Sevan FLNG Study for US Major Ongoing

Norway-based Sevan Marine said August 25 that it continues to work on the floating liquefaction (FLNG) feasibility study, based on its proprietary cylindrical hull design, on behalf of an unnamed US oil major for a specific field development. Work was announced and started in 2Q. It said the agreed phase is expected to run through the end of 2016.

Sevan Marine has declined to say whether the study is for Exxon, Chevron or ConocoPhillips. Exxon confirmed to NGW in May that the Sevan Marine FLNG study is “not our study” but Chevron and Conoco have not commented.

In 2009 Sevan provided a study, based on its cylindrical hull, to Chevron for its UK Rosebank oil field project. Rosebank however was shelved in 2014; two weeks ago OMV opted to sell most of its share in the still-shelved project at a loss and to refocus its activity on lower-cost regions.

Sevan Marine reported a net 2Q 2016 loss of $11.6mn, up from its year-ago $8.1mn loss. It reported that work on the Eni-operated Goliat oil field in the Barents Sea will now tail off, as the cylindrical ship there is now successfully producing, but “remains hopeful that it can secure further feasibility study work for 2016 and 2017 in addition to the FLNG study with the US oil major and small studies already received.” 

HiLoad LNG Parallel Loading System design, with aerial flexible cryogenic hoses for offloading LNG provided by Technip (Photo credit: Sevan Marine)

This May, Sevan Marine and Technip presented their innovative HiLoad LNG Parallel Loading System which they hope will be a "game changer for the future of FLNG offloading in years to come." Canada's Teekay is the largest shareholder in Sevan Marine, at 43.52%.

Mark Smedley