Mar 14 2015, 09:30 AM
Shell progressing on Prelude
Final design: Shell is inching closer to the completion of its Prelude FLNG vessel
Anglo-Dutch supermajor is making progress with its Prelude floating liquefied natural gas development off Western Australia.
Speaking at the Australasian Oil & Gas (AOG) conference in Perth on Thursday, Shell’s asset manager for Prelude FLNG, Jim Marshall, said three of the seven planned development wells for Prelude had now been completed and work was progressing on construction of the giant FLNG vessel.
With the hull of the 488 metre ship completed and floated out from the drydock towards the end of 2013, attention last year switched the fabrication of the top side modules and their installation.
“Currently we have eight out of the 14 (modules) up on the deck, in fact two were lifted in the last week,” Marshall said.
“Progressively over the next few months we will lift the remaining six up onto the deck.”
Once the topsides are installed, Marshall said work would commence on integration between the individual modules and between the modules and the substructure systems of the vessel.
The first four turret modules have also already been installed in the hull with the remaining two modules due for arrival from Drydocks World in Dubai later this year.
Once completed, the Prelude turret mooring system will be the largest in the world, weighing in at more than 11,000 tonnes.
Subsea fabrication is also well underway in Malaysia with all seven Christmas trees completed and ready for installation.
Once the topside's are integrated, Marshall said pre-commissioning work would start, with Shell intending to complete as much of the commissioning work as possible at Samsung Heavy Industries shipyard in South Korea where the vessel is being built.
While work on the vessel continues, Marshall said 2015 was set to be “a critical year” for Prelude in the contract and procurement space.
“In 2015 we expect award 45, or 30%, of the key contracts required to support Prelude operations,” he said.
The contracts expected to be awarded this year will include facility management, running of accommodation, maintenance and modification services, laboratory services and production chemicals.
Australian companies can expect to benefit from the upcoming round of contracts, with Marshall saying Shell was targeting local companies.
“We have a strong focus on ensuring local and indigenous content is delivered directly and in partnership with our contractors,” he said.
“All contracts include the provision for this and we expect over 70% of the Prelude operations contracting procurement to be delivered locally.”
Shell is yet to give a timeframe for when it expects its Prelude FLNG facility to start production off Western Australia, but there is general consensus among analysts it will be operational sometime in 2017.
The vessel will be capable of processing roughly 3.6 million tonnes per annum of LNG, along with 1.3 million tpa of condensate and 400,000 tpa of liquefied petroleum gas.
Shell holds a 67.5% operated stake in Prelude and is partnered by Inpex (17.5%), Kogas (10%) and CPC (5%).
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