Shell Australia

Shell Australia is the Australian subsidiary of Shell. Shell has operated in Australia since 1901, initially delivering bulk fuel into Australia, then establishing storage and distribution terminals, oil refineries, and a network of service stations. It extended its Australian activities to oil exploration, petrochemicals and coal mining, and became a leading partner in Australia's largest resource development project, the North West Shelf Venture.[1]

In August 2014, Shell sold its downstream business in Australia, including its Geelong Oil Refinery and 870 retail sites, along with its bulk fuels, bitumen, chemicals and part of its lubricants businesses, to the Dutch firm Vitol, for A$2.9 billion.[2]

Aside from its aviation fuel business which was retained, Shell's remaining Australian activities are in upstream businesses, comprising exploration, liquified natural gas (LNG) and onshore coal seam gas.

Shell holds large reserves in the North West Shelf, Gorgon, Browse Basin, onshore coal seam gas Surat and Bowen Basins in Queensland

Projects

Prelude

In May 2011, Royal Dutch Shell finalised its investment for the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility. Shell had explored the concept of a FLNG in Namibia in the 1990s, but was abandoned due to unfavourable economic conditions. The initiative was relaunched in 2007 following the discovery of the offshore Prelude field located off Australia's north-west coast and was estimated to contain about 3 e12cuft of natural gas equivalent reserves.[8][9]

The floating vessel to be used for the Prelude field, known as Prelude FLNG, was still being constructed in Geoje, South Korea in mid-June 2014. Promoted as the longest floating structure in the world, the vessel will consist of a processing structure, measuring 93 m in height from the deck, that will take in the equivalent of 110 e3oilbbl of oil per day in natural gas and cool it into liquefied natural gas for transport and sale in Asia. The hull of the vessel was completed in December 2013 and the Prelude was scheduled to start producing LNG in 2016—analysts estimated the total cost of construction at more than US$12 billion.[8][9][10]

In December 2018, production started at the facility.[11] The company has a 67.5 percent hold, alongside investors CPC Corporation, Inpex Corporation, and Korea Gas Corporation.

Ningaloo

In July 2011, the Federal Government gave approval for the company to drill an exploration well 50 km to the west of the Ningaloo Marine Park. The drilling operation will occur at depths of around 1,300 m, the deepest ever in Australian waters.[12]

Surat

In February 2019, Royal Dutch Shell was granted leases for $10 billion (AUS) towards the Surat project, which it will undergo with PetroChina under the joint venture of Arrow Energy.[13] In December 2017, a 27-year deal was agreed in which Arrow would sell output to the company's Queensland Curtis LNG (QCNLG) project.[14] It will use infrastructure from the company's QCLNG project do develop the biggest coal seam gas resource in the country, which is predicted to speed up the process and reduce the environmental impact.[15]

type	Subsidiary
industry	Petroleum
foundation	1901 in Melbourne & Sydney
location city	Melbourne, Victoria (downstream business) Perth, Western Australia (upstream business)
location country	Australia
locations	Branch office in Brisbane, Queensland Supply base in Darwin, Northern Territory
products	Coal seam gas, liquefied natural gas, natural gas, aviation fuel
num employees	1,000
parent	Shell (upstream business)
subsid	QGC Shell Energy Australia
homepage	shell.com.au

History

Sale of downstream business

Projects

Prelude

Ningaloo

Surat

Sponsorships

See also

External links

References