Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas said Monday that its PFLNG Dua floating LNG facility has recently produced its first LNG. This is the company's second FLNG Unit, and its first deepwater FLNG facility.

The PFLNG Dua is located at the Rotan gas field, 140km off Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. 

"In collaboration with its upstream Production Sharing Contract partner, PTT Exploration and  Production, it has successfully completed the subsea commissioning phase and achieved its first has on 6 February 2021," Petronas said.

Petronas' Vice President of LNG Asset Zakaria Kasah said: “This achievement showcases our focused execution and continuous effort in pushing boundaries to deliver innovative and customer-centric solutions to our customers. 

"Despite operating in a challenging environment which is exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, we managed to commission this megastructure and achieve first LNG production in 7 days upon the first gas in. This is a record achievement, and a great milestone for Petronas and the LNG industry.”  

The milestone comes almost exactly a year after the PFLNG Dua sailed away from Samsung Heavy Industries' yard in Korea, where it was built.

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PFLNG Dua - Credit: PetronasAccording to Petronas, the PFLNG DUA facility is expected to deliver its first LNG cargo to customers by the middle of March 2021. Upon commercialization, PETRONAS will become the first global energy company to own and operate two floating LNG  facilities.  

"Together with PFLNG SATU, which first produced LNG from the Kanowit gas field offshore Sarawak in 2016 and was successfully relocated to Kebabangan field offshore Sabah in 2019, this game-changing solution allows for the processing of LNG to be done offshore hundreds of kilometers away from land. Its versatility enables Petronas to unlock remote and stranded gas fields that were previously uneconomical to explore," Petronas said.

The PFLNG DUA is capable of reaching gas fields in water depths up to 1,500 meters and can produce 1.5 million tonnes of LNG per year.