The Prelude floating LNG (FLNG) facility is en route from its construction site in South Korea to offshore Western Australia, a 5,800-km trip that should take about a month.
Led by tugboats, the vessel left the Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in Geoje, said operator Royal Dutch Shell PLC. It was constructed by Technip Samsung Consortium.
It’s the largest offshore floating facility ever built, said partner Inpex Corp. (OGJ Online, May 30, 2014). Prelude measures 488 m in length and 74 m in width.
Once it arrives at the Prelude natural gas field, the facility will be secured by preinstalled mooring chains lifted from the seabed. The Prelude facility will then undergo hook-up and commissioning, and start producing.
The facility will be installed on Block WA-44-L, about 475 km north-northeast of Broome.
Prelude FLNG’s peak capacity is 3.6 million tonnes/year of LNG, 400,000 tpy of LPG, and 36,000 b/d of condensate.
Shell Australia has 67.5% and Inpex has 17.5%. Other partners are Kogas Prelude Pty. Ltd. with 10% and Overseas Petroleum & Investment Corp. with 5%.