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Current fabrication projects on Asian shipyards
2020 and beyond looks to be an exciting time for the energy sector with multiple projects due for final investment decisions this year. This creates great opportunity for technical talent to progress their career on a variety of projects from early stage design to production.
8 FLNG, FPU and facility construction projects currently underway
Click here to read part one on FPSO projects
Floating Liquified Natural Gas Projects
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is a fast-growing major fuel source and demand is expected to double by 2035. Much of this growth will come from Asia as they transition away from coal. Airswift have been supporting some of the world’s largest LNG projects for over 20 years. Below are a few upcoming projects.
Floating Production Units (FPU)
There are several FPU’s designed to support offshore deepwater projects. These include facilities like semisubmersible floating production systems (FPS), subsea architectures and Tension Leg Platforms. A number of these facilities are fabricated across the yards in Asia.
1. North Field Expansion Project (NFE) Phase 1
In the north-east of the Qatar Peninsula, lies the biggest gas field in the world. Accounting for 14.2% of global reserves, the North Field is owned by QatarEnergy and operated by its subsidiary Qatargas. In 2017, Qatar lifted its 12-year, self-imposed moratorium before announcing its expansion plans on the development of the North Field.
Phase 1 of the expansion (also known as North Field East) will involve the addition of four new LNG trains and eight wellhead platform jackets with 80 well slots. It will also include eight unmanned wellhead platform topsides and four 28-inch diameter intra-field offshore pipelines, feeding four 38-inch diameter trunklines, power and fibre optic umbilicals (8km) from the onshore LNG plant to the wellhead platforms.
2. North Field Expansion Project (NFE) Phase 1
Phase 2, also known as North Field South, is poised to include up to five offshore wellhead platforms along with associated offshore facilities and subsea pipelines.
The project aims to increase Qatar’s LNG production from 77 to 126 Mtpa by 2027. First is expected to be produced by the end of 2023.
3. Gallaf Project
The Gallaf Project is a five-phase development of the Al-Shaheen field – Qatar’s largest oil-field located offshore, 80 km north of the capital Doha. The Al-Shaheen development currently consists of 33 platforms and 289 producing wells in a water depth of 60 meters.
Singapore’s Sembcorp Marine and operator North Oil Company (NOC) have been tasked to fabricate two well-head platforms that will be connected by a bridge to the field’s existing platforms.
Initially put on hold due to the Covid-19 outbreak, NOC recently announced plans to restart the Al-Shaheen project.
4. Greater Tortue – Ahmeyim
The deepest offshore project to ever take place in Africa, Greater Tortue- Ahmeyim is an offshore LNG project that will consist of the 2.5 Mtpa capacity FLNG vessel known as Gimi. The vessel will be located 8 km offshore on the maritime border of Mauritiania and Senegal.
The LNG project is expected to produce up to 10 Mtpa. With an estimated cost of USD$1.3 billion, the FLNG development involved the conversion of the LNG carrier at Singapore’s Keppel Shipyard.
Jointly operated by BP, Kosmos Energy, Petrosen and Société Mauritanienne Des Hydrocarbures et de Patrimoine Minier (SMHPM), first gas is expected by 2023.
5. Marjan Oil Field - Field Expansion
Worth an estimated USD$15 billion, the Marjan Oil Field Expansion project is an integrated oil and gas expansion of the Marjan offshore and onshore oil field located in the Arabian Gulf, in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia.
The offshore packages are worth an estimated USD$8 billion whilst onshore packages is estimated to clock in an additional USD$5 billion.
The project’s target is to increase the oil field’s crude production capacity by 300,000 bpd and produce 360,000 bpd of ethane and NGL by processing an additional 2.5 Bscfd of gas produced from the oil field.
Owned and operated by Saudi Aramco, the project is currently in its final revision stages for both packages and are sources state that it is scheduled for 100% model review in Q1 of 2021.
6. Arctic LNG-2
Russia’s largest independent producer of natural gas, Novatek recently cemented a deal for six Arc7 LNG tankers known as the Arctic LNG-2 project.
Arctic LNG-2 will involve the construction of three LNG liquefaction trains, each with a capacity of 6.6 Mtpa or 19.8 Mtpa in total. This also includes a cumulative gas condensate production capacity of 1.6 million tonnes per annum. The LNG plant will be placed on three gravity-based structures.
The time charter agreement was signed along with Sovcomflot and Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K Lines (MOL). The South Korean company Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) will be responsible for the construction of the tankers.
7. Whale Field Development
Located in the Alaminos Canyon Block 772 in the US Gulf of Mexico, the Whale deepwater well is considered as one of the largest oil discoveries by the Royal Dutch Shell. It sits in approximately 2,440-metre-deep water where it encountered 427 metres of oil-bearing pay.
Destined to be an 80% copy of Shell’s Vito Platform, the Whale Field development project involves a semi-submersible platform floating production unit (FPU) that is designed to process 100,000 b/d of oil, 230 MMcf/d of produced gas and 10,000 b/d of produced water.
Construction work on the FPU is currently ongoing in Singapore and the project is scheduled to come online in 2024.
8. LNG Canada
Also referred to as the Kitimat LNG Export Terminal, this facility construction project (FCP) has been delayed due to Covid-19 pandemic but is reportedly due to reach completion by 2025.
Consisting of two 225,000 cubic metres LNG storage tanks, plant piping, process cooling towers and facility site flare systems, an additional two trains are scheduled to come online at six-month intervals increasing the total capacity to 24 Mtpa.
As of September 2020, the project has wrapped up its including engineering, procurement and fabrication phases and is roughly 27% complete. The fabrication management team are currently working remotely on 200 modules in China and are expected to be mobilised back to China towards the end of 2020.
Airswift are a leading provider to fabrication projects
Airswift is a leader in the upstream sector, specifically fabrication yard and offshore oil and gas. We have extensive experience supporting major shipyard projects in Asia Pacific within the key locations of Singapore, China, South Korea and Batam, Indonesia. Visit our fabrication sector page to find out more.
This post was written by: Richard Halewood, Client Solutions Manager – Asia Pacific
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