Overview: Offshore Facilities Construction and Design (February 2005)

Abstract

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) and offshore activities have much in common. - The ultimate goal of each is to produce and deliver hydrocarbons to the market. - The main oil operators are active in LNG as well as other offshore activities (e.g., ExxonMobil, Shell, BP, Total, and ChevronTexaco). - Production is transported over long distances by carriers (even if LNG carriers are far more sophisticated than oil tankers!). But, until now, LNG production plants have always been built onshore, even when gas is produced offshore (e.g., Qatar, Trinidad, and Sakhalin). The first concepts of LNG floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels were presented by the industry in the mid-1970s. These concepts were targeting stand-alone gasfield developments or associated gas fields. Even if an LNG FPSO appears economically very attractive when compared with a “grass roots” onshore LNG plant, the operators seem not to have found the proper location or the correct “scheme” to select an LNG FPSO for developing an offshore gas field. At the other end of the LNG chain, huge investments also are foreseen to build facilities for the reception and regasification of LNG to cope with a fast-growing demand for gas. Many terminals are under construction or planned in many countries. This increased demand is not without obstacles. In some areas of North America or Europe (Italy for example), environmental constraints prevent the installation of newly built, land-based LNG terminals. As a result, the projects are moving offshore, taking the shape of fixed, gravity-based structures or floating storage and regasification units. In this offshore move of the LNG industry—“tomorrow” for the receiving terminals and the “day after tomorrow” for LNG FPSOs—those who combine LNG and offshore expertise will be key players in this new arena. Additional Offshore Facilities Construction and Design Technical Papers Available at the SPE eLibrary: www.spe.org SPE 89998 - Subsea HIPPS: A Way To Develop High-Pressure Subsea Fields Available at the OTC Library: www.otcnet.org OTC 16106 - Monitoring of Sand Deposition in Subsea Separators OTC 16185 - High-Strength Aluminum Alloys for Deepwater Riser Applications