australia, Shell announced Tuesday alongside its joint venture partners INPEX, KOGAS and OPIC.This shipment from the world’s largest floating producer of LNG, located 475 kilometers northeast of Broome in Western Australia, will be delivered by the LNG carrier Valencia Knutsen to customers in Asia, more than eight years after financial investment decision (FID) and nearly two years after the facility arrived in Australia."How fast Prelude delivers its second and third cargo…

A tanker carrying liquefied natural gas (LNG) has been floating off Australian waters for nearly two weeks as production at Ichthys project ramps up, industry sources told Reuters.The tanker 'Symphonic Breeze' has been moored at Darwin anchorage since April 17 after loading a cargo from the recently launched Ichthys LNG facility, shipping data from Refinitiv Eikon showed.The LNG cargo has already been sold to a North Asian buyer, who chose to lift it at a later date due to high inventory in its tanks, an industry source familiar with the matter said.The "floating cargo" situation has been part