Fascinating and well done. How about a episode on megaproject fails (ie: blown budgets, overdue timelines, problem plagued) around the world?

These facilities boggle the imagination. Once you work their you realize you're like an ant in a metal city from Blade Runner. When up on top of a 200ft tall catalytic cracker or fired heater stack, you look down and see and endless maze a pipes, reactors, and huge machinery, and ask, "how the hell, do we even keep this place running." Its amazing such beasts can actually work, and stay working, once put together, even with thousands of engineers and technicians. For their size and affect on our lives (good and bad) people don't know much about these big unglamorous projects --- More videos like this!!

1:20 - Chapter 1 - Supply & demand 3:20 - Chapter 2 - The prelude gas field 4:10 - Chapter 3 - Building the platform 6:50 - Chapter 4 - The launch 8:05 - Chapter 5 - The prelude FLNG 10:00 - Chapter 6 - Operations begins...and stop 11:10 - Chapter 7 - Restart

How about a megaprojects on the CANDU nuclear reactor design or the Bruce nuclear power generation site the largest nuclear power plant in the western hemisphere

Current Natural Gas prices would beg to differ, Prelude FLNG management getting their $$$$ back! If the recent spike in Gas prices, low supply high demand remains, (very likely) then this huge project will be well worth the cost. Though, I doubt that is a surprise the those that built it. Large Oil and Gas companies are notoriously conservative and risk averse (in protecting return on investment, not environment obviously). They didn't invest this amount of capital and engineering without expecting the markets to turn in their favor after the pandemic, which the industry was prepared for. - former reliability engineer at refineries and LNG

Natural gas prices are expected to skyrocket so the Prelude may have a new lease on life.

Pioneering Spirit is an absolute colossus and definitely deserves a Megaprojects episode too.

An electrical "trip" stopped production. An electrical fault needs to be traced, and components repaired or replaced. Being you're essentially a floating bomb with the majority of the electrical systems sealed or encased, there are procedures and codes that need to be followed, you can't just reset the breaker and hope it's clear like you would at home.

As an engineer, it was one of the proudest moment to work on this project, designing the topsides modules, turret and also the foundation system. Though a project of this scale might never happen again.

Oh wow, I didn't expect the 52 years for natural gas to run out.

2:10 "The use of natural gas stretches back to the late-18th Century, in Britain, where natural gas produced from coal was used..." Two things: - Coal Gas is not Natural Gas. - The ancient Chinese were using natural gas for heating since at least 500 BCE.

Drydocks world sound like a theme park disney would design to entertain engineers. Question is, will we see this on worst engineering mistakes/

Well energy prices have been climbing sharply since this video was made. Shortages being reported in much of the world.

Only a small one here in Western Australia, should look into the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects for mega projects on a whole different scale. It's insane when you think about it, we have both a massive energy surplus and a massive energy shortage at the same time, caused mainly by people being stupid when it comes to government. Oh yer, our iron ore mines are even bigger than that too.

I've had the honour of seeing Prelude being built at the Samsung shipyard, Geoje, South-Korea while I was there commissioning the 1500mT crane on the neighboring jack-up vessel m/v "Seajacks Scylla" in 2016 (visible on the right with the legs at 4:55). The ship was already moored (same berth as can be seen at 4:55) and the size simply unimaginable. Took photos of the enormous freeboards, although my camera lens couldn't quite capture it all. Mindblowing, all I can say.

Great video, so interesting to see these up close, I've seen so many of them from the coast of scotland you dont realise how massive they are.

We have the option to use CNG cars down here in Trinidad and Tobago. And regular vehicle can be converted to CNG. You can also fill your tank for TT$30 (US$4.50)

It's amazing how much of a global endeavor this was.

Great video ! Thank you.

Always interesting to learn new things!

I work for Shell Energy in Perth WA and the building I work in manages the ships systems 😊

Brilliant video on an absolutely fascinating subject, it really is a MEGA PROJECT!!!!!!!!!

So good! I love oil & gas projects. You should highlight some of the massive refineries and petchem plants around the world

Facilities like these are mega projects. Much more so than an airplanes development. How about a video on the oilsands projects at Fort McMurray in Alberta Canada.

Last time I was this early Simon and I shared a hairbrush.

If a breaker trips, you should find out what caused it before resetting In normal environments you might decide to keep resetting until something fails, this is probably not something to try when there's a lot of gas about ;)

Great video Simon and team

It's a FOSSIL!

You drilled into some detail!

Only 52 years? We will run outta NG far sooner than oil then

Just resetting the trip..... ARGHHHHHHH! It is common (bad) practice in the home, it might even be widespread in non technical industries, but in petrochemical installations : if a trip goes, you find out why BEFORE resetting it.

I was working on a offshore support vessel years ago. We could see it on the horizon while at the FPSO we were working. They are all huge but prelude is a monster

Australia has an artificial LNG shortage causing ridiculously high prices because the government allows energy companies to be stupidly greedy and sign massive long term contracts without ensuring that there will be enough L.N.G reserves left for Australian consumers.

A+ as usual Simon 👍

How have I never know about this? This is so cool

Wow! Now that’s truly a Mega Project!

So much of this is new technology, and the market technology for LNG is also in its infancy.

Went there on my holiday to Western Australia! Really cool place.

Hey, you know what else you should do a video on? Bagger 293! While it is not as big as this platform, it is the Guinness world record holder for the largest vehicle in the world! Also, you could do a video on the Bingham canyon copper mine as it is the largest mine in the world.

International Geophysical Year!

Would love to see a Lego build of this colossus...

Thank you

Excellent video 📹

Coal gas isn't natural gas. It's chemically similar in the sense that it's still methane, with some carbon monoxide and other contaminants included as part of the conversion process, but it was called coal gas or town gas. Natural gas is called "natural" gas because it's collected as-is from nature, making it natural.

That's an insane project 😊

11:40 Well, seeing how the oil prices have been going *up* since april 2020, it's not all doom and gloom for big oil companies.

how about a video on the sheer size of Samsung as a entire company? I've heard they make all sorts from skyscrapers to tanks to mobiles?

Good video 👍

Here is a suggestion that Simon probably would enjoy. Lake Peigneur's salt mine/ oil drilling disaster An oil drill poke a hole in a salt mine under the lake wreaking havoc. The mine sucked up the lake, a lot of other things, and caused the river to the Gulf of Mexico flow backwards.

Wish these were longer @Megaprojects

One of the issue as we found in northern Netherlands is you create earthquakes as you remove the gas.

April? Holy cow dude, what is your release schedule?

The unprecedented rise in gas prices has come just at the right time coupled with China's rising appetite for energy and LNG, may be Shell had a crystal ball after all. Excellent presentation as usual.

@Megaprojects: Check your references: I believe that the gas the UK was initially "piping to homes that was made from coal" was called "coal gas" or "town gas" or "water gas", possibly depending on the exact process of manufacture. This is not Natural Gas. The basic process was to burn coal (or wood) in a reduced oxygen environment, often by spraying water onto the burning fuel. The reduction of oxygen caused incomplete combustion, and, instead of producing Carbon-Dioxide (CO2), it produced Carbon-Monoxide (CO). The gas was kept hot and piped to homes in the town where it was burned for light, cooking, and heat. You may recall from primary school that Carbon Monoxide is poisonous, binding to red blood cells and preventing them from absorbing oxygen, causing death after only a few minutes exposure. It was often stored in tanks called gas-o-meters (which are for storage not measuring), but had to remain hot/warm to be a viable fuel source. The introduction of Natural Gas provided an option that was far safer, and easier to transport and store.

You have to do the Allseas Pioneering Spirit!!!

Megablaze, Sideblaze, Today I Blazed Out, Top Blazedz, xblzd, Blazed in the Shadows, Geoblazed, Bioblazed. No matter the channel, the Brain Blaze will consume them all.

‘In 2021, oil is well’… I see what you did there! Brain blaze is finally propagating to your other channels!

That lil tune that plays at 3:15 should be made into a song.

Wow I’m so happy I suggested this some time ago... not sure if that’s why he did it but I’d like to think so. A real cool subject

My brother and I had to walk alongside this thing on the quayside everyday for 6 weeks and up and down the stairs on this ba5tard too whilst it was in the samsung yard back in 2017. What a feat of engineering and very impressive indeed.

Yeah. We in the maritime industry do BIG shit. There’s even bigger stuff on the drawing board IIRC. The biggest drydock in the world is in Japan and is just barely short of a kilometer long. So there’s plenty of room to grow.

They should rent it out for playing airsoft or paintball when it's not busy at sea

This is not the greatest barge in the world, no! This is just a Prelude!

Only 52 years?! Yeah, we're screwed.

Titanic might as well be considered a yacht at this point 💀

I was literally just looking this up yesterday, wondering if it was operational due to the gas shortage we're in

This needs to be in DCS.

Y'all should do a mega project about the war on cancer.

Could you please do a video on the CANDU nuclear reactor and or the worlds largest nuclear plant (Bruce Power)

SUGGESTION: Ilyushin IL-2 - The single most produced military aircraft in aviation history - Visionary WWII ground-attack "flying tank" and spiritual predecessor to the A-10 Warthog - Some WWII German nicknames for it: "meat grinder", "butcher", "black death", "slaughterer", "concrete bird" - What Stalin had to say about it: "Our Red Army now needs IL-2 aircraft like the air it breathes, like the bread it eats."

You should do a mega projects on the highways still being built all over America. It would be a 2 hour video easily

Can you do an episode here or on Sideprojects on the Smithsonian?

I am speechless…..only one word really comes to mind…..BOOM !

Do a video on the Johan Sverdrup project in the North Sea. 👍💯

On a long enough timeline, everyone watches all the megaprojects

Sideproject. The Kelvin Scale?

Have they tried unplugging it and plugging it back in, sometimes that works.

Has Simon done the history of the wristwatch? Or facts about extradition?

*Enclave flashbacks intensify*

That "I hear you cry"

Whenever I see this kind of constructions I always wonder how many nuts and bolts and screws are missing becasue some clumsy construction worker lost them and went "ehhhh, didn't need that anyway, looks solid enough"

Can you do a video on the German Horten ho 229

You came for the title, but you stayed for the dentist joke! :)

Looking down at the Shanghai World Financial Center from the observation deck of the Shanghai Tower at night is something that I will remember to my dying day.

this ship is actually bigger than the seawise giant.

If i may ask. What is that poster in the background? My curiosity is piqued.

The price of gas now it might actually start paying for itself. That is assuming it can keeps operating long enough to pay back 8 billion.

....Please do the Venus Project...

I can't even picture how big that is

Simon we need a video on the A-10 Warthog!! The gun with wings!

07.06 evergreen cargo ship looking tiny next to prelude!

meanwhile it said that the Japanese found new gas reserves underneath their waters and plans to drill them out.

This gave me a thought for a mega project. Deepwater Horizon spill perhaps? I recall that being an enormous undertaking to get it to stop.

Hi Simon and Megaprojects the Prelude shares a field with the Inpex Ichthys facilities, the Inpex facilities seperate the gas and condensate, the condensate in stored onboard an FPSO and the gas is sent by pipeline to Darwin and the onshore LNG facility. Now some mind blowing facts about this entire field. The Prelude is the largest floating man made object, the Inpex Central Processing Facility (CPF) is the largest semi submersible facility built, The Floating Production Storage and Offtake (FPSO) is the largest FPSO built and the sub sea pipeline to Darwin is the longest subsea pipeline of it's type in the world also all three offshore facilities are able to see each other

Good place to build a post apocalyptic city

A-10 warthog. It may not be mega but it is worthy of an episode.

With the gas prices going up , I can see a reason to go ahead. This pieces of engineering are hard to start , but once they start they quickly become masterpieces.

Wow did I the installation for this and the Inpex floater about 15nm from it. Prelude has been plagued with troubles since its arrival on sight. It only went back on production after an 18 month shutdown to rectify the defects. Inpex has definitely had the better run of the gas from the field. Prulde will make a profit eventually but not as good as first hoped.

I wonder how many hours of planning and design went into the project? Where would you even begin?

lot of cyclones up there!