Cost, cycle-time efficiencies underscore new platform designs
Gulf of Mexico operators are rolling out new floating production platforms that they hope will not only anchor lucrative projects, but also accelerate the cycle times to first production. Renewed interest in offshore is certainly linked to the precipitous decline in project break-even costs over the last few years, led by lower unit costs. It is also being driven by the industry’s ability to simplify and standardize project designs. This experience is encouraging operators to sanction new and larger fields. The International Energy Agency carried out a study earlier this year on upcoming offshore project approvals and found that, in 2019 and 2020, the average size of the resource sanctioned will increase by about 20% but without a corresponding increase in cycle time.
The platform of choice for many of the new deepwater hub projects in the GoM is a semisubmersible. It has an average lead time from sanction to first production of 38.4 months, which is competitive with other floating hulls.
The latest project sanctions in the GoM that call for a semisubmersible production platform – Vito and King’s Quay – are on schedule to deliver the floaters within the industry average for cycle time. In both cases, the project teams have adopted a “lean and efficient” platform design philosophy to develop the initial fields. These two projects, as well as others, are also taking advantage of industry-standard designs to reduce cost and cycle time.
About the Author
David Paganie
Energy Conference Director
After 20 years with Offshore, David Paganie has transitioned into a new role within Endeavor Business Media as Energy Conference Director, effective Jan. 1, 2025.
He is still leading the event content, chairing the conference advisory boards and working with the conference teams for Offshore's events (Subsea Tieback and Deepwater/Topsides) as well as Microgrid Knowledge's events. His success in growing event content and securing senior level executives as speakers has led to him creating many of the best practices at Endeavor.
Paganie previously served as Chief Editor of Offshore magazine and Conferences Editorial Director. He oversaw the Offshore portfolio of print and digital editorial content and international oil and gas conferences. He also wrote the monthly Comment column for Offshore.
He previously served as Editor of Offshore Field Development International at ODS-Petrodata; and as an Analyst at Baker Energy. He holds a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with a specialty in finance from Ohio University.