Shell Energy Natural Gas

Renewable and low-carbon energy

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)

Shell has been a pioneer in liquefied natural gas (LNG) for more than 50 years. In Arzew, Algeria, the first commercial LNG liquefaction plant was delivered in 1964 with Shell's involvement, and we shipped the first commercial cargo from Algeria to the UK in the same year, starting today’s global trade. We have continued to innovate and improve the technology behind LNG, and have worked hard to find ways to make more LNG available where it is needed around the world. For example, we are building Prelude FLNG, the world’s largest floating LNG production facility, which will access gas resources from underwater fields too uneconomic or challenging to reach from land.

LNG for Transport

Our roads and ports are becoming increasingly busy as the global population grows and more of us live in cities. A range of vehicles and fuels, including liquefied natural gas (LNG), will be needed to meet the increasing demand for transport as the world seeks to tackle emissions.

Floating LNG

Global energy demand is expected to grow by 30% between 2015 and 2040, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA) New Policies Scenario. Prelude FLNG will help to meet this growing demand, by providing more natural gas. Floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology is complementary to conventional onshore liquefied natural gas (LNG) as it helps to accelerate the development of gas resources to meet the world’s growing demand.

Gas-to-Liquids

Shell’s gas-to-liquids (GTL) technology converts natural gas – the cleanest-burning fossil fuel – into high-quality liquid products that would otherwise be made from crude oil. These products include transport fuels, motor oils, and the ingredients for everyday necessities like plastics, detergents, and cosmetics. GTL products are colorless and odorless. They contain almost none of the impurities – sulfur, aromatics, and nitrogen – that are found in crude oil. GTL production can help countries with natural gas resources grow their economies as new gas supplies come on stream to satisfy the growing global demand for liquid products.

Methane Emissions

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas. When it is released into the atmosphere it has a much higher global warming impact than CO2. Natural gas consists mainly of methane.

Tight and Shale Gas

Traditionally most natural gas has come from rock formations that, once drilled, allow the gas to flow freely. But supplies of this easy-to-access gas are declining. Many of the remaining vast gas resources lie trapped tightly in dense rock, inside pores up to 20,000 times narrower than a human hair. Called tight and shale gas, these resources were previously considered too costly or difficult to access, yet the overall volume of available gas can be much higher than in conventional gas reservoirs. We use advanced technology to help gain access, contributing to global growth in natural gas production. Shell has decades of production experience with tight gas – in the USA and Canada, the North Sea, and mainland Europe. Over time we have found ways to safely develop the fields and produce the gas with greater efficiency, lowering costs and limiting our environmental impact.