Floating ships produce liquefied gas longer than the Eiffel Tower

PFLNG SATU is the giant floating ship that produces the world's first liquefied natural gas with a length greater than the height of the Eiffel Tower.

PFLNG SATU, the world's first floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) facility, is a giant ship owned by oil company Petronas, Malaysia. It is operating at the Kanowit offshore gas field, about 180km from the coast of Sarawak, Malaysia, according to the BBC.

The ship produces PFLNG SATU liquefied natural gas.(Photo: BBC).

The ship is 365m long, 65m more than the height of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France. The ship is 60m wide and has an area equivalent to 3.5 football fields and heavier than two aircraft carriers. It has the capacity to produce, liquefy, store and transport 1.2 million tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) each year.

PFLNG SATU helps access and exploit areas with special natural gas reserves, where using conventional drilling rigs and pipes will not bring economic and environmental benefits. After being cooled to -162 ° C, natural gas will turn into liquid and reduce volume to 600 times, making storage and transport easier.

Petronas is building a floating facility for producing the second liquefied natural gas FLNG2, even bigger than PFLNG SATU, with the capacity to produce 1.5 million tons of LNG per year and maximum operating depth of 1,500m. FLNG2 plans to operate at the Rotan gas field in the South China Sea, about 240km from the Malaysian coast, said Wan Zulkiflee Wan Ariffin, Petronas president and chief executive officer.

Ophir Energy Company (UK), Shell Group (Netherlands), and Eni (Italy), are also researching and developing FLNG technology. Shell built a FLNG vessel to exploit the gas Prelude located off Australia's northwest coast about 200km. Ophir developed FLNG technology to exploit gas from Fortuna off Equatorial Guinea. Meanwhile, Eni applied FLNG technology in Coral gas field, Mozambique.