We are playing a key role in the ground breaking Shell Generic Floating LNG program – paving the way for the production of liquefied natural gas offshore using floating units. The first application of this new concept will be in the Prelude gas field off the northwest coast of Australia.
The biggest Floating Production Facility to date
On completion the floating LNG (FLNG) serving Prelude will be the largest offshore floating facility in the world to date – measuring close to 500 metres from bow to stern, with a maximum width of 74 metres and a weight of 600,000 tonnes fully loaded. Designed to withstand cyclonic events without disconnecting the vessel will operate in a water depth of 250 metres, providing an annual production capacity of 3.6 million tonne of LNG, 1.3 million tonne condensate and 0.4 million tonne LPG.
Adding our expertise
Our participation in the project started at the end of 2008 when Shell selected us to handle the design procurement and construction of the Turret Mooring Systems (TMS) for their FLNG facilities – adding our expertise to the Technip Samsung Consortium, which was selected to manage the provision of facilities for up to three FLNGs.
Building the largest TMS on the planet
The Prelude TMS will be the largest we have ever designed and built – in fact it will be the largest non-disconnectable internal Turret Mooring System constructed to date – standing 100 metres high with a diameter of 30 metres and a weight of more than 10,000 tonnes. The completed TMS will be capable of bearing mooring loads equivalent to a 10,000 year storm.
Project status
Detailed engineering is now well underway , with procurement of key components already started and Turret module fabrication about to proceed. The project is being executed with a very high focus on HSSE, quality and robustness – requiring everyone involved across many different organisations and sites to work towards ‘Goal Zero’ – no harm to people and no significant incident from design to delivery.