Shell plans biggest floating object ever
The Associated Press
Posted: May 20, 2011 12:24 PM ET
Last Updated: May 20, 2011 1:34 PM ET
A rendering of the "Prelude FLNG" facility, the biggest floating man-made object ever, a natural gas processing plant longer than four football fields and more massive than any aircraft carrier. (Canadian Press/HO/Royal Dutch Shell )
Royal Dutch Shell will construct the biggest floating man-made object ever, a natural gas processing plant longer than four football fields and more massive than any aircraft carrier.
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 off Australia's Northwest coast and cool it into liquefied natural gas, known as LNG.
Australia is awash in natural gas, and is eager to sell it to the booming economies of Asia.
In order for natural gas to be shipped overseas, it must be cooled to -260 degrees Fahrenheit. At that temperature the gas becomes a liquid that takes up just 0.2 per cent of the volume of the gas, allowing more gas to be packed onto a ship.
The Australian oil and gas company Woodside is set to begin production at a giant onshore liquid natural gas facility in Western Australia this year and is considering doubling its size.
Shell claimed the plant will be able to withstand Category Five cyclones, the worst type of storms, and is planned to remain moored above the Prelude gas field for 25 years after completion.
Cost not disclosed
Shell said the plant 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 plant'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 $12.8 billion US in tax revenues over 25 years.
Share Tools
Top News Headlines
- Canadian Pacific strikers face back-to-work legislation
- Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is prepared to end the Canadian Pacific Railway strike if necessary, after both CP and the union rejected a proposal for voluntary arbitration by the government-appointed negotiator on Sunday. Raitt says she is "extremely disappointed." more »
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
Latest Technology & Science News Headlines
- South Africa, Australia to share world's largest telescope
- South Africa and Australia will jointly host the Square Kilometre Array, which promises to be the world's largest telescope, the international consortium in charge of the project said Friday. more »
- Bonavista, N.L., 'coyote' was really wolf, tests confirm
- Wolves have not been seen in Newfoundland since around 1930 and were believed to have been hunted to extinction on the island, but genetic tests have confirmed that an 82-pound animal shot on the Bonavista Peninsula in March was, in fact, a wolf. more »
- Once-rare argus butterfly thriving thanks to climate change
- Global warming is threatening the existence of many species, such as the giant polar bear, but in the case of Britain's brown argus butterfly, it took a species in trouble and made it thrive. more »
- Yahoo scraps digital magazine designed for iPad
- Yahoo has killed Livestand, a tablet magazine, just six months after its debut on the iPad. more »
Bob McDonald's Blog
Government to shut down unique fresh water research area May. 25, 2012 12:31 PM The Experimental Lakes Area research facility in Northern Ontario is being closed down after 44 years of providing invaluable data to scientists in Canada and internationally, a decision that has stunned researchers and environmental groups.
Quirks & Quarks
- May 26: Before the Lights Go Out May. 25, 2012 4:15 PM A new book, "Before the Lights Go Out: Conquering the Energy Crisis Before It Conquers Us", suggests that the unpredictable, unplanned, ad-hoc way our energy use developed in the past will shape our energy future.
Latest Features
- Seniors float above Montreal's Quartier Latin
- Accused in blast that killed Alberta mom handled her funds
- Remains found in bag on Cape Breton river ID'd
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Quebec students and province to resume talks
- Lip-dub marriage proposal an internet hit
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- B.C. NDP calls for unity in fighting coast guard closure
- Canadian Pacific strikers face back-to-work legislation
