ExxonMobil has awarded SBM Offshore two front end engineering and design (FEED) studies for a newbuild FPSO for the Longtail project in the Stabroek Block offshore Guyana.
The contracts will release funds that will allow SBM Offshore to allocate a Fast4Ward hull for the development. The company will further construct and ultimately install the FPSO, subject to government approvals for the development plan, FID by ExxonMobil and its partners, and project approval to sanction the second phase of work.
At the end of the construction period and prior to the start of offshore operations, ownership of the FPSO will likely transfer to ExxonMobil.
SBM Offshore expects to operate the platform under an integrated operations and maintenance model that draws on its own and ExxonMobil’s experience, incorporating lessons learned from the other FPSOs currently in service on the Stabroek Block.
This will be the company’s ninth newbuild, Fast4Ward multi-purpose floater hull, which will support various standardized topsides modules. The FPSO will be capable of processing 1,200 MMcf/d of gas producing up to 250,000 bbl/d of condensate per day, and storing about 2 MMbbl.
It will be spread moored in a water depth of about 1,750 m.
As with the other floaters, the company will source fabrication locally in Guyana where possible, with Guyanese engineers drafted into the execution and operational teams.
