Shell plans big f loating LNG plant

       The Anglo-Dutch oil group Shell said yesterday it was preparing a blueprint for what could be the first floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant - and the world's biggest vessel - off Australia.
       If it goes ahead, the move would have significant implications for the industry because it could unlock "stranded" gas reserves previously considered too costly to develop because of their small size or distance from shore.
       "We're in the front end engineering and design phase now," a Shell spokeswoman told AFP."Once that's complete it will then be decided whether we go to the final investment decision."
       Shell refused to give a date when the giant facility, which would draw LNG from its Prelude and Concerto gas assets in the Browse Basin off northwest Western Australia, could be operational.
       But it said the floating structure, which reportedly would cost US$5.0 billion,would be some 480 metres in length,75 metres wide, and weigh about 600,000 metric tonnes.
       It would be significantly the largest vessel in the world when it's constructed,Malcolm Brinded, Shell's executive director upstream international, said on Thursday.
       Although the technology is commercially untested, the project would have the capacity to produce 3.5 million tonnes of LNG per year, as well as liquefied petroleum gas over its 20-year lifespan.
       The plant, in the shape of an enormous ship, would be towed to each spot and temporarily anchored to the seabed. Reports said it would be designed to withstand extreme weather such as a onein-10,000-year cyclone.
       Brinded said demand for LNG would probably rise as rapidly industrialising Asian countries such as India and China increasingly sought cleaner-burning fuels.
       "Gas is an absolutely key energy source as a bridge to a fully sustainable energy future, and I think it will be a bridge that will last most of this century," he told reporters.
       The technology is particularly relevant for Australia which is believed to have stranded gas reserves worth about A$1.0 trillion (US$890 billion).
       Western Australia is the centre of Australia's booming LNG industry which some analysts believe is on course to rival Qatar, the world's biggest producer.
       LNG is natural gas that is chilled for shipping as a liquid, then turned back into gas at its destination and distributed by pipeline.