Drydocks World Wins Contract to Build World's Biggest FLNG Installation

 

DP World's shipyard division, Drydocks World, has been awarded a contract to build the world's largest FLNG project. It will be the first time that the company has built an FLNG, among the most complex types of offshore installation, though the firm has extensive experience with LNG vessels and FSRUs.

The contract was awarded by Amigo LNG, a joint venture between Texas-based energy firm Epcilon LNG and Epcilon's transition energy subsidiary, Singapore-based LNG Alliance Pte Ltd. The Amigo LNG offshore development comprises a pair of 2.1 mtpa FLNGs, plus two FSUs to store and offload the product. Combined, the offshore facility will have a capacity of 4.2 mtpa, a small but incrementally important volume. 

The installation site is located off the coast of Guaymas, Sonora - in the sheltered Gulf of California - but the gas to be liquefied will come from America. The site location is well situated for exports of gas from the Permian to Asian markets, without the time and cost of the Panama Canal transits needed by LNG plants on the U.S. Gulf Coast. 

"By partnering with Drydocks World on the world’s largest FLNG facility, we are securing best-in-class quality, exceptional production capacity, and reliable long-term performance of this critical asset. We are also harnessing the key advantages of FLNG solutions — from faster project schedules to rigorous testing and seamless pre-commissioning in a controlled fabrication yard environment," said Dr. Muthu Chezhian, CEO of the LNG Alliance. 

Amigo LNG's previously-published development plan called for building an onshore 7.8 mtpa terminal in the port of Guaymas, not an offshore plant. On Monday, LNG Alliance announced that it has signed a long term sale and purchase agreement with Macquarie covering 0.6 mtpa of the facility's production for the first 15 years of operation. Amigo LNG said that it would have its first liquefaction train for that contract up and running in the second half of 2028, the same timetable as the completion of Drydocks World's FLNG commissioning.