Energy major Shell is set to accept the first LNG into its giant floating LNG (FLNG) production unit Prelude off north-west Australia.

Project insiders said the aim is to see the first molecules introduced into the unit’s storage tanks before the end of next week, although they acknowledged that the target could slip.

Vessel trackers had been watching an LNG carrier — Shell’s 137,001-cbm Gallina (built 2002) — that arrived off the Australian coast at the end of March with a cargo loaded in Peru.