Oil majors eye $5 billion ships to cut LNG cost

LONDON (Reuters) – Oil and gas companies are racing to develop a new type of vessel they hope will revolutionize offshore gas production but even if the untested technology works, its deployment could be blocked by resource holders who fear it will undermine development goals.

The industry hopes to build a fleet of ships or barges that can sail or be towed to offshore gas discoveries, extract gas, freeze it to liquefied natural gas (LNG) and offload the LNG to tankers for shipping to lucrative Western and Asian markets.

Companies hope FLNG will be cheaper than building onshore liquefaction facilties, speed up the time it takes to bring fields onstream, reduce projects’ environmental footprints and make it economic to exploit small and remote offshore deposits.

Reuters