The last massive component of Australia's US$180 billion liquefied natural gas construction boom arrived on Monday, stepping up a race between Anglo-Dutch giant Shell and Japan's Inpex to start chilling gas for export in 2018.
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It’s a buyer’s market for LNG
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Company reputations are at stake, as well as first access to overlapping gas fields and Australia leapfrogging Qatar as the world's largest exporter of LNG.
The Ichthys Venturer, a floating production, storage and offloading facility, travelled 5,600km from a South Korean shipyard and will be moored 220km off Western Australia to handle condensate from the Ichthys field.
Japan's top oil and gas explorer, Inpex, is running Ichthys, both the country's biggest overseas investment and first LNG megaproject.
"This project is a huge source of pride for Japan and an important addition to ... energy supplies," said Tom O'Sullivan, the head of energy consultancy Mathyos Japan.
"All eyes are on Inpex to see if they can pull this off without any more budget blow-outs and delays," he said.
First production, due by March 2018, will be more than a year behind target. Costs have ballooned more than 10 per cent to $37bn since the project's approval in 2012.
Nearby, Royal Dutch Shell's $12.6bn Prelude project - the world's largest floating LNG (FLNG) facility - is also behind schedule. Shell lost out on becoming the first producer of FLNG when Malaysia's Petronas started up a smaller FLNG facility this year.
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Shell's facility, six times the size of the biggest aircraft carriers, with a deck longer than four football fields, arrived last month.
Shell expects hook-up and commissioning to take up to 12 months, meaning start-up between April and July 2018.
Whichever project starts first will pump gas away from the other's field as the two straddle the same reservoirs. The race means more to Prelude than Ichthys, as Prelude is smaller, said Wood Mackenzie analyst Saul Kavonic.
Inpex also has an each-way bet: It owns 17.5 per cent of Prelude as well as 62.2 per cent of Ichthys.
Stumbles and contract disputes are normal for megaprojects. Chevron had numerous problems with its US$54 billion Gorgon project in Western Australia when it started in 2016.
Ichthys's contractors are mired in claims from two major engineering firms, although Inpex has said those disputes will not slow the project.
Prelude and Ichthys also might see delays during the tropical cyclone season from November through April.
Wood Mackenzie expects a relatively long commissioning for Prelude due to its large scale and new technology, but sees Shell's long experience on LNG projects as an advantage.
"Experience really matters during the commissioning process, which is one of the most challenging parts," Mr Kavonic said.
Inpex and Shell declined interview requests for this story.
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
The specs
Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors
Power: Combined output 920hp
Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic
Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km
On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025
Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000
Getting%20there
%3Cp%3EGiven%20its%20remote%20location%2C%20getting%20to%20Borneo%20can%20feel%20daunting%20even%20for%20the%20most%20seasoned%20traveller.%20But%20you%20can%20fly%20directly%20from%20Kuala%20Lumpur%20to%20Sandakan%20and%20Sepilok%20is%20only%20half%20an%20hour%20away%20by%20taxi.%20Sandakan%20has%20plenty%20of%20accommodation%20options%2C%20while%20Sepilok%20has%20a%20few%20nature%20lodges%20close%20to%20the%20main%20attractions.%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Dhadak 2
Director: Shazia Iqbal
Starring: Siddhant Chaturvedi, Triptii Dimri
Rating: 1/5
Conflict, drought, famine
Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.
Band Aid
Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
With Midge Ure of the band Ultravox, he wrote the hit charity single Do They Know it’s Christmas in December 1984, featuring a string of high-profile musicians.
Following the single’s success, the idea to stage a rock concert evolved.
Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.
How much do leading UAE’s UK curriculum schools charge for Year 6?
- Nord Anglia International School (Dubai) – Dh85,032
- Kings School Al Barsha (Dubai) – Dh71,905
- Brighton College Abu Dhabi - Dh68,560
- Jumeirah English Speaking School (Dubai) – Dh59,728
- Gems Wellington International School – Dubai Branch – Dh58,488
- The British School Al Khubairat (Abu Dhabi) - Dh54,170
- Dubai English Speaking School – Dh51,269
*Annual tuition fees covering the 2024/2025 academic year
The specs: 2019 BMW i8 Roadster
Price, base: Dh708,750
Engine: 1.5L three-cylinder petrol, plus 11.6 kWh lithium-ion battery
Transmission: Six-speed automatic
Power: 374hp (total)
Torque: 570Nm (total)
Fuel economy, combined: 2.0L / 100km
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Difference between fractional ownership and timeshare
Although similar in its appearance, the concept of a fractional title deed is unlike that of a timeshare, which usually involves multiple investors buying “time” in a property whereby the owner has the right to occupation for a specified period of time in any year, as opposed to the actual real estate, said John Peacock, Head of Indirect Tax and Conveyancing, BSA Ahmad Bin Hezeem & Associates, a law firm.
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