Japan’s LNG engineer JGC confirmed that it had won a contract with South Korea’s Samsung Heavy to build the third floating LNG producer for Malaysian energy giant Petronas.
LNG Prime reported on December 22, citing shipbuilding sources, that JGC and SHI won the engineering, procurement, construction, commissioning (EPCC) contract for the nearshore floating LNG project in Sabah.
Besides this deal, Petronas recently awarded a power plant contract related to the project to compatriot engineering and energy solutions provider Kejuruteraan Asastera (KAB).
JGC leads the consortium
JGC said in a statement on Friday that this facility would be the first nearshore FLNG in the world as well as the third floating LNG plant to be constructed for offshore gas fields in Malaysia.
The FLNG will have a minimum production capacity of 2 million tonnes of LNG per year and is scheduled for completion in 2027.
JGC, as the leader of the consortium with SHI, said it would be responsible for the engineering, procurement and commissioning work for the FLNG topside, the associated onshore facilities, as well as the management of the overall project.
As for the consortium partner, SHI will be responsible for the FLNG hull EPC work and the modular fabrication of the topside.
SHI and JGC already built the second FLNG, PFLNG Dua, for Petronas.
JGC did not provide the financial details of the new contract which is said to be worth between $2-3 billion.
Petronas’ FLNG production
Petronas previously said it expected the nearshore LNG plant to go online by end of 2026.
The firm said the design and construction of the nearshore plant would be simpler and upon completion, has the potential for improved production uptime as it would be located within a protected bay area as compared to an offshore floating LNG facility in the open seas.
Upon completion, the nearshore LNG plant will increase Petronas’ LNG production from floating LNG facilities from 2.7 mtpa to 4.7 mtpa.
Currently, Petronas operates two floating LNG facilities, namely the 1.2 mtpa PFLNG Satu as well as the 1.5 mtpa PFLNG Dua, both located offshore Sabah.
Petronas delivered 33 LNG cargoes from these two floating LNG producers during the January-September period of this year.