Landmark first export cargo for floating LNG By Mark Blacklock
Years of research and development into the
of being able to relocate the plant is an
marinisation of liquefaction technology bore
added benefit.
fruit on April 1, when the first LNG cargo
While Shell’s Prelude was the first floating
from an offshore floating production facility
liquefaction project to be launched – FID was
was shipped to market. The pioneering
reached in May 2011 – the honours for the first
projects are set to be joined by a number of
operational project go to Petronas whose FLNG
others, although the floating sector is not
Satu got the go-ahead in March 2012 as part of
going to expand as rapidly as once thought
the company’s efforts to unlock gas resources
due to the current low gas prices and glut
in Malaysia’s remote and stranded fields.
of conventional capacity. There are two main types of floating lique
Petronas FLNG Satu is moored 79m above the Kanowit gas field, 180 kilometres offshore
faction projects: those designed to monetise
Bintulu, Sarawak. The vessel, 365m long by
otherwise stranded offshore gas resources and those, typically nearshore projects, where
60m wide, has a production capacity of 1.2 mtpa and storage for 177,000m³ of LNG.
building a liquefaction plant in the controlled
Classified by DNV GL, it was built by a consor
environment of a shipyard and towing it to
tium of Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine
site is a cost-effective alternative to building
Engineering (DSME) and Technip (now Technip
an onshore facility. In each case the flexibility
FMC) and uses the Air Products AP-NTM process
v The LNG carrier Seri Camellia takes on the first cargo from Petronas FLNG Satu.
12 L a n d m a r k f i r s t e x p o r t c a r g o f o r f l o a t i n g L N G
