1. Internal Turret Mooring System for Shell's Floating LNG Facility
SBM Offshore N.V. is pleased to announce the following news:
Shell Global Solutions International B.V. and SBM Offshore have signed a 'Turret Mooring System Framework Arrangement' for a period of up to fifteen years, for the supply of turret mooring systems for Shell's 3.5 million tonne per annum (mtpa) FLNG facilities. The FLNG Turret Mooring System programme will cover the design, procurement and construction of turret mooring systems for successive FLNG applications.

Shell's FLNG facility has the potential to place gas liquefaction facilities directly over offshore gas fields, thereby precluding the need for long distance pipelines and extensive onshore infrastructures.

The FLNG facility will produce liquefied natural gas (LNG) offshore and will be moored with an internal and permanently connected freely weathervaning turret mooring system, which fixes the location of the bow within prescribed limits but allows the facility to orient in response to the prevailing weather conditions. The turret mooring system is a generic design and intended for use in many areas of the world.

The internal turret mooring system is expected to be the largest in terms of diameter with capability to handle mooring loads in excess of current systems.

Tony Mace, CEO of SBM Offshore, commented, "We are very pleased to have been awarded this arrangement with Shell to supply the mooring systems for their FLNG facilities. This technology development follows on from the successful installation of FPSO Espirito Santo for Shell, which accommodates steel catenary risers for the first time on an internal turret mooring system on an FPSO. These, along with other ground-breaking mooring projects in recent years, clearly show that SBM Offshore remains the industry leader in complex mooring systems."