FSRU provides cooldown LNG
FSRU provides cooldown LNG
In September 2014 IM Skaugen’s 12,000m3, 2011-built multipurpose gas carrier Norgas Unikum provided an LNG gassing up and cooldown service on behalf of Dubai Supply Authority (DUSUP). The operation was carried out by making use of the floating storage and regasification unit-based import terminal in Jebel Ali, Dubai’s principal port.
Norgas Unikum loaded the required LNG from Golar Freeze, the DUSUP-chartered FSRU on station in Jebel Ali, and transferred it to Excelerate Energy’s 150,900m3 Explorer. The latter vessel had just completed repairs at the Drydocks World yard in Dubai, and the LNG from Norgas Unikum was used to cool down Explorer’s tanks in preparation for loading her next cargo. SPT, Skaugen’s marine services affiliate, supervised both ship-to-ship (STS) cargo transfer operations carried out by Norgas Unikum in Dubai.
The operation showcased some of the technical capabilities of the six small Multigas carriers in Skaugen’s fleet. Norgas Unikum was able to utilise its change-of-grade capabilities to quickly prepare for handling LNG after the carriage of its previous cargo of ethylene, and during the operation it used its onboard Mini LNG reliquefaction plant to process boil-off gas and return it to the cargo tanks, thus minimising any loss of LNG. The vessel’s upper manifold facilitated LNG transfers from Golar Freeze and to Explorer. Norgas Unikum’s IMO Type C cargo tanks are able to load and carry partial quantities of liquefied gas cargoes, including LNG, and handle pressures of up to 520 kPa.
India updates FSRU safety provisions
The Indian government has published Order No 8 of 2014 to address how relevant IMO convention requirements, including those laid down in the International Gas Carrier (IGC) Code, apply to the operation of floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs), floating regasification units (FRUs) and floating storage units (FSUs) which are moored for extended periods at offshore locations or within harbour/port limits.
The order applies to Indian and foreign-flag units operating within the country’s jurisdiction, including territorial waters and those within the exclusive economic zone (EEZ). The order addresses requirements for both disconnectable and non-disconnectable units, including those designed to be permanently moored on location and without mechanical means of propulsion. India requires floating gas-processing units in its waters to be flagged and classed.
The IGC Code has recently been subject to a major revision to reflect technological advances made over the past decade, and the new edition is scheduled to enter into force on a global basis on 1 January 2016. Amongst numerous changes, the revised Code provides guidance for gas carriers periodically serving as floating LNG production (FLNG) vessels or FSRUs. Also, new sections address internal turret compartments and associated systems on such vessels.
Brownsville FLNG scheme for Pangea
NextDecade is promoting a nearshore, US Gulf Coast floating LNG production (FLNG) vessel project. The US$8.8 billion scheme calls for two jetty-moored FLNGs, each able to produce up to 4.5 million tonnes per annum (mta) of LNG, to be positioned at Brownsville in Texas where the state’s vast gas pipeline network is easily accessible.
NextDecade CEO Kathleen Eisbrenner helped establish Excelerate Energy, with its then unique floating regasification vessel offering, a decade ago. York Capital Management has recently announced that it will invest in NextDecade and form a strategic partnership to enable the joint development of a portfolio of LNG export projects.
NextDecade had already tabled a second Texas LNG export scheme – a shore-based terminal for Galveston. The company points out that its modular topsides design concept allows easy adaptation for the size of the FLNG vessel required and is equally suited to shore-based terminal applications.
Kobe Steel intermediate fluid vaporisers for FSRU Toscana
FSRU Toscana is in service off the coast of Italy and is making use of the three intermediate fluid LNG vaporisers (IFVs) supplied by Kobe Steel to regasify cargoes. Offshore LNG Toscana specified IFVs for its 137,000m3 floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) rather than conventional open rack vaporisers due to the superior performance provided by IFWs fitted on vessels operating in open sea conditions.
FSRU Toscana – the converted LNG carrier Golar Frost – is the first FSRU to operate in a true open sea environment on a continuous basis. The vessel is positioned 22km off the coast of Tuscany, where the water depth is 120m and where it weathervanes around a bow-mounted turret mooring arrangement.
The conversion work was carried out at the Drydocks World yard in Dubai under the supervision of Saipem SpA as the main engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. Saipem placed an order with Kobe Steel for three of its IFVs, each with the capacity to regasify 150 tonnes of LNG per hour, for the FSRU. The IFWs use seawater as the heating medium to vaporise the LNG.
The regasification performance of IFWs is impacted by the rolling and pitching movements of the vessel in open sea to a much lesser extent than the conventional open rack vaporisers (ORVs) commonly used at shore-based LNG receiving terminals. Kobe Steel worked closely with Offshore LNG Toscana and Saipem on evaluating LNG vaporisers suitable for FRSUs from the outset of the conversion project. Detailed simulations and analyses of ship motions were carried out and led to the choice of a specially modified offshore floater version of Kobe Steel’s basic IFV design.
PFLNG2 class contract to ABS
Petronas has awarded ABS the classification contract for PFLNG 2, the second floating LNG production facility that the Malaysian state oil and gas company will install in domestic waters. The vessel will be built at the Samsung Heavy Industries yard in Korea and is scheduled to commence gas production in early 2018.
PFLNG 2 will be moored using an external turret on the Rotan gas field 240km off the coast of Sabah in Malaysia in 1,150m of water. Designed to produce 1.5 million tonnes per annum (mta) of LNG, the vessel is expected to operate on site for a minimum of 20 years without drydocking. The project is featured on page 10.
Although ABS has an established history of working with floating gas concepts, PFLNG 2 is the first FLNG vessel classification contract secured by the Houston-based society. ABS classed the first offshore LPG storage unit in the world in 1997 and the first LPG floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel in 2005.
The society has awarded approval in principle (AIP) for 10 floating LNG concepts and has performed pre-front-end engineering and design (pre-FEED) and FEED work on a number of others. As the selected class society for the PFLNG 2 unit, ABS will provide a comprehensive suite of technical services, including classification.
Shell outlines potential FSRU plays
Mention Shell in the context of offshore LNG and the energy major’s mammoth Prelude FLNG project is the first thing that comes to mind. However, the company also has its eye on the potential for floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) and expects to invest in several LNG import projects based on the use of these vessels by 2020.
Maarten Wetselaar, Shell’s executive vice president of integrated gas business, said at a press conference held on the sidelines of the Singapore International Energy Week gathering in October 2014 that his company is investigating “concepts and technologies to build FSRUs” even smaller than the units currently being marketed.
Wetselaar named India, the Philippines and the Caribbean islands as new markets where such small FSRUs will help unlock potential demand for LNG imports. Gas production in the Philippines “will plateau” in the next few years and this developing South East Asia nation is already looking to fast-track the arrival of LNG at its shores to bridge the looming gap in its energy supply.
He also pointed out that “We are willing to invest in infrastructure to open up new markets.” The stance is illustrated by the major’s recent decision to take a 26 per cent equity stake in the 3.5 million tonnes per annum (mta), FSRU-based LNG import terminal that GAIL and GDF Suez have proposed for Kakinada in India’s Andhra Pradesh state. It is reported that Shell also floated a newbuild tender for a 170,000m3 FSRU for the Philippines earlier this year.
Final pair in Höegh FSRU quartet fixed
At press time Oslo-based Höegh LNG announced it had secured regas vessel employment for the final two of the four 170,000m3 floating storage and regasification units (FSRUs) it had on order at Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI). Hoegh Gallant, the first of the pair, is earmarked for service in Egypt while the final vessel in the series, Hoegh Challenger, has been chartered for use on Colombia’s Caribbean coast.
Egyptian Natural Gas Holding (Egas) has fixed Hoegh Gallant for five years and the vessel will be positioned at Ain Sokhna on the country’s Red Sea coast in March 2015 when work on a new dedicated jetty is completed. The vessel will have the capacity to regasify LNG at a rate of up to 3.5 million tonnes per annum.
Egypt has two LNG export plants on its Mediterranean coast but declining gas production levels and escalating demand in the country have reduced overseas shipments to a trickle and prompted the need for LNG imports. No long-term LNG purchases have been organised for Ain Sokhna as yet but Egas hopes to secure some cargoes under short-term arrangements from Sonatrach and Gazprom.
Sociedad Portuaria El Cayao (SPEC) has awarded Höegh LNG a contract covering the use of Hoegh Challenger as an FSRU at a site on Colombia’s Caribbean coast near Cartagena for 20 years from mid-2016. Under the terms of the agreement, SPEC will have an option to reduce the duration of the contract to five, 10 or 15 years. The company will confirm the initial contract term before the start of operations. A final decision to proceed is dependent upon SPEC obtaining the necessary environmental licences for the project.
Each of the new FSRUs is likely to generate earnings before tax of approximately US$40 million per annum for Höegh LNG. The first two vessels in the four-ship HHI series were delivered earlier this year and are now providing regas vessel services in Indonesia and Lithuania, respectively.
The flexible design of the vessels enables them to sail as conventional LNG carriers if required. Hoegh Gallant has just been delivered and will be able to serve in the short-term LNG market until that time it is required at Ain Sokhna. Similarly Hoegh Challenger is due to be completed by HHI in March 2015 and will be able to transport LNG until that time the SPEC contract commences.
Höegh LNG has a rolling programme of FSRU newbuildings underway at HHI and on 6 November 2014, as soon as the Egas and SPEC charters were announced, the shipowner confirmed that it had exercised an option on a fifth 170,000m3 regas vessel at the yard. The FSRU will be delivered during the first half of 2017 and it will have a higher regasification capacity than the first four HHI vessels. LNG
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