Offshore staff
PERTH , Western Australia – The Sunrise joint venture partners have chosen Shell’s floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) technology as the preferred option to develop the Greater Sunrise gas fields in the Timor Sea.
Subject to final agreements, government approvals, and a final investment decision, Shell will operate the FLNG facility and manage the design and build phases of the project.
The Greater Sunrise fields, which include the Sunrise and Troubadour discoveries, are around 450 km (279 mi) north of Darwin. According to partner Woodside Petroleum, their collective resources are estimated at 5.13 tcf of dry gas and 225.9 MMbbl of condensate. They are in the Joint Petroleum Development Area administered by the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia.
Woodside CEO Don Voelte says the International Unitization Agreement signed by the two governments in February 2007 requires the joint venture to develop the fields to best commercial advantage. Alternative options had included building onshore processing plants at Darwin and in Timor-Leste.
“We expect that the selection of a floating LNG processing option will, in addition to generating significant long-term petroleum revenue, provide a broad range of social investment, employment, and training opportunities for Timor-Leste,” Voelte adds.
The Sunrise project would be the second deployment of Shell’s proprietary FLNG design, following the company’s Prelude development in the Browse basin offshore Western Australia. The Sunrise facility would produce around 4 MM metric tons/yr of LNG as well as condensate.
Shell and Woodside will continue to work with the governments of Timor-Leste and Australia to advance the FLNG development. The Sunrise joint venture participants are Shell (26.6%) Woodside (33.4%), ConocoPhillips (30%), and Osaka Gas (10%).
Artist's rendering of proposed FLNG installation. Courtesy Shell.
04/29/2010
