The Board of Royal Dutch Shell has taken the final investment decision on the Prelude Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) Project, building the world’s first FLNG facility. Moored far out to sea, some 200 km from the nearest land in Australia, the FLNG facility will produce gas from offshore fields, and liquefy it onboard by cooling. It should produce 4.9 bcm/year of LNG by 2016. From bow to stern, Shell’s FLNG facility will be 488 metres long, and will be the largest floating offshore facility in the world. When fully equipped and with its storage tanks full, it will weigh around 600,000 tonnes – roughly six times as much as the largest aircraft carrier. The FLNG facility will tap around 85 bcm of resources contained in the Prelude gas field. Shell discovered the Prelude gas field in 2007. The FLNG facility will stay permanently moored at the Prelude gas field for 25 years, and in later development phases should produce from other fields in the area where Shell has an interest.