Shell is aiming for more than 35 new upstream and integrated gas project sanctions between 2021 and 2025, with almost as many development start-ups seen in the period, writes Eoin O'Cinneide.

The supermajor has set its sights on more that 25 final investment decisions in its core upstream business stream, which includes deep water, shale and conventional oil and gas.

On top of these, an additional 10 or more are seen within integrated gas — which contains the liquefied natural gas portfolio — and another five or more in downstream.

The core upstream category is set for more than 25 project start-ups, with more than five seen in each of integrated gas and downstream.

Projects that are in pre-front-end engineering and design phase include Mero 4 and Gato do Mato in Brazil, Rosmari-Marjoram and Timi off Malaysia, Jackdaw off the UK and Whale in the US Gulf of Mexico.

Projects in FEED include Mero 2 and 3, Bonga South West in Nigeria, Powernap in the US Gulf, Jerun in Malaysia and Salym in Russia.

Developments under construction include Mero 1, P-70 Atapu 1 and P-71 in Brazil, Vito in the US Gulf, Penguins in the UK North Sea and shale developments in the Permian basin in the US, Argentina’s Vaca Muerta and Fox Creek in Canada.

In integrated gas, potential new projects that together are seen adding up to around 8 million tonnes per annum of liquefied natural gas are Abadi in Indonesia, developments in Qatar and Tanzania, and backfill at Australia LNG and North West Shelf-Browse, also in Australia.

Development projects are also seen chipping in around 17 million tpa of new capacity, with projects such as LNG Canada Expansion, Nigeria LNG Train 7, Sakhalin Train 3 in Russia, Oman integrated gas-to-liquids, and backfill opportunities in Australia and Russia.

Projects that have already been sanctioned — such as Prelude in Australia, the first two trains at LNG Canada, and backfill at other Australian schemes — are seen contributing a further 8 million tpa of new capacity.

Weekly

Shell aiming for more than 35 project sanctions