Shell lays keel for world's first floating LNG project
Shell has laid the keel for Prelude FLNG, the world's first floating liquefied natural gas project. When complete, Prelude is expected to be the largest offshore floating facility ever built. The hull will now be assembled in the dry dock, before the turret and the topsides are fitted at Samsung Heavy Industries' Geoje shipyard in South Korea. Large steel sections known as 'blocks' that will form the hull are being manufactured in the Geoje shipyard, with more than 1,600 already complete. The 93-metre high turret mooring system is under construction in Dubai and will be transported to Geoje in five parts. The turret will run vertically through one end of the facility and will be anchored to the seabed by four groups of mooring lines. It will allow the facility to rotate with the direction of the wind. Shell has started to build the organisational capacity in Australia to support the installation and operational phases.
10 May 2013. http://tinyurl.com/bwfnpqr
New concept icebreaker set for 1Q 2014 delivery
Finnish shipbuilder Aker Arctic Technology used this year's Offshore Technology Conference in Houston to highlight a new heavy duty icebreaker that it is bringing to market that is designed to be a 'game changer' for year-round oil spill response in the Arctic. Aker Arctic Managing Director Mikko Niini confirmed that the first version of its ARC 100 icebreaker will be delivered to the Russian Ministry of Transport in early 2014 when it will then complete ice trials. The ARC 100 vessel uses three 2.5-megawatt engines to drive three asymmetric propellers that allow the vessel to cut through ice some 3.2 feet thick in an oblique mode, moving sideways using the 250-foot length of the hull of the vessel to cut a channel that is 165 feet wide. The vessel is dual-use, which means it will also be able to use its sideways movement function to use its length as a 'sweeping arm' to collect up oil from oil spills.
10 May 2013. http://tinyurl.com/czzn7ju
With pipelines on hold, oil storage services boom
A combination of growing oil sands production and congested pipelines is creating new opportunities for midstream companies that have cavern or tank capacity to spare. The waiting game for proposed projects such as Keystone XL or the Trans Mountain expansion, along with a new focus on rail transport, has resulted in growth of an industry segment many consider a sideline: Storage. Whether they use above-ground steel cylinders, or underground hallows that formerly contained salt but can now hold tens of thousands of barrels, there have always been companies that choose to keep oil, natural gas or natural gas liquids in storage while they wait for a better price or a different market. However, some companies say demand for such storage is increasing due to new, additional logistics that accompany shipping oil out of Western Canada.
DownstreamToday, 13 May 2013. http://tinyurl.com/cdsnhpn
