Brian Songhurst talks about FLNG - What's New and Is It Really Safe?

Recent headlines and figures demonstrate that big Oil and Gas companies like Chevron and Shell are considering investing in floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) plants in the near future. End Quote

(1888PressRelease) November 16, 2010 - According to Neil Gilmour, Shell Upstream International General Manager FLNG, "Floating LNG has the potential to change the way we produce and deliver natural gas". Therefore, "Shell is planning to build a gigantic floating facility that will produce and process offshore natural gas, opening up vast new resources" as recently mentioned in the Hellenic Shipping News.

Nevertheless, not all industry members are that sure about an investment into new floating LNG technologies. FLNG is still in its infancy and potential investors are not yet sure if an investment is really worth it and if FLNG operations are really safe. This is reason enough to ask an industry expert about new FLNG developments and the health and safety issue: In an interview, available as a podcast, Brian Songhurst, Director of LNG at Energy and Power, talks from the heart of the industry about advances in FLNG technology over the last year, and looking from a technical perspective, he pinpoints the areas that he feels still require development. With health and safety on everybody's mind, he also offers his stance on whether the HSE has a big role to play in the development of FLNG - and whether or not FLNG is more dangerous than shore-based liquefaction. Finally, he answers the much-debated question, how close are we to FLNG moving from theory to practice?

According to Brian Songhurst, the most significant advance in FLNG technology is the development of liquefied natural gas hoses which help with the issue of weather and significant wave height in terms of availability of uploading systems.
On the other hand, there are also areas that still require development such as the development of an aerial hose that enables tandem offloading of LNG to a shuttle tanker.

With regard to health and safety issues, Brian Songhurst points out that there has been a safety record of the LNG industry since 1944 and he does not consider floating LNG operations more dangerous than other LNG activities.

Brian Songhurst will also do a session on "FLNG Beyond The Hype - Discover The Latest Developments In FLNG Technology" at the Global FLNG Summit. His session will focus in more detail on the concepts currently on offer for floating liquefication, on the tangible successes that have already been achieved in the development of FLNG and on the crucial steps that need to be taken to accelerate the first floating liquefication project.

The Global Floating LNG Summit will take place from 24th - 26th January 2011 in the America Square Conference Centre in London with pre-conference workshops on the 24th January. It will provide operator led, in-depth analysis on how to perfect ship-to-ship transfer with the latest technical developments, how to utilize the latest advances on floating re-gas and liquefication technology, how to ensure that the FLNG project is safety compliant from its inception and finally how to build the business case for FLNG investment with a 360 degree assessment of the financial and legal requirements.

The Global Floating LNG Summit offers operator led case studies and discussions, insights on the only FLNG projects on the market right now, a cutting edge analysis on optimum FLNG vessel design and technology solutions, advise on implementation strategies for successful FLNG projects and brings together global decision makers and key solution providers.

Oil and Gas IQ is an online community which provides over 100 technical and strategic events across Europe, Asia, the US and the Middle East every year, educating almost 5,000 high-level executives annually.

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