MEERA SELVA Associated Press Writer — October 9, 2009
Royal Dutch Shell PLC announced plans Thursday to develop a giant floating liquefied natural gas plant that will process gas off the northwest coast of Western Australia.
The company, which is listed in the UK and the Netherlands, said the plant — called the Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Technology — will allow offshore gas reserves to be processed in situ, rather than transported to land.
Malcolm Brinded, executive director of Shell's Upstream International business, said the technology "has the potential to unlock some of Australia's 'stranded' gas reserves that have previously been considered uneconomic to develop because of their small size or distance from shore."
The facility, which is not yet operational, is expected to process 3.5 million tons of liquefied natural gas per year.
Shell said the plant will first be used at the Prelude and Concerto gas fields it has discovered in the Browse Basin off the coast of Western Australia and can redeployed at other gas fields later on.