Prelude FLNG Leaves Yard for Australia

Shell said its Prelude floating liquefaction (FLNG) facility left the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, South Korea in the morning of June 29.

The facility, constructed by the Technip Samsung Consortium, is being towed to northwest Australia where the next phase of the project will commence.

On arrival at the Prelude offshore gas field, 475 km north-northeast of Broome, Western Australia, pre-positioned mooring chains will be lifted from the seabed and secured to the facility, said Shell, and once secure the complex hook-up and commissioning process will begin.

Prelude FLNG is an important project in Shell's portfolio and once operating will help boost the performance of Shell's Integrated Gas business. However the company has consistently avoided disclosing its cost, and Shell finance chief Jessica Uhl confirmed two months ago that Prelude is no longer on target to export first LNG by the end of this year.

However Shell said June 29 that cash flow is expected in 2018 from the project, which will have capacity to produce 3.6mn metric tons/yr of LNG and 1.7mn mt/yr of condensates and natural gas liquids, which will make the cost recovery faster. It's expected, once deployed, to be the world's largest floating liquefaction facility.

Mark Smedley