ExxonMobil has sought Australian government approval to install the world's largest floating LNG production facility at the Scarborough gas field it shares with BHP Billiton in the Carnarvon Basin off the country's northwest coast.
The ExxonMobil-operated Scarborough FLNG project would process around 1.1 Bcf/day of gas, producing an estimated 6 million to 7 million mt/year of LNG from five trains, the company said in an application lodged Tuesday with the Australian government's Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. ExxonMobil and BHP Billiton each own 50% of the Scarborough field.
The vessel to be deployed and permanently moored at Scarborough would be a massive 495 meters long, even bigger than the 488 meter FLNG facility currently under construction in South Korea for Shell's Prelude project in Australia's Browse Basin. Prelude became the world's first FLNG project to reach a final investment decision in May 2011, and is expected to start producing 3.6 million mt/year of LNG from 2017.
The Scarborough FLNG project is currently in the pre front-end engineering and design phase, and exact schedules are yet to be determined, ExxonMobil said. But the project is expected to progress to the FEED stage in 2013 and to a final investment decision in 2014-2015.
The development would involve the drilling of 12 wells in two phases, starting with seven over the period from 2018 to 2019. Offshore installation and commissioning of the FLNG facility would be expected to occur in 2019 and 2020, with production starting in 2020-2021.
In addition to the gas treatment and liquefaction facilities, the vessel would be fitted with up to 10 storage tanks inside the hull, with an onboard storage capacity of around 380,000 cubic meters. Around 80-110 cargoes would be offloaded from the facility each year.
The Scarborough field was discovered in 1979 in permit WA-1-R and holds about 8-10 Tcf of lean gas. The field lies about 220 km (136 miles) off the coast of Western Australia in around 950 meters of water.
Floating production technology was considered the most appropriate development method for Scarborough, given the field's remote location and reservoir characteristics, ExxonMobil said.
Following receipt of ExxonMobil's application, Australian environment minister Tony Burke has 20 working days to decide on whether approval for the project is required under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. That 20 days include a 10-day public comment period.
Since Shell approved its Prelude project, FLNG production technology has steadily gained traction in the Asia Pacific region. In June last year, Malaysia's Petronas approved an FLNG facility off Bintulu which it expects to get into production prior to Prelude's startup.
Burke has also already approved what would be Australia's second FLNG facility, the Bonaparte project off northern Australia which is being pursued by GDF Suez and Santos. That project has yet to reach a final investment decision, but is targeting a go-ahead in 2014.
