LNG History
1914 Godfrey L Cabot patents a river barge for handling and transporting liquid gas
1917 LNG was proven viable when the first LNG plant went into operation in West Virginia
1941 Storing concentrated energy in commercial “Peak shaving plants” in the USA (Cleveland)
1959 First LNG cargo delivered by ship. Methane Pioneer transports a cargo of 2,000 tons of natural gas from Louisiana across the Atlantic to Canvey Island on the Thames estuary
1960 Conch International Methane conducts pioneering series of experiments involving small-scale LNG spills on land at Lake Charles, LA for U.S. Bureau of Mines
1964 First baseload LNG plant (Camel) in operation in Arzew, Algeria. 1.2 MMTPA (3X0.4MMTPA Trains) using TEAL Cascade process. Steam turbine driven
1964 International LNG shipping (part of the “LNG chain”) between Algeria and Europe. First purpose built LNG ships (LNG Princess and LNG Progress) built using Conch tanks
By 1969 three more trades (Algeria - France, Libya - Italy and Spain, Alaska – Japan
1969 1.5 mmtpa export plant in Kenai, Alaska applies the three refrigerant Phillips Cascade cycle. GT-driven. First use of Aluminum Plate Fin Heat Exchangers
1970 First APCI SMR export plant built at Marsa El Brega, Libya 2*0.75MMTPA trains, using SWHE technology
1971 Kvaerner develops 88km3 Moss spherical containment system
1971 First US Import terminal established at Everett, MD. Cove Point and Elba Island terminals follow in 1978
1972 First propane-precooled mixed refrigerant cycle (APCI C3MR) constructed for Shell Brunei (5x1.1 MMTPA capacity)
1975 100 km3 LNG Carrier size exceeded with delivery of French built Ben Franklin, 120km3
1977 first Middle East project got underway with the 2 x 1.25 MMtpa train Das Island project in Abu Dhabi. Plant size increased further later that year when Indonesia joined the ranks of LNG exporting countries with the start-up of the 2 x 2 MMtpa trains in Bontang
1979 Formation of Society of International Gas Tanker and Terminal Operators (SIGTTO) to promote safe and reliable operation of gas tankers and terminals
1983 First Malaysia LNG export, MLNG Satu. This was last ever steam-turbine driven Greenfield plant, 3 x 2.1 MMTPA trains. Little other Greenfield activity in 1980’S, mainly expansion of existing terminals
1991 First LNG deliveries from Australia’s North West Shelf arrive in Japan and South Korea
1993 Polar Eagle and Arctic Sun, 83.5km3, with IHI prismatic containment system (SPB) begin service from Alaska to Tokyo
1995 MLNG Dua is first LNG Plant to use large Frame 7 GT drivers, leading to significant reduction in fuel consumptions and increase in train size
1999 Atlantic LNG plant in Trinidad becomes first baseload LNG plant since Kenai to use Cascade liquefaction process, adopting two trains in one approach. Further trains in Trinidad and elsewhere follow using the “Optimised Cascade” process
2000 Joint Industry Project Azure to assess feasibility of Floating LNG (FLNG)
2004 APCI SplitMR technology used for first time on RasGas Train 3. This meant same GT driver to be used for both propane and MR compressors. It allowed a LNG production capacity close to 5 mmtpa
2004 Explosions and fire destroy a portion of the LNG liquefaction plant in Skikda, Algeria, killing 27 people
2005 Excelerate Energy commission Gulf Gateway Deepwater Port, offshore Louisiana using Excelsior SRV
2007 Excelerate Energy commissions Teesside Gas Port using regas vessel with dockside coonection and unloading
2007 First Q-Flex (Qatar-Flex) LNG Carrier (210km3) delivered by Hyundai Heavy Industries to QatarGas in late 2007. Includes Hamworthy BOG re-liquefaction system
2007 Statoil start up 4.4 MMTPA Snohvit LNG terminal in Melkoya Island, Norway which uses Linde’s proprietary MFC refrigeration technology and Linde SWHE’s
2008 First Q-Max LNG Carrier (266km3) delivered by Samsung Heavy Industries to QatarGas in 2008
2008 World’s first LNG ship to FSRU conversion, Golar Spirit, a 129km3 Moss carrier, carried out by Keppel Singapore and in service for Petrobras, Pecem, Brazil
2009 World’s second LNG ship to FSRU conversion, Golar Winter, a 138km3 membrane carrier, carried out by Keppel Singapore and in service for Petrobras, Guanabara Bay, Brazil
2008-2010 Start-up of 6x7.8MMTPA LNG trains for Rasgas and QatarGas, using APCI AP-X technology and Frame 9E drivers
2011 Shell sanctions Prelude development, first FLNG development, using Shell DMR process, 3.6 MMTPA, offshore Australia
Further reading
GPSA databook, 2013 Edition
Useful Videos
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