FLNG vs ‘Subsea-To-Beach’: A Study on the Critical Factors Governing Concept Selection in Deepwater Gas Field Developments

Abstract

Abstract The objectives of this study are: (a) The investigation of the main technical factors affecting the preliminary design and cost estimation of a ‘Subsea-to-Beach’ subsea production system (SPS) and, indirectly, of a floating LNG (FLNG) offshore development; (b) The identification of the ‘key’ factors, seen as the real differentiators in the comparison between ‘Subsea-to-Beach’ and FLNG; and (c) how these ‘key’ factors relate to other decision factors (for example, economics, risks, and technology readiness). The four (4) steps followed in this study can be summarized as follows: (a) Review of historical ‘Subsea-to-Beach’ developments associated to LNG production; (b) Definition of the study cases, including preliminary design and cost estimation (by means of a proprietary cost estimating tool); (c) Presentation of the cost estimates and discussion of the technical factors that affect them in the most relevant way; and (d) Discussion of the key differentiating factors with respect to areas of applicability for ‘Subsea-to-Beach’ and FLNG (where one of the two alternatives works best).