08 April 2014, News Wires – Malaysia’s state-run Petronas has launched the hull for what it claims will be the world’s first floating liquefied natural gas facility.
Petronas launched the hull of its PFLNG-1 vessel at Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering’s shipyard in Okpo, South Korea, on 5 April.
The 365-metre-long hull hit the water less than 10 months since the cutting of the first steel on the floater in June last year and Petronas said it was on track to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2015.
“Petronas is currently working closely with its strategic partners, Technip and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering to ensure that the project is delivered safely, in accordance to project specification and quality, within cost and on schedule,” Petronas vice-president of domestic LNG projects, Abdullah Karim, said.
The FLNG vessel will be moored at the Kanowit gas field, 180 kilometres offshore Sarawak and will have the capacity to produce 1.2 million tonnes per annum of LNG.
The PFLNG is due to be completed well ahead of Shell’s Prelude project but months after Exmar’s target of the start of 2015 for its smaller, 500,000-tpa-capacity project, Caribbean LNG.
– Upstream
