that affected the operation of critical safety equipment and essential services such as lighting, water, sewage and air conditioning for the workers on board.
“Prior to hydrocarbon production commencing, demonstrate to NOPSEMA’s satisfaction that the facility can safely recover essential power and associated essential services following a loss of power, and that the safety systems and essential support systems operate to maintain safety of personnel,” the regulator said.
However, NOPSEMA signalled it is looking for a broader investigation, including a thorough review of the entire series of events in the December 2 incident and a review of risks for future similar incidents and actions to mitigate them.The ruling is the latest setback for the $US12 billion-plus Prelude project that involves a vessel the length of four soccer fields stationed 475 kilometres off the coast of Broome.
But ambitions to deploy large, floating LNG facilities at fields including Browse and Sunrise in the Timor Sea did not come about, leaving Prelude as the only mega-FLNG vessel ever built.The experience at Prelude “really shows just how hard that is,” Dr Bethune said of large-scale floating LNG. “Maybe small is more beautiful.”