Regional LNG: INPEX FLNG facility sails away from Korea to Australia
Friday, June 30 2017 - 02:12 PM WIB
By Romel S. Gurky
INPEX Corporation announced on Friday that the Prelude FLNG Project?s Floating LNG (FLNG) facility, which forms the backbone of the project, had sailed away from its construction site in Geoje, South Korea en route to the Prelude Gas Field, following the completion of shipyard commissioning and preparation work.
INPEX is involved in developing the project in Block WA-44-L offshore Western Australia through its subsidiary, INPEX Oil & Gas Australia Proprietary Limited (IOGA).
The company stated in a press release on Friday that the Prelude FLNG facility will be towed to the Prelude Gas Field approximately 475 kilometers north-northeast of Broome, Western Australia over a period of approximately one month. Once on site and secured by mooring chains, it is scheduled to undergo hook-up and commissioning, after which production from the Prelude Gas Field will commence.
The Project is expected to begin contributing to the company?s financial performance, including its cash flow, in 2018.
The Prelude FLNG Project is the first in INPEX?s portfolio of projects to deploy FLNG as a natural gas liquefaction facility. The development of gas fields using FLNG facilities has numerous advantages including a lesser environmental impact compared to onshore-based LNG development, and the option of developing small- and medium-sized gas fields that would be uneconomical through an onshore LNG development scheme. For such reasons, FLNG facilities are expected to be deployed on a large number of projects in the future.
The Prelude FLNG facility is the largest offshore floating facility ever built, measuring approximately 488 meters in length and 74 meters in width. It will have the capacity to produce, liquefy, store and offload approximately 3.6 million tons per year of liquefied natural gas (LNG), approximately 400,000 tons per year of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and approximately 36,000 barrels per day of condensate at peak.
INPEX will continue to engage in the development of the Project with its partners Shell Australia (Operator), Kogas Prelude Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of KOGAS, Korea and Overseas Petroleum and Investment Corporation (OPIC), a subsidiary of CPC Corporation, Taiwan.
Editing by Benget Besalicto ST