Battle of Mega Gas Giants to Begin Near Australia

Off the coast of Western Australia, a battle between mega giants is unfolding. Combatants involve the world's biggest semi-submersible platform, the longest subsea pipeline in the southern hemisphere and the largest floating facility ever built.

They are all there for the same reason: natural gas, and they're hoping to start drawing it up this month, BBC reported.

As several countries begin to move away from coal as an energy resource, this alternative fossil fuel, which produces 50% less carbon dioxide for every unit of energy generated, is increasingly in demand in the energy hungry world.

Consumption is forecast to rise to 177 trillion cubic feet or 5,012 billion cubic meters by 2040, up from 124 tcf in 2015, the US Energy Information Administration said.

That is why Shell's gigantic Prelude platform—which is 488 meters long and displaces roughly as much water as six aircraft carriers—is competing with Japanese firm Inpex for access to gas in the Browse Basin.

Although they are working on separate gas fields, those fields are connected. Shell and Inpex are essentially vying for the same resource.