shell hold the aces

Came accross an interesting article about Shells FLNG. Looks like they have time up there sleeve once NXS are done with Crux.
NXS have until Dec 2013. Shell are planing to have there FLNG in the area until 2041. Looks like Shell are in a good position to offer an other extension at the right price.

FLNG gets serious

Among the latest and most exciting developments in the gas industry is Shell?s floating LNG technology. As early as 2016, offshore Australian gas fields could be host to these floating LNG plants.

Shell is planning to develop the Prelude and Concerto gas fields, located in the Browse Basin, 475 km north-northwest of Broome, Western Australia, using what could be the world?s first floating LNG (FLNG) facility.

The company chose FLNG technology as the development option for the field in late 2009. A consortium of Technip and Samsung Heavy Industries is currently working on front-end engineering and design for the project, targeting a final investment decision in early 2011 and first gas as soon as 2016.

Perfect for Prelude

The Prelude Field, in which Shell holds a 100 per cent interest, is located in WA-371-P in the Caswell sub-basin of the northern Browse Basin. Being remote and containing relatively small gas reserves, Shell believes that FLNG is the best development option for the field.

The FLNG facility will stay for 25 years over the Prelude Gas Field, and will be designed to produce up to 3.6 MMt/a of LNG, 0.4 MMt/a of LPG and 1.3 MMt/a of gas condensate during that time. Shell has said that the production rate may be backfilled in later years with gas sourced from the nearby Concerto, Crux and Libra fields.

The proposed project facilities will include wells, four flowlines approximately 4 km in length, umbilicals and flexible risers, and the FLNG facility. Onshore support facilities will potentially be located within established industrial areas either in Broome, Western Australia, or Darwin, Northern Territory, subject to state and territory government approvals.