(5d) Medium-Scale LiquefactionTechnology

Interest in developing medium-scale liquefaction projects continues to grow as developers seek to monetize smaller gas fields that would not be capable of economically supporting increasingly more expensive large plants. A 3.3-million-metric-ton-per-year plant requires between five and six trillion cubic feet (tcf) of supply for 20 years. Any plant below that capacity would have an unacceptable return on investment. Estimates show that there are 163 gas fields outside of North America that fall into the 5 to 50-tcf-range and only 16 mega-fields in the 50 to 500-tcf-range. Most LNG and world-scale GTL projects target these fields. About 1,300 fields are in the 0.5 to 5-tcf-range. More than 200 fields with reserves of 1 to 3 tcf have not been produced. Some 2,500 fields are in the 0.1 to 0.5-tcf-category. More than 11,000 smaller fields could also be developed. Until about 2003, the cost of large-scale liquefaction was headed lower ? even below the benchmark of $200 per ton-year of capacity. However, the per-unit price has jumped sharply to $500 per ton-year because of rising construction and equipment costs. The cost of medium-scale-plants has increased only a modest 50%. Remote gas development including gas-flaring reclamation is the primary market driver of medium-scale liquefaction systems followed by motor vehicle fuel use. Other drivers include the traditional peakshaving market, onboard LNG ship re-liquefaction and satellite plant distribution. The Zeus Development Corp. presentation will cover recently completed, ongoing and planned projects as well as current and emerging vendors and their technological approaches.