Construction has got underway on what Royal Dutch Shell PLC says will be a ‘game-changing' offshore gas production facility.

A ceremony held on 18 October 2012 marked the first steel cut for the Prelude FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas) facility that will be positioned 200km off the Australian coast.

Almost half a kilometre long, Shell's Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas facility is set to become the world's largest and its launch will mark the start of a new era in natural gas production. Its main components are actually being built in South Korea, with some 5,000 construction workers involved in its manufacture. Smaller components, meanwhile, are now being assembled in other parts of the world.

Prelude FLNG Facility

Shell anticipates that the Prelude FLNG facility will be activated in around four year's time. Once it's been put into operation, it'll manufacture gas, convert this gas into liquefied natural gas and then transfer this liquefied natural gas to waiting ships, which will distribute it around the globe.

"We are cutting 7.6 tonnes of steel for the Prelude floating liquefied natural gas facility today, but in total, more than 260,000 tonnes of steel will be fabricated and assembled for the facility. That's around five times the amount of steel used to build the Sydney Harbour Bridge", Matthias Bichsel - Projects & Technology Director at Shell - explained in a company press release. "Today's ceremony marks a major milestone in this project, when the innovative thinking and new technology and engineering solutions which will make FLNG possible begin to be realised."

Shell Prelude Construction

Once the Shell Prelude construction phase is finished, the facility will have a weight of over 600,000 tonnes and, combined, its integrated instrumentation and electrical cables would cover a distance of 3,000+ kilometres, if laid out end-to-end.

"Making FLNG a reality is no simple feat", added Bichsel. "Shell is uniquely positioned to make it a success given our commercial capability; our LNG, offshore, deepwater and marine technology; and our proven ability to successfully deliver megaprojects."

Image copyright and courtesy of Shell