Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell plans to boost its gas portfolio by adding 15 million tonnes per year of liquefied natural gas capacity by 2020, with much of the investment planned in Australia, the company's Australia exploration & production boss Ann Pickard said today. Pickard is Shell’s executive vice president for Australia's upstream operations, was speaking to an energy industry conference in Brisbane.
Shell has partnered with China's state-owned PetroChina to make a $3.2 billion bid for Australia's coal-seam gas producer Arrow Energy and plans to use the gas resources to build a major LNG export project in the northeastern state of Queensland, Reuters reported. Pickard also said Shell expects to make a final investment decision on its Prelude floating LNG project in Australia in early 2011 and plans to sell most gas via its own trading arm. The Prelude field lies off Westerns Australia.
