Preston McNeely, Jim Saunders,Technip-Coflexip
This year is an active time for the floating production, storage, and offloading vessel market. As Offshore's 2002 FPSO poster (page 65) shows, nine new FPSOs made their way onto the list - eight in the engineering phase or under construction, and one now operational. Five FPSOs were transferred from construction status to operating status.
Two projects - the ChevronTexaco Sanha LPG FPSO and the Agip FPSO Four Vanguard for the Woollybutt field off Western Australia - missed the poster deadline, but will be added to the list next time.
ChevronTexaco has contracted Single Buoy Moorings for the delivery of the first LPG FPSO, to be used for the Sanha/Bomboco gas project off the coast of Angola. The project is now in the engineering phase, with the completion date set for July 2004. The vessel will be capable of producing 6,000 cu m/d of LPG with a storage capacity of 150,000 cu m.
Vanguard Floating Production was contracted to provide a converted FPSO to Agip for the Woollybutt field. The vessel provided is the old Four Lakes, a 1993-build 94,000-dwt tanker. The FPSO will be outfitted with a process facility capable of a production rate of 40,000 b/d.
The major additions and changes to this year's poster are:
•Bergesen Offshore completed construction of the Berge Hus, which was renamed Sendje Ceiba when it replaced the Sendje Berge previously working for Triton off Equatorial Guinea. The Sendje Berge is now idle and available for hire
•Bluewater Offshore Production Systems has purchased the Nunin and the Berge Hugin. The Berge Hugin has been renamed the Haewene Brim
•The FPSO Ikdam, initially under construction by Br vig Offshore, is now under the ownership of Ikdam Production SA and Coparex Netherlands and is operating in the Isis field off the coast of Tunisia
•China National Offshore Oil Corp. completed construction of the When Chang for the 13-1/13-2 field, which achieved first oil in early July
•The Cnooc/Arco/Texaco QHD 32-6 Bohai Century was renamed Bohai Shi Ji
•The Seillean, previously owned by Trans-ocean, is now under the ownership of Frontier Drilling
•The Judy Diane, owned by Gulf Rental and Supply, is being converted to an FPSO in Louisiana and is available for hire
•Samsung Heavy Industries is fabricating the hull for the new White Rose project located on the east coast of Canada
•The MV8 Langsa Venture has undergone conversion since 2001 and is now operating in the Langsa field off the coast of Indonesia
•The FPSO Fen Jin Hao, owned by Nan Hai West Oil Corporation, is an addition to the 2002 poster. The Fen Jin Hao is operating in the Panyu 4-2/5-1field, located off the coast of China
•Newfield Exploration Australia Ltd. changed its name from Gulf Australia Resources Ltd. and remains the owner of the Chalis Venture and the Jabiru Venture
•Palisser Shipping is the owner of the FPSO Farwah, which in last year's poster was shown as unnamed. This FPSO remains under construction
•The White Sea owned by Prosafe Production Pte Ltd. was indicated in last year's poster as under construction for Ranger Oil to be used for their Espoir field off Côte d'Ivoire. The White Sea is now named the Espoir Ivoirien and is in operation. Prosafe also added the Gray Warrior, which is to be chartered to Agip for the Abo field offshore Nigeria
•SBM retired the FPSO II and completed construction of the FPSO Brasil. SBM has started construction on the FPSO Falcon for use by ExxonMobil for their Yoho field offshore Nigeria. SBM has also been contracted by ExxonMobil to provide the FPSO Generic C for an undisclosed location off the coast of West Africa, and the FPSO Serpentina for Equatorial Guinea.
Potential and pending projects
Canadian Natural Resources is planning an FPSO for Baobab, offshore Côte d'Ivoire. This block CI-40 project is in progress with a target of first oil in mid-2004. Estimated plateau production rates are 60,000 b/d. The base-case development plan involves subsea production and water wells in deepwater tied back to an FPSO on the continental shelf in 120 m of water.
TotalFinaElf has invited tenders for FPSO Dalia for Angola block 17. This FPSO will be designed to store 2 MMbbl, and will manage up to 200,000 b/d of crude processed through topsides of up to 22,000 tons. Water- and gas-handling capabilities will also be required.
Amerada Hess has launched a tender for an FPSO for the Oveng and Okume fields off Equatorial Guinea. The FPSO is designed to store 2 MMbbl and manage production capacity of 160,000 b/d. Gas lift and water injection capabilities will also be needed for the project, which lies in 900 ft of water.
Kellogg Brown & Root has just completed a front-end engineering and design study for Phillips' Peng Lai 19-3 oil development in China's Bohai Bay. It yields a 1.9-MMbbl capacity hull and is capable of processing up to 190,000 b/d of crude.
Kerr-McGee's board has approved a development plan for its discoveries on block 04/36 in Bohai Bay, off China, where it estimates recoverable reserves exceed 150 MMbbl. The company expects initial production by the end of 2004, with peak production projected to exceed 50,000 b/d by mid-2005. Fabrication of this FPSO is expected to take place in China where it will eventually reside in 75 ft of water 50 mi from shore. This FPSO is anticipated to process over 60,000 b/d and will have a 1 MMbbl storage capacity.
The 1 Bbbl deepwater Agbami development off the Niger Delta remains in limbo with the Nigerian state. ChevronTexaco and local outfit FAMFA have been unable to agree on future production.
ExxonMobil is moving ahead on its Kizomba B project located in deepwater block 15 off Angola. Invitations to tender are expected imminently for a wellhead platform.
ChevronTexaco is rethinking its options for developing the Frade field in Brazil's Campos basin. The company has been occupied with evaluating the results of a two-well appraisal program, which concluded in October 2001.
