SHELL was warned about a design flaw in its new Penguins oil platform in the UK North Sea several years before a hydrocarbon release last year.

Operators at the Penguins floating production, storage and offloading vessel triggered an immediate shutdown after 95.3 kg of hydrocarbon gas was released in April 2025 – less than three months after Shell launched the facility, its newest UK offshore asset in almost three decades. 

TCE: Shell advised to change “unsuitable” platform design six years before release