GDF Suez is entering the next engineering phase of the €3 billion to €3.7 billion Bonaparte floating LNG development off northern Australia (illustrated). Two or three companies have been selected to compete for a concept definition contract that will mature next year into front-end engineering and ­design, it is understood. French company Technip and US rival KBR are believed to be in the hunt while Japan’s Chiyoda, Italy’s Saipem and McDermott of the US are potential contenders. Rather than each of the bidding parties teaming up with a fabricator, it is thought GDF will carry out a separate competition among Asian yards to build the unit. The Bonaparte project has quietly moved through its development stages, which have seen KBR subsidiary Granherne doing ­upstream pre-FEED work and Doris Engineering the midstream pre-FEED study. Bonaparte LNG project manager Janet Hann said the concept definition phase will optimise all facets of the design in preparation for FEED in the second half of next year. The biggest challenge is the merging of the “two cultures” of LNG processing combined with the floating production, storage and offloading vessel, she said. The proposed 2 million to 3 million tonnes per annum Bonaparte FLNG vessel will be purpose-built. It will also produce and store condensate. Hann said efforts are under way to reduce the size of the ship and lower the number of development wells that need to be drilled. She added that the Petrel-8 ­appraisal well is to be sunk in early 2013 and will be a long horizontal probe. If it shows horizontals can enhance production then it is possible the number of development wells could be halved, said Hann. GDF Suez is aiming to sign up LNG buyers and ­other partnerships and then move to a final investment decision in 2014. The company owns 60% of the project with Santos on 40%.