April 2014, Vol. 241 No. 4

Features

Shells First FLNG Readied For Western Australian Operations

In December, the 488-meter hull of Shell’s Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility was floated out of dry dock at the Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) yard in Geoje, South Korea where the facility is under construction. Shortly after float out the hull was towed to a nearby dock and readied for installation of the massive LNG facilities. Once completed, the Prelude FLNG facility will produce at least 5.3 million tons per annum (mtpa) of liquids: 3.6 mtpa of LNG – enough to satisfy Hong Kong’s annual natural gas needs – 0.4 mtpa of liquefied petroleum gas and 1.3mtpa of condensate (equivalent to 35,000 bpd). FLNG will allow Shell to produce n