INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightShellImage caption
Shell's Prelude is the largest sea-faring vessel ever built
Off the
coast of Western Australia, a battle between mega giants is unfolding
The combatants involve the world's biggest semi-submersible platform, the longest subsea pipeline in the southern hemisphere, and the
largest floating facility ever built.They're all there for the same reason: natural gas - and they're hoping to start drawing it up this
As several countries begin to move away from coal as an energy resource, this alternative fossil fuel, which produces 50% less carbon
dioxide for every unit of energy generated, is increasingly in demand in our energy hungry world
Consumption is forecast to rise to 177 trillion cubic feet (tcf) or 5,012 billion cubic metres by 2040, up from 124tcf in 2015, says the US
Energy Information Administration.That's why Shell's gigantic Prelude platform - which is 488m (1,600ft) long and displaces roughly as much
water as six aircraft carriers - is competing with Japanese firm Inpex for access to gas in the Browse Basin.Media captionDavid Shukman
takes a close look at the PreludeAlthough they are working on separate gas fields, those fields are connected
Shell and Inpex are essentially vying for the same resource."The way I describe it - I have a slide I present to clients and I have a
picture of two people drinking out of the same milkshake," says Saul Kavonic, an analyst at energy consultancy Wood Mackenzie.Prelude is a
It has been designed not only to collect gas from sub-sea well heads, but also liquefy it on board at temperatures of -162C
As a liquid, the gas takes up significantly less space, making it easier to transport around the world on ships
This liquefaction would usually be done after piping the gas onshore, but Prelude can do the job herself - something never achieved on such
a scale before.Image copyrightMagnum PhotosSome serious technology is involved in making this happen
Prelude has high-capacity pumps that can draw 50 million litres of water from the sea every hour to help cool down the natural gas
Once liquefied, it is then stored in massive storage tanks with a volume equivalent to 175 Olympic swimming pools.And this all has to keep
going even through the worst imaginable weather
Prelude's hefty mooring chains are designed to survive Category 5 cyclones.While Inpex has opted for sending its gas onshore for
liquefaction, it also has a huge offshore semi-submersible platform to extract water and impurities from the gas first
And nearby, there is a floating storage and off-loading facility called Venturer
Image copyrightINPEX AustraliaImage caption
Inpex's completed Ichthys Venturer sails out the harbour in July 2017
Collectively, Inpex has dubbed these bits of mega-infrastructure Ichthys - ancient Greek for fish.However, both projects have been
beset by delays and spiralling costs, which may be why neither company was prepared to talk to the TheIndianSubcontinent for this feature
The pressure to start drawing gas first is obviously intense
The race for Browse Basin gas has even ignited competition on an international scale
Australia may overtake Qatar to become the world's top exporter of liquefied natural gas (LNG) once Ichthys and Prelude production is in
But will any future vessel match or even exceed the scale of Prelude Mr Kavonic says the fossil fuel industry isn't likely to try to build
one any time soon."We need new projects to meet demand [for gas] in the early 2020s," he explains
"We needed projects to be sanctioned last year and that didn't happen, we only saw one."That single project will be built by Italy's oil and
A floating facility off the coast of Mozambique, it will have a slightly smaller capacity than Prelude - 3.4 million tonnes of LNG per year
versus Prelude's 3.6 million
The capacity of Ichthys will be much bigger, at 8.9 million tonnes."There's so far no [other] similar projects under the radar," says
Jean-Baptiste Dubreuil from the International Energy Agency.Image copyrightAllseasImage caption
Allseas' Pioneering
Spirit twin-hulled vessel can lift an entire oil rig of its legs
The only other comparable vessel might be Allseas' Amazing
Grace - an enormous twin-hulled construction ship due to be built over the coming years
Its job will be to lift offshore platforms, however, not process gas.Without more projects for gas production, industry watchers worry that,
in about five years' time, demand for natural gas could outstrip supply
There is the "spectre of an LNG supply shock in the early 2020s" looming, says Stuart Elliott, gas editor at data provider SP Global
Platts.The problem could be particularly pronounced in Asia - especially China."Last year, Chinese production increased by 8%, but they're
not able to keep up with the growth of demand," says Mr Dubreuil
"We expect their needs for imports will grow over time."In fact, the IEA thinks that China will be importing 43% of its natural gas by 2040
This supply will need to be reliable if the country wants to avoid the gas shortages it experienced last winter - caused, ironically, by a
botched attempt to cut coal use.Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Beijing has switched from coal to gas for its
power as air pollution worsened
In the meantime, there is some hope that the unexpectedly speedy growth of renewables -
particularly solar and wind - will help to plug the gap
But there's little doubt that over the next few decades many countries, including the UK, will be heavily reliant on gas for their energy
needs.Prelude and Ichthys are due to come online soon, but neither Shell nor Inpex will commit publicly to a start date.And with wholesale
natural gas prices currently half what they were in early 2014, such multi-billion dollar projects may never recoup their outlay.As climate
change climbs to the top of the world's agenda, funding such huge fossil-fuel extraction projects - impressive feats of engineering as they
are - will look increasingly risky.Both Shell and Inpex must be hoping that their sea-faring mega giants don't go the way of the
dinosaurs.Follow Technology of Business editor Matthew Wall on Twitter and Facebook
