Shell’s Prelude FLNG Facility Sets Sail From S. Korea For Australia

Royal Dutch Shell’s Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) facility has left a shipyard in South Korea for its destination offshore northwest Australia, the company said on June 29.

Shell’s $12.6 billion Prelude project is expected to start operating next year, the company said, after long delays since the oil major first decided to go ahead with the project in 2011.

Once the facility arrives in Australia, it will be secured to the seabed by mooring chains before it can be connected to the gas field and start operating, Shell said.

The Prelude FLNG was built by a Technip Samsung Heavy Industries consortium in the South Korean shipyard of Geoje.

Wood Group Garners FEED Contract Offshore Greece

Wood Group secured a FEED contract offshore Greece on June 27 that will create a new natural gas gateway to the markets of southeastern and central Europe.

The contract with Gastrade S.A. is to develop a floating LNG FSRU for the Alexandroupolis Independent Natural Gas System (INGS) offshore Greece.

Wood Group’s subsea team will perform the design and engineering of the Alexandroupolis FSRU and its subsystems. A final investment decision is expected in late 2017.

“This contract brings our global expertise and technical solutions to a new client and we look forward to working with Gastrade S.A. as the main engineering contractor for developing this FEED,” said Bob MacDonald, CEO of Wood Group’s Specialist Technical Solutions business, in a statement. “Our subsea capabilities combined with the engineering proficiency of our people and cost-effective technical solutions, position us well to deliver this milestone European project.”

SBM Offshore Snags Contracts For ExxonMobil’s Liza FPSO
ExxonMobil confirmed contracts in late June with SBM Offshore for the next phase of the Liza project in Guyana.

SBM Offshore will construct, install, lease and operate an FPSO. The agreement follows completion of front-end engineering studies and the final investment decision by ExxonMobil.

Liza is located in the Stabroek block, which covers almost 27,000 sq km, about 200 km offshore Guyana. Esso Exploration and Production Guyana Ltd., the operator, holds a 45% interest in the block. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds a 30% interest, and CNOOC Nexen Petroleum Guyana Limited holds a 25% interest.

The FPSO’s capacity is 120,000 barrels of oil per day (MMbbl/d), with associated gas treatment capacity of about 170 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of about 200 MMbbl/d. The converted VLCC FPSO will be spread moored in water depth of 1,525 m and will be able to store 1.6 million barrels of crude oil.

"We are proud that ExxonMobil awarded SBM Offshore the contracts for the Liza FPSO,” said SBM Offshore CEO Bruno Chabas in a statement. “The Liza Field offshore Guyana is one of the industry’s largest oil discoveries of the past decade. We look forward to cooperating closely with our client and partners to make this project a success. This award underlines SBM Offshore’s continued focus on building on our experience, our long-term relationships and FPSO-led strategic vision.”

—Staff Reports

Offshore