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Summary Liquefied natural gas (LNG) has yet to be deployed in the development of offshore fields in spite of several detailed studies completed and offshore technology development demonstrating its technical feasibility. The perceived risks associated with deploying unproven technology in a high construction cost and volatrile gas price environment have so far inhibited offshore liquefaction projects. The potential deployment of such technologies is of paramount importance considering the massive volumes of natural gas currently deemed as "stranded" and the exploitation of which is compelling not only because of the inherent economic benefit but also because of the otherwise adverse impact on oil production. It is conceivable that deep water offshore locations may contain quantities of natural gas rivalling those of onshore locations. Such a statement cannot even be confirmed because drilling for offshore natural gas reservoirs, expected to be found considerably deeper than oil reservoirs, has been unattractive exactly because of the absence of coherent exploitation strategies. If anything, the mere presence of large natural gas deposits even in the form of solution gas in oil is now often considered as largely undesirable because of the cost of just handling non-monetized natural gas. This paper discusses potential offshore LNG processes and reviews natural gas liquefaction cycles in the context of compactness, ease of operation, process safety, and efficiency. Particular attention is paid to the lower-efficiency turboexpander processes for plant capacities up to 3 million tonnes per annum (MTPA, approximately 0.43 Bcf/d). These cycles offer several advantages over the alternative optimized cascade and mixed refrigerant (MR) liquefiers for offshore applications.