SBM Offshore Signs Framework Agreement With Shell For Supply Of Turret Mooring Systems For FLNG Facilities

Published: 18-Aug-2009

By: Staff Writer Staff Writer Staff Writer

SBM Offshore N.V. (SBM Offshore) and Shell Global Solutions International B.V. (Shell) have signed a Turret Mooring System framework arrangement for a period of up to fifteen years, for the supply of turret mooring systems for Shell’s 3.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) FLNG facilities. The FLNG Turret Mooring System programme will cover the design, procurement and construction of turret mooring systems for successive FLNG applications.

Shell's FLNG facility can place gas liquefaction facilities directly over offshore gas fields, thereby precluding the need for long distance pipelines and extensive onshore infrastructures.

The FLNG facility will produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) offshore and will be moored with an internal and permanently connected freely weathervaning turret mooring system, which fixes the location of the bow within prescribed limits but allows the facility to orient in response to the prevailing weather conditions. The turret mooring system is a generic design and intended for use in many areas of the world.

Tony Mace, chief executive officer of SBM Offshore, said that, "We are very pleased to have been awarded this arrangement with Shell to supply the mooring systems for their FLNG facilities. This technology development follows on from the successful installation of FPSO Espirito Santo for Shell, which accommodates steel catenary risers for the first time on an internal turret mooring system on an FPSO. These, along with other ground-breaking mooring projects in recent years, clearly show that SBM Offshore remains the industry leader in complex mooring systems."