Rick Wilkinson
OGJ Correspondent
MELBOURNE, July 15 -- PTTEP Australasia confirmed last week plans to station a floating LNG (FLNG) vessel in the Timor Sea to develop its gas assets. PTTEP AA, a unit of Thailand’s PTTEP PCL, also has signed a partnership agreement with SBM Offshore and the Linde Group for the project.
PTTEP AA has submitted documents to the federal government’s Department of Environment proposing to develop the gas reserves in Cash-Maple, Montara, and Oliver fields using the FLNG scheme.
Front-end engineering and design work is expected to begin during this year’s fourth quarter. The vessel will be able to process 2 million tonnes/year of LNG. A final investment decision is currently timed for fourth-quarter 2012. All going to plan, the vessel would be on station to come on stream in late-2016.
PTTEP AA is considering two options. One would be to relocate the FLNG vessel to each field in turn. The other is to station the vessel at Cash-Maple and connect the other fields to it by subsea lines.
The company says that 11-21 production wells will be needed across the three field areas: 5 wells in permit AC/L7, which contains the Montara group of fields including Swift and Swallow; 3 wells at Oliver in AC/P33; and as many as 13 wells in Cash-Maple in retention lease AC/RL7.
The FLNG vessel will be 400 m long and 65 m wide, designed to withstand severe cyclones. It will be designed for a field operational life of 20 years with the hull structure designed for a life of 30 years.
PTTEP AA’s submission is open for public comment until July 19.
In the partnership agreement, the Netherlands-based SBM Offshore will contribute its mooring system technology and marine expertise. It also will be involved in the gas processing for the FLNG topsides.
Germany’s Linde Group will build the topsides for the floating production, storage, and offloading vessels.
When the project’s final investment decision is reached, SBM and Linde will incorporate a special purpose company to jointly construct, finance, own, and operate the FLNG facility. It will then be contracted on a lease-and-operate basis to PTTEP AA.