MARITIME

OFFSHORE ENERGY
FLNG
Birth of
a Market
By William Stoichevski
FLNG deal-making has been sporadic since Woodside Petroleum
at the end of 2013 delayed a fi nal investment decision
for the giant Browse FLNG project off Northwest Australia.
The previous year had seen go-aheads for most of the fl oating
liquefi ed natural gas projects (FLNG) underway today, including
Shell’s Prelude FLNG — Woodside’s choice, it seems, of a liquefaction
solution for fi elds 200 kilometers offshore. Yet Prelude,
“the fi rst project out”, might not be fi rst to produce. The speed to
market and scalability of “rival” FLNG ideas offers options for
the revenue-hungry and a new market for marine and offshore
early movers. Browse FLNG, too, is “on-track” for front-end engineering
later in 2015.
Floating oil production might be decades
old, but floating liquefied natural
gas is so new that technology patents are
still vulnerable. Classification societies
can’t say for certain that they’ve given
their full blessing to projects from top
to bottom. Few projects are sanctioned
— in Australia, Cameroon, Canada, Indonesia,
Malaysia, Mozambique and
the United States. Sixteen others offer a
chance for contractors to plan their contracts
now.
Competing for the mid-term opportunities
to unlock stranded gas offered
by new liquefaction solutions from
Britain, Japan and Norway is tried and
tested technology from Germany and the
United States. FLNG is developing in
such lurches and spurts that consortia of
former rival contractors are collaborating
on front-end engineering and design
(FEED) and engineering procurement
and construction (EPC) bids together
to make sure they’re in on what comes
next. The focus is on Asia, where gas and
people abound, but where a maritime
continent lacks Europe’s interlocking
pipelines. In Asia, shipyards anticipate
FLNG orders with investments in the
largest dry docks, cranes and quays ever
seen. The mantra “A FEED and an Asian
yard” suits FLNG well. Though still
36 Maritime Reporter & Engineering News • SEPTEMBER 2015