Bonaparte FLNG Terminal

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Bonaparte FLNG Terminal was a proposed LNG terminal in Western Australia. With no progress since 2014, the terminal appeared to be cancelled.

Location

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Project Details

• Owner: GDF Suez (60%), Santos (40%)
• Parent: Santos, Engie
• Location: Bonaparte Island, Western Australia, Australia
• Coordinates: -14.855412, 124.768939 (approximate)
• Capacity: 2 mtpa, 0.29 bcfd
• Status: Cancelled
• Type: Export
• Start Year:

Note: mtpa = million tonnes per year; bcfd = billion cubic feet per day

Background

Bonaparte FLNG Terminal is a proposed floating LNG terminal in Western Australia. Plans for building Bonaparte LNG coincided with the development and production of Petrel, Tern and Frigate gas fields in the Bonaparte basin in the Timor Sea. The Bonaparte basin one of the main natural gas-producing regions in Australia.

In June 14, 2014 Bonaparte LNG announced it would likely drop plans for a floating facility that would ship gas back to land from the Bonaparte basin and instead opt for a more traditional pipeline from Bonaparte LNG approximately (155 miles (250 kilometers) inland to onshore on the town of Darwin.

On June 27, 2014, Upstream Online reported "GDF Suez has pulled the plug on the planned ­Bonaparte floating liquefied natural gas project in Australia, at least for the time being."

Reuters reported in 2017 about the general trend for cheaper alternatives to FLNG. FLNG were popular in the early 2010s when gas demand and prices rose, and before the US shale boom pushed down gas prices. Approximately 8.6 billion cubic feet per day of U.S. gas is estimated to enter the market by 2020. FLNGs also face massive costs of building a tanker that is a fraction of the size of onshore facilities.

Santos Bonaparte LNG is one of several an upstream owners of Darwin LNG Terminal.

As of 2017, Australia is the second largest LNG exporter after Qatar. The country exports almost 44 million tons a year.

In February 2018 it was reported that Santos was considering exporting Bonaparte Basin gas through the Darwin terminal. With no progress since 2014, the Bonaparte FLNG Terminal appeared to be cancelled.

In December 2019, oil and gas today reported that the facility received an "environmental green light."