Petronas Awards Contracts for First Nearshore FLNG

Petronas, the oil and gas company owned by Malaysia, plans to expand its operations adding another Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facility project to its operations. Contacts have been awarded for what the company is calling the first nearshore FLNG in the world as well as the third floating LNG plant to be constructed for offshore gas fields in Malaysia.

Since beginning FLNG operations with the world’s first unit in 2017, Petronas has expanded its operations in Malaysia. In February 2021, PETRONAS also became the first energy player to own and operate two FLNG facilities, with the first drop of LNG achieved onboard the PFLNG DUA. As of late 2021, they reported shipping their fiftieth LNG cargo from the first unit.

The third unit is planned for completion in 2027. It will have a minimum production capacity of 2 million tonnes of LNG annually. 

JGC Corporation reports that along with Samsung Heavy Industries, the two companies have been awarded the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning (EPCC) contract for the nearshore facility. It is rumored to be valued at approximately $2 billion with at least two-thirds to Samsung which will build the unit. The partnership was rumored according to the energy publication Upstream to have been competing with China’s Hudong-Zhonghua Shipbuilding and Italy’s Saipem, which would have done the topside engineering.

"We believe that our consortium secured the order for the Petronas FLNG facility project on the basis of JGC's world-leading project management capabilities and the company's advanced and proven technologies in LNG plants, accounting for about 30 percent of LNG plants worldwide, as well as SHI's world-class shipbuilding capabilities in this field,” commented JGC Holdings Corporation Representative Director, President and COO Tadashi Ishizuka.  

JGC's main responsibilities will cover the engineering, procurement, and commissioning work for the FLNG topside, the associated onshore facilities, as well as the management of the overall project. Samsung will be responsible for the FLNG hull EPC work and the modular fabrication of the topside.

Since the 1980s, the JGC Group has executed EPC projects for Petronas for all nine trains of the LNG plants at the Petronas LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak, which has an annual production capacity of approximately 29 million tons per annum, and in 2021 completed work for Petronas' second FLNG facility, PFLNG Dua, the world's first deep-water FLNG facility currently in production.

The JGC Group also carried out work for Mozambique’s Coral FLNG with the first cargo from that unit shipping in November 2022. The group's experience includes two other newly-built EPC FLNG projects out of the total of three in operation around the world and is currently performing the FEED for an FLNG project in Nigeria.