FLNG involves the liquefying of natural gas on board a floating unit. The gas may come from a gas reservoir or a pipeline. Once the gas is liquefied, it is stored in the cargo tanks of an FLNG unit before being transferred to an offtake LNG vessel.
We believe FLNG will enable the monetization of previously stranded gas including marginal fields and flare gas. Currently there are about 700 potential stranded gas fields in the range of 0.5 to 5 tcf, which are well suited for FLNG and over $40 billion in annual revenues to be gained as a result of monetizing gas instead of flaring it.
The appeal of FLNG over on-shore liquefaction is two-fold: shorter time to market and lower cost to produce. Other benefits include the higher residual value and better bankability of moveable assets.
We are actively looking at vessel conversions and newbuilds for FLNG projects. Our Arctic Spirit and Polar Spirit LNG vessels are ideally suited for 0.5 to 1 MTA projects, while our newbuild solution targets 1 to 2 MTPA projects. ABS awarded our solution concept approval in principle in 2008. Our experience in floating production and gas handling, LNG operations, LNG and oil offtaking, offshore terminal operations, mooring, risers & subsea, and risk management, provide us many of the necessary tools to excel in the FLNG environment. |