scope:

Purpose

A Gravity-Based Offshore LNG Terminal provides LNG storage and receives and/or offloads LNG. There are two major variations of offshore LNG terminal: Load Terminals and Discharge Terminals, with various configurations of each.

A Load Terminal receives gas directly from one or more wells or from another offshore facility where it may or may not have been processed. The gas is liquefied in an onboard liquefaction facility and stored for offloading as LNG to a trading LNG carrier. Alternatively, a Load Terminal may receive LNG from a liquefaction plant via a pipeline.

A Discharge Terminal receives LNG from trading LNG carriers and stores it. In such terminals, the stored LNG is normally vaporized in a re-gasification facility and discharged ashore. However, offloading LNG in a lightering operation is also feasible.