That is the view of Brian Songhurst, research associate at the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, who said “many in the LNG industry view FLNG as a game changer” in the same way floating production, storage and offloading vessels enabled oil production from remote and deep water fields.

However, he said FLNG’s success will depend on whether projects underway will result in reliable production and — compared to ­onshore liquefaction plants — will lower costs and accelerate schedules.