Yesterday, Shell signed two contracts with the Technip and Samsung Heavy Industries consortium for the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas (LNG) project off the coast of Western Australia.
These contracts formalize the announcement made by Shell in October 2009 that Prelude is in the engineering and design phase of development.
- The first contract covers the front-end engineering design (FEED) elements specific to the Prelude project, taking into account the composition of the gas, local weather conditions and other site specific factors.
- The second contract details the terms under which the floating LNG facility would be built, if the final investment decision for the Prelude project is made.
Planning for Prelude is progressing well.
Yesterday's signing follows a July 2009 master agreement between Shell and the Technip-Samsung consortium to work on the design, construction and installation of multiple floating LNG facilities over a period of up to 15 years. The floating design will allow Shell to place gas liquefaction facilities directly over offshore gas fields, precluding the need for long-distance pipelines and extensive onshore infrastructure. This provides a commercially attractive approach for developing offshore fields.
Notes to Editors
Royal Dutch Shell plc is a leading global energy company whose subsidiaries employ 102,000 people and operate in more than 100 countries and territories. Shell engages in the exploration and production of oil and natural gas, the refining and marketing of transportation fuels and other oil products, the production of chemicals and the development of renewable energy. For more information, see www.shell.com/aboutshell.
Technip is one of the world's largest firms in the field of project management, engineering and construction for the oil and gas industry, with a workforce of 23,000 people and offices and 48 countries.
Samsung is one of the largest shipyards in Korea and the world, with a capacity to build 65 commercial ships and 250,000 tonnes of offshore topside modules.
Shell is the Operator and 100% equity holder of the WA-371-P permit in the Browse Basin, approximately 475km north-northeast of Broome, Western Australia. Shell discovered the Prelude gas field in January 2007 and the Concerto gas field in March 2009, with both fields to be developed sequentially by the Prelude FLNG facility. While pending a Final Investment Decision, the Prelude FLNG Project is now in the Front End Engineering and Design (FEED) phase of development with environmental and production approvals also progressing.
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For further information, please contact:
Christophe Bélorgeot for Technip: +33 (0)1 47 78 39 92
mailto:@technip.com
H.S.Kim for Samsung Heavy Industries: +82-2-3458-7358
hyunsic0323.kim@samsung.com and copy to joonghyun.chung@samsung.com
