By Russell Searancke Wellington
01 August 2014 00:00 GMT
GdF Suez is running the slide rule over several field development concepts for its Bonaparte gas resource off northern Australia, having dropped the floating liquefied natural gas option.
Sources said that at the top of the list is a processing platform or a floating production, storage and offloading vessel for gas.
The platform concept would be difficult to beat from a performance “uptime” point of view, particularly if GdF’s Bonaparte resource becomes an LNG feedstock supplies, said sources.
There are many market sceptics who believe the French energy company has its work cut out in converting Bonaparte into a viable commercial proposal for a standalone project.
However, the company is talking to various contractors about possible development concept solutions.
The difficulty, according to sources, is that the resource size of between 1.2 trillion cubic and 1.5 Tcf feet of gas is not compelling enough, which is why the original FLNG option was dropped just over one month ago.
The trick for GdF and its co-venturer Santos is to either prove up more reserves for a standalone scheme, or sell the gas into a third-party LNG project such as Darwin LNG or Ichthys LNG, or into Eni’s Blacktip project, which is the Northern Territory’s principal supplier of domestic gas.
ConocoPhillips is desperate for feedstock for the expansion train at Darwin LNG that it pines for, while Inpex might be receptive to third-party gas years down the track.
Meanwhile, Eni wants to expand its domestic gas supply business and is open to third-party gas.
Sources said the likelihood is remote that GdF will return with a standalone LNG project. One other potential sales outlet for GdF is the Tassie Shoal LNG project proposed by MEO Australia, which last week referred specifically to GdF’s Bonaparte resource, saying that “from a business development perspective, MEO notes that the low capital cost base of Tassie Shoal LNG offers the potential for a low-cost LNG commercialisation path for these otherwise stranded gas resources”.
MEO claims its Tassie Shoal model brings with it “the commercial reality of a simple joint venture structure, without the complexities of multiple competing commercial positions and agendas”.
MEO has no feedstock gas secured as yet for the Tassie Shoal project.
Sources said GdF’s Perth-based project team has downsized quickly with only a core remaining.
The Bonaparte resource comprises the Petrel, Tern and Frigate fields in the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf, 250 kilometres west of Darwin and 170 kilometres from the nearest coastline.
The fields are located in water depths of between 85 metres and 100 metres.
GdF and Santos pulled the plug on the Bonaparte FLNG project in June.
Pre-front end engineering and design study work on the development found that while the FLNG solution was “technically robust”, it did not meet the co-venturers’ current commercial requirements.
“While the partners firmly believe the fields have material value, having been fully appraised, their future development using floating LNG technology, although technically robust as demonstrated during extensive pre-FEED studies, does not currently meet the companies’ commercial requirements,” Santos said at the time.
The two co-venturers began work on the Bonaparte FLNG project in early 2010.
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Happy days 1.5tcf is not enough for a darwin pipeline these days. once one joins meo and ts the others will follow.
patience needed.
Adl
MEO Price at posting:
4.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Held
