The “Prelude FLNG” facility, to be anchored off the
Australian coast, will be made of 260,000 tons of steel — five times more than
Sydney's famed Harbour Bridge, Shell said Friday.
It is designed to take in the equivalent of 110,000 barrels
per day in gas from undersea fields 200 kilometers (125 miles) off Australia's
Northwest coast and cool it into liquefied natural gas, known as LNG.
Shell claimed the plant will be able to withstand category 5
cyclones, the worst type of storms, and is planned to remain moored above the
Prelude gas field for 25 years after completion.
Shell said the facility will be built in a South Korean
shipyard but did not say how much it would cost.
A company spokeswoman declined to set a date for the
platform's completion date, but noted the Prelude gas field is scheduled to
start production around 2017.
“We don't give specific guidance on project level spend, but
we are making a substantial investment in Australia LNG,” said spokeswoman
Kirsten Smart in an email.
Shell plans $30 billion in various investments in Australia
over the coming five years, the company has said.
“This project is certainly competitive with more traditional
Australian LNG developments on a cost and economics basis,” Smart wrote.
Financial
newswire Dow Jones cited Australia's Resources Minister Martin Ferguson as
saying the project will benefit the country's economy by creating around 1,000
jobs and contributing A$12 billion ($12.8 billion) in tax revenues over 25
years.
