Malaysia’s national energy company Petronas has commenced construction of its third floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) vessel, which is to be deployed at a nearshore location in Sabah, East Malaysia.
Upon completion, the nearshore FLNG facility will be moored at the Sipitang Oil and Gas Industrial Park (SOGIP) and is expected to attract new investments to the area. Petronas’ third FLNG vessel is designed to produce up to 2 million tonnes per annum of LNG and is targeted to commence commercial operations by the second half of 2027.
Samsung Heavy Industries and JGC of Japan in late 2022 landed the prized engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contract for Petronas’ $2 billion-plus nearshore FLNG project, which is known as ZLNG. JGC is responsible for the topsides for the barge-based FLNG facility that is being built at Samsung’s yard on Geoje Island, South Korea.
The entire ZLNG project involves an onshore substation, a new jetty head and trestle at Petronas’ Chemicals fertiliser facility at SOGIP, plus a two-kilometre subsea pipeline, 24-inch and six-inch diameter onshore pipelines and a gas metering station — as well as the FLNG vessel itself.
A steel cutting ceremony for the nearshore FLNG facility was held on Monday at Samsung’s yard with the event marking the beginning of the construction phase of the megaproject, which will become Malaysia’s first nearshore FLNG facility once in operation.
Focusing on sustainability and innovation, the newbuild nearshore FLNG facility will incorporate technologies such as energy-efficient power generation systems and aero-derivative gas turbines to reduce its carbon footprint.
Highlighting the transformative potential of the nearshore FLNG facility, Petronas chief operating officer Adnan Zainal Abidin said: “Together with our partners in Sabah, we look forward to unlocking Sabah’s gas reserves in an optimised and environmentally sustainable manner, aligned with our efforts to provide energy security and position Malaysia as a key global hub for lower-carbon energy.
“The nearshore FLNG facility is our latest advancement in floating LNG technology and the culmination of expertise that we have gained from PFLNG Satu and PFLNG Dua.”
The JGC-Samsung pairing was the main contracting group that in 2020 successfully delivered PFLNG Dua, the second of Petronas’ two existing FLNG vessels — the first (PFLNG Satu) was constructed by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering with then-Technip as the engineering partner.
