By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Oct. 26 -- Innovation with stranded gas resources can help meet the needs of gas-dependent industries, says a new report by Edinburgh consultants Wood Mackenzie.
More than 3.5 quadrillion cu ft of gas has been discovered worldwide in about 4,000 fields that are not commercial because of distance from markets or size. Three-fourths of those fields contain less than 500 bcf of gas each, WoodMac said.
Such stranded resources "hold great potential for smaller-scale, innovative commercialization solutions."
And although there currently is no proven technology enabling commercial development of even medium-size (below 3 tcf) stranded-gas fields, "a number of emerging technologies and commercialization strategies may soon make small-field development increasingly feasible and attractive, primarily through the development of small-scale, integrated source-to-market solutions," the consultant said.
Emerging technologies
Stranded fields thus represent an opportunity for large gas-feedstock users such as the chemical, plastics, and fertilizer industries.
Stranded-gas owners generally are independent producers with no gas-market positions of their own. If end-users guarantee these producers a secure, credit-worthy, and long-term market for the gas—preferably for the entire production life cycle—they could secure upstream equity positions, purchase cheap feedstock, and be guaranteed a dedicated, controllable gas supply.
The supplier would then have the means for developing the previously stranded gas.
A number of new technologies for developing small, stranded fields can make such deliveries possible. The most promising of these are advanced uses of compressed natural gas (CNG), floating LNG (FLNG), and gas-to-products conversion and transport.
Although CNG technology has been used for decades on land, advances in the last 5 years have made offshore compression and marine transportation promising. "This technology alone could potentially bring around a third of the world's existing stranded gas fields into play," WoodMac said.
Likewise, FLNG has the potential to greatly reduce the cost of conventional LNG, said the analyst. Ships with liquefaction facilities aboard can be deployed over several fields in sequence, allowing very small fields to be economically developed.
Converting gas to a product such as methanol on site and transporting the liquid offer another option.
"Although largely unproven, development of a floating methanol facility is currently being considered for deployment in several locations," WoodMac said. If the technology proves successful, other such floating technologies might be developed soon.
