Petronas’ second FLNG to get GE Oil & Gas equipment

GE Oil & Gas will supply its gas turbine-driven compressor train and mechanical drive technology to Malaysia’s national oil and gas company, PETRONAS, for a second floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility that is being developed off the coast of East Malaysia.

“We are excited to move ahead with the development of our second FLNG facility that will boost our LNG production to help meet Asia’s growing energy needs,” said Datuk Abdullah Karim, vice president and venture director, LNG Projects (Domestic), Upstream Business, PETRONAS. “This project marks another important step as we seek to position Malaysia as a strong regional and global LNG market player.”

Compression trains are vital elements of the liquefaction process, which cools natural gas to a liquid state. As part of its contract, GE will supply four of its PGT25+G4 gas turbine generator systems and two nitrogen trains featuring two LM6000-PF+ 2BCL907 aeroderivative gas turbines in mechanical-drive mode. Commercial operation is expected to begin in the third quarter of 2017.

Once operational in the first quarter of 2018, the second FLNG facility will produce about 1.5 million tons a year (mtpa) of LNG.

For the first time ever, an LM6000 gas turbine is being applied to an FLNG project, GE has explained. The LM6000 gas turbine model, already used for offshore mechanical drive applications, has an overall installed fleet counting more than 1,000 units worldwide. GE’s equipment will be manufactured at the company’s assembly facilities in Florence and Massa, Italy.

“Following up on the turbomachinery we supplied for PETRONAS’ first FLNG facility—one of the first FLNG projects in the world—we are excited our equipment has been selected for their second FLNG as well, illustrating the breadth of LNG production activities we are supporting around the world both onshore and offshore,” said Rafael Santana, vice president and CEO of Turbomachinery Solutions—GE Oil & Gas.

Previously, PETRONAS also had selected GE’s turbocompressor equipment to power the Malaysian national oil and gas company’s first FLNG, which is currently being constructed in South Korea.

The new project will enable offshore LNG production in certain smaller gas fields that are lacking pipelines to an onshore LNG plant. The second FLNG plant will support the industrial sector’s growing demand for natural gas in Peninsular Malaysia, where many power plants and commercial customers are located.