A floating liquefied natural gas solution could exploit associated gas from Petronas' deep-water Boudji discovery off Gabon.

Ahmad Adly Alias, Petronas' vice president LNG marketing and trading, gas and new energy told Upstream that the company is learning from its experience with groundbreaking FLNG units off Malaysia which could be applicable to Boudji.

“We are looking at this project in Africa. Obviously the first phase is going to be delivering the crude, but as you start delivering the crude you get gas and we’re looking at (FLNG) as a solution for monetising the gas,” he said.

The Boudji-1 exploration well was drilled in late 2017 in the Likuale F14 block in 2800 metres of water.

It hit a 90-metre gross oil and gas column in what were described as high-quality pre-salt sands, thought to be Gamba and Dentale horizons.

Last summer, however, partner Woodside said the discovery was non-commercial due to the water depth and associated development costs.

Malaysia's Petronas is the operator of the Likuale area with a 70% stake, with Woodside on 30%.

Petronas' efforts to commercialise Boudji's gas will be helped by legislation proposed in Gabon's new petroleum code, which has yet to be rubbber-stamped.

It is understood that the code will for the first time outline fiscal terms that are specific to gas developments.

Petronas wants to gain experience from its first two such units before deciding whether to go ahead with FLNG off Gabon. The company recently moved its — and the world’s — first FLNG unit Satu from the Kanowit field off Sarawak to the Kebabangan field off Sabah without putting the vessel into port.

The first cargo from the 1.2 million tonnes per annum Satu on its new location is expected in the second quarter of this year.

Meanwhile, the 1.5 million tpa PFLNG Dua is nearing completion at Samsung Heavy Industries in South Korea.

Petronas expects to begin commercial operations with this unit, also destined for deployment off Sabah, in the first half of 2020.

“Once we get the second (unit) up and running, then we’ll have the capability to do both shallow and deep water," said Adly.

"Once we’re comfortable and have perfected the operations, then we’re obviously more than willing to use it (FLNG) anywhere around the world.

“The longer-term aspiration when we built (our first FLNG vessel) was that in the future it could be a solution for other places in the world,” he added.

Looking to the future, Petronas remains open to operating FLNG units for third parties around the world.

“There is a possibility, I’m not discounting the fact but we have not come to that decision yet," he said.

"Obviously we have a longer-term view about (what) this floating LNG will do. We think it’s a means to actually monetise all the many, many stranded gas (reserves) around the world.

"Our statement of purpose is that we are a progressive energy and solutions partner and the solutions partner part is where we’ve said we would like to be closer to... it could be governments, it could be national oil companies, it could be integrated majors — as a means to providing the solutions to monetising gas.”

He noted that one of the biggest challenges for Petronas to deliver LNG to new countries and emerging economies is the lack of infrastructure.

“Sometimes you’ve got to play a role of actually partaking in some form of infrastructure development to bring the LNG or the gas into the country," said Adly.

"We believe in the mandate to consider those options but it must be in a situation where it makes sense for us both. If it doesn’t make sense we won’t move into it but if it does, we will.”

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Petronas eyes FLNG as Boudji option off Gabon