Emerson gains MAC status on Shell Prelude project
15 Jul 2010
Southampton, UK – Technip Samsung Consortium has appointed Emerson Process Management as main automation contractor (MAC) for the Shell Prelude project, which will potentially be the world’s first floating LNG development.
Emerson will deliver the strategy, design, and engineering of the process control and monitoring technologies to support the production facility. Technip Samsung is the project’s overall FEED contractor.
This is the first project award for Emerson resulting from a global framework agreement with Shell, announced in February. The MAC deal was part of a Shell strategy to reduce traditional project bidding in favour of strategic relationships.
Floating LNG unlocks gas reserves that would otherwise be stranded as they might be too far offshore. It is the next step in LNG production, which eliminates the need for transportation pipelines of gas to shore and onshore processing.
The new production facility will operate as an integrated extraction, gas processing, and liquefaction plant, all directly above the gas reserves.
The Shell floating LNG facility is expected to have dimensions of 480 metres in length by 75 metres in width, a production capacity of 3.5 million to 4 million tonnes of LNG per year, and the ability to also process and export liquefied petroleum gas and condensate depending on gas composition.
When fully ballasted, the vessel will weigh an estimated 600,000 tonnes. It will also have the flexibility to relocate to another gas field once production at one gas field is complete.
The Floating LNG project is located in the remote Browse Basin off the coast of Western Australia. The project is currently in the engineering and design phase of development and subject to a final investment decision.
