NON-PIPELINE TRANSPORT OF NATURAL GAS Jón Steinar Gudmundsson TPG4140 NATURGASS NTNU September 12, 2012

Associated Gas Problem World-wide, oil fields cannot be developed unless the associated gas problem can be solved (”stranded oil”) The term ”stranded gas” is used in situations where the oil/gas field is remote or located in deep water The term ”marginal gas” is used in situations where the oil/gas field is too small to justify a gas pipeline

Associated Gas Solutions Gas-to-Flare (burning) Gas-to-Well (injection) Gas-to-Liquid (LNG, MOH etc.) Gas-to-Wire (electricity) Gas-to-Tank (CNG) Gas-to-Solid (NGH)

Non-Pipeline Technologies CNG Compressed Natural Gas GTL Gas-to-Liquid (incl. MOH) GTW Gas-to-Wire (DC and AC) LNG Liqufied Natural Gas NGH Natural Gas Hydrate

CAPACITY-DISTANCE DIAGRAM Gudmundsson and Mork (2001)

Khalipour et al. 2009, IPTC 14083

Size and Technology Hove et al. (1999) Non-Pipeline Technology Nominal Plant Capacity Field Size LNG 3 MTPY 2.75 TCF Syncrude 20,000 bbl/d 1.36 TCF MOH 2500 MTPD 0.54 TCF NGH 1.6 MSm3/d 0.38 TCF

Norwegian Fields and Plants Field Name Reserves (gas, LPG, cond.) Plant Size (gas prod.) Ormen Lange Hammerfest LNG* 400 BCM (=14.1 TCF) 190 BCM (=6.7 TCF) 1 Sm3 = 35.314 ft3 20 BCM/year 4.3 BCM/year * Feed flow 6.9 BCM/year, Products 6.0 BCM/year, LPG 0.2 MTPY, Condensate 0.7 MTPY (Heiersted 2005)

Natural Gas Resources BP (2001) and Hove et al. (1999) World reserves 150 TCM (=5295 TCF) 38% in FSU, 35% Middle East, 9% OECD and 18% other regions 80% new gas fields less than 0.25 TCF (=7 BCM) in size Assuming 20 years, gives delivery 0.35 BCM/year (=12.5 BCF/year)

Natural Gas Monetisation Routes 5 TCF field size, 600 MMscfd (=6 Natural Gas Monetisation Routes 5 TCF field size, 600 MMscfd (=6.2 BCM/year) Klein Nagervoort (2000) Non-Pipeline Technology Global Demand Plant Size Plant % MOH 30 MTPA (corrected) 6 MTPA 20% LNG 100 MTPA 4 MTPA 4% GTL 3,000 MTPA 3 MTPA 0.1%

Shell Middle Distillate Synthesis Process Klein Nagervoort (2000)

FPSO Overview of Alternatives

FPSO + Methanol UT-769

FPSO + Methanol Separation Steam TCR reforming Gas Choke Manifold Desulphur- isation Methanol Synthesis Stabilisation/ Distillation Grade AA Methanol Crude oil Crude Methanol Water Produced water treatment Methanol Storage tanks Crude Oil Storage tanks Oil Water Gas Discharge To shuttle Tanker

Process, Marine CNG Load - $10% Sail - $85% Discharge - $5% 54 bar compress refrigerate 200 bar 10 oC 200 bar 5 oC Sail - $85% 15.5 knots Discharge - $5% 10 bar -30 oC expand scavenge heat 47 bar 5 oC

Pipe, CNG and LNG, 400 MMscfd

Pipe vs. CNG

Hydrate Equilibrium Curve 1 m3 of hydrate 180 Sm3 of gas

STANDARDIZED PELLETS Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding

Capital cost of NGH and LNG chains for 400 MMscf/d production and transport over 3500 nautical miles. Million US dollars mid-1995.

PIPE, GTL, LNG, NGH Capex vs. Distance

Images of NGH carriers Source; 2001-03 JRTT/Phase-1, Conceptual design on NGH carrier

Natural gas sea transport chain with NGH pellets NGH formation Storage Tank Storage Tank Re-gasification Natural Gas Natural Gas Water Pelletizer Water NGH Carrier Load Unload Powdery Pellets Pellets to fire

CONCLUSIONS There is a need for non-pipeline technologies that can capture stranded gas and transport to market. NGH technology is being developed for this purpose and is considered an attractive alternative. Several groups have worked on developing NGH technology world-wide (NTNU was the first, now Mitsui of Japan has pilot-scale production and transport). LNG technology is recognised as the technology of choice for large-volume, long-distance transport of natural gas. However, about 80% of the natural gas resources yet to be developed world-wide are too small for state-of-the-art LNG technology and about one-half of these (40% of total) are stranded. The cost of transporting stranded gas to market using non-pipeline technologies has been estimated in the range 1.5 to 3.0 US$ per million BTU (ca. 1.5-3.0 US$/GJ), depending on the scale of development and distance to market. CNG and NGH are probably competing in similar stranded gas situations.