Work is about to start in a Middle East yard on the conversion of a newly arrived barge into a floating LNG production unit for energy company Perenco’s project in the Central Africa state of Gabon.
Dutch marine engineers Dixstone said the Bran6 barge has arrived at Hamriyah port in Sharjah, kicking off the “official start” of the project.
“This milestone is a significant step towards achieving our goals, and we are eager to begin the next phase of the construction,” the company said.
The barge is to be converted into a FLNG unit for Perenco Oil & Gas Gabon’s Cap Lopez project. Dixstone was earlier awarded the construction, procurement and integration contract for this project.
Perenco and Dixstone have said previously that the near-shore, small-scale project will produce 700,000 tonnes per annum of LNG and 25,000 tpa of LPG.
The project will also require the use of a 137,000-cbm Moss-type LNG carrier which would be used as a floating storage unit moored at a linked jetty. The vessel for the FSU has yet to be named.
The Cap Lopez project appears to have morphed slightly.
In March, it emerged that Perenco was planning to use a multipurpose vessel to convert into an FLNG unit at a shipyard in Dubai.
Engineers working in the FLNG sector told TradeWinds that barge-to-FLNG conversions can make more sense for some nearshore projects over converting LNG carriers into project floaters.
Dixstone said today: “With this FLNG barge, we are pioneering new small-scale LNG solutions in remote countries to unlock marginal stranded gas reserves and support the efforts in global flaring reduction by cutting emissions and improving delivery to demanding markets.”
In February, Perenco announced it had reached a final investment decision to build an LNG production unit off the Cap Lopez oil terminal in Gabon. It said this would take three years to build.
Perenco already has FLNG experience in Africa, where it charters Golar LNG’s 2.2mtpa unit Hilli to liquefy its volumes in Cameroon. But Golar announced this month that it has signed an agreement to redeploy the Hilli to Argentina at the end of its charter to Perenco in mid-2026.
