Petronas Nasional Berhad (Petronas) announced Thursday that it has reached the Final Investment Decision (FID) for its second floating liquefied natural gas facility (PFLNG 2) project, located off the coast of Sabah in Malaysia. The FID was approved by the Petronas Board Jan. 23.

Subsequently Petronas has issued a letter of award for the Engineering Procurement, Construction, Installation, Commissioning (EPCIC) contract for the project to the consortium of JGC Corporation, Samsung Heavy Industries Company Limited, JGC (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Samsung Heavy Industries (M) Sdn Bhd.

The EPCIC contract award followed the 2012 dual Front End Engineering Design (FEED) study for the project undertaken by two consortia – the Modec Inc., CB&I Nederland B.V and Toyo Engineering Corporation consortium and the JGC Corporation, Samsung Heavy Industries Company Limited, JGC (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and Samsung Heavy Industries (M) Sdn Bhd consortium.

The FID and the EPCIC contract award mark a significant milestone in the progress of the PFLNG 2 project. The facility will be moored at the Rotan gas field in deep water Block H, offshore Sabah and is designed to produce 1.5 million tons a year (mtpa) of LNG. It is scheduled to be ready for start-up by early 2018.

Meanwhile, Petronas’ first floating LNG facility (PFLNG 1) project recently achieved another key construction milestone with the commencement of the vessel’s keel laying process at the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME) shipyard in Okpo, South Korea.

The PFLNG 1 will be moored at the Kanowit field, offshore Sarawak, and is designed to produce 1.2 mtpa of LNG. It is scheduled to be ready for start-up by end of 2015.

Once operational, both facilities are expected to change the landscape of the LNG business where the liquefaction, production and offloading processes of LNG - previously only possible at onshore plants - will now be able to be carried out hundreds of kilometers away from land and closer to the offshore gas fields.

As such, the facilities will play a significant role in Petronas’ efforts to unlock the gas reserves in Malaysia’s remote and stranded fields which otherwise could be uneconomical to develop and evacuate.