ROYAL Dutch Shell says Australia has granted environmental...

ROYAL Dutch Shell says Australia has granted environmental approval for its proposed Prelude floating liquefied natural gas vessel.
Shell intends to float the vessel offshore Western Australia to produce 3.6 million tonnes of LNG, 1.3 million tonnes of condensate and 400,000 tonnes of liquefied petroleum gas each year.

Environmental approval puts Prelude on track to be the world's first operational floating LNG vessel.

Environment Minister Tony Burke said he had approved the Prelude facility in the Browse Basin but with strict conditions.

The facility will be moored on the seabed and extract gas from the Prelude gas field.

"While there are significant economic benefits to these projects, which must be a consideration in my decision, my focus has been on protecting environmental matters," Mr Burke said today.