Shell turned the lights back on at its Prelude offshore LNG facility just as Asia was being frozen by a cold spell that sent prices for liquefied natural gas sky-high. It couldn’t have timed the restart better. And it wasn’t the only Big Oil major that benefited from the price spike over commodity traders and independent producers of gas. An analysis from Reuters points to Shell and Total as two examples of why Big Oil is better placed to benefit from such price spikes: the supermajors simply have access to more LNG and the flexibility to re-route cargos. The coldest winter since 1966 in Asia sent gas and coal prices soaring earlier this month. At the same time, it exposed weaknesses in the supply chain that left Asian LNG buyers scrambling to secure all the gas they needed for suddenly spiking electricity and heating demand. It also exposed some […]

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