Gas processing news

A. Blume, Editor

Gladstone LNG ships first cargo

The first shipment of LNG from the Gladstone LNG project in Australia was loaded in mid-October for delivery to South Korea. The plant at Curtis Island will produce 7.2 MMtpy of LNG when at full capacity. All production from the plant will be sold under long-term contracts to Asian buyers, mainly in South Korea and Malaysia.

Located in Queensland, the project comprises the development of several onshore coalbed methane fields, a 420-km gas transmission pipeline and a two-train liquefaction plant near Gladstone. Total holds a 27.5% stake in the Gladstone LNG project, alongside partners Santos (30%), Petronas (27.5%) and KOGAS (15%).

EXMAR FSRU achieves keel-laying

Wison Offshore & Marine Ltd. held a ceremony in late October to celebrate the keel-laying of Excelerate Energy’s EXMAR FSRU project, a barged-based floating LNG regasification unit, in the dry dock of Wison Offshore & Marine in Nantong, China. The ceremony marked the first important project milestone achieved by the company.

Under the agreement for the regasification unit, Wison Offshore & Marine will provide turnkey engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning for the EXMAR project.

The EXMAR FSRU, a non-propelled barge, will be equipped with two regasification plants of 400 MMscfd and 200 MMscfd of regasification capacity, respectively. Two self-supporting, prismatic, IMO Type B (SPB) tanks—each with a capacity of 13,160 m³—will be installed in the hull for LNG storage, and an accommodation block suitable for 28 people will also be installed on the barge.

Poland starts up first LNG terminal

In an effort to achieve independence from Russian gas supplies, Poland has opened its first terminal to import LNG. The Polskie LNG SA facility, located in the Baltic port of Swinoujscie, is being prepared for startup testing, and is set to receive its first shipment of LNG from Qatar between Dec. 11 and Dec. 17 to cool the plant. Commercial deliveries are slated to start in 2016, two years later than originally planned.

Poland is a key transit country for Russian gas supplies to Western Europe, and the nation has criticized plans by Russian gas giant Gazprom to expand its undersea pipeline directly to Germany—a move that would bypass East European countries that rely on Russia for gas.

FSRU planned for India’s east coast

The first floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU) on the east coast of India will be built in Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh Gas Distribution Corp. (APGDC), Gas Authority of India Ltd. (GAIL), GDF Suez and Shell signed two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) to set up an FSRU terminal at the Kakinada deepwater port.

The first MOU established a terminal company between APGDC, GDF Suez and Shell. APGDC is a JV of the Andhra Pradesh government and GAIL (48%), GDF Suez (26%) and
Shell (26%).

The second MOU set up a trading company and covers both the sourcing of LNG and
the marketing of the regasified LNG from the terminal, with the same equity dispersion represented among the members of the trading company. 

The Kakinada LNG terminal will use an FSRU with a peak capacity of 5 MMtpy with the provision to double that capacity.