Page 12 - AsianOil Week 15 2022

AsianOil EAST ASIA AsianOil

Currently, seven FLNG
facilities exist globally
in Malaysia, Australia,
Mozambique and
Cameroon, including
those in transit or under
construction.

JGC Holdings, K Line aim for

cheaper floating LNG technology

PROJECTS & JAPAN’S JGC Holdings and Kawasaki Kisen storage of liquefied gas can only be built by a
COMPANIES shipping company (K Line) aim to develop a new few shipbuilders in South Korea and elsewhere.
generation of floating LNG (FLNG) terminals by According to JGC, there are only six such tanks
repurposing old gas tankers. in the world.
The companies claim that they will be able to In addition to reducing the cost of construc-
reduce construction costs by 30% and by freez- tion of a typical FLNG plant – put by JGC at
ing natural gas close to production sites offshore. JPY100bn ($793mn) – by up to 30%, the method
There is renewed interest in expanding LNG promises to shorten completion time signifi-
production in Asia as global gas supply tightens cantly from the current 4-5 years. The method
owing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Kawasaki Kisen said there were about 120
The companies claim that LNG terminals to 130 LNG tankers in the world equipped with promises
could be built and installed off the coast of Africa spherical tanks that can be transhipped, about
and other gas producing regions close to Europe. 50 of which will be decommissioned in the near to shorten
The companies say floating gas plants can future.
serve gas fields that are far offshore, where pipe- Assuming all 50 of these tankers are re-used completion time
line costs are high, and in areas where there are and that each has a loading capacity of 70,000 significantly from
few markets and little infrastructure for gas on tonnes, that makes a total volume of 3.5mn
land. tonnes. That is equivalent to about 30% of the current 4-5
Currently, seven FLNG facilities exist glob- Europe’s LNG imports in January.
ally in Malaysia, Australia, Mozambique and JGC and Kawasaki Kisen have obtained basic years.
Cameroon, including those in transit and under certification from the American Bureau of Ship-
construction. ping, which is important for the practical appli-
JGC and Kawasaki Kisen said that the key to cation of new technologies in the industry. The
their project was to convert the spherical tanks companies hope this will raise their profile and
found on old LNG tankers and re-install them help to win orders from countries and energy
at FLNG plants. A typical FLNG terminal would companies with interests in gas fields.
then feature six such tanks mounted in the cen- LNG demand is rising, especially in
tre of a floating vessel, usually a former tanker, Europe, in the wake of Russia’s invasion of
approximately 400 metres long. Ukraine. The two companies expect that
Repurposing existing gas tanks would be a demand for FLNG in Africa and other regions
major innovation, as tanks for the temporary close to Europe will increase.™

P12 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 15 15•April•2022