Converting tankers to gas processing plant

To permit the recovery of associated gas produced in the UK sector of the North Sea as oil production rises toward the 2 million bbl/day mark by 1980, a consortium of Scottish firms plans to put a gas fractionation plant on two very large crude carriers (VLCC's) for installation on the seabed offshore Flotta, reports Buckman and Cranfield Press Services, London. The proposed plant would process up to 2 million tons/yr of gas and natural gas liquids from various offshore installations and send the liquid products by tanker to onshore markets. If approved by the British government, the $100 million project could go on-stream in 1981, yielding a rate of return as high as 30%. Such shipborne units are envisioned by some authorities as an alternative to extensive pipeline construction or gas flaring in the North Sea. When the VLCC's finish their work at Flotta, they will be refloated and moved to another site.