Floating Production News

The ABS-classed Liza Unity has received the first REMOTE-CON notation for an floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) from ABS. The notation demonstrates the vessel’s alignment with remote-control functions and signifies that the design and construction of the offshore asset are assessed against and adhere to the ABS Requirements for Autonomous and Remote Control Functions.The Liza Unity is the second FPSO to be built for ExxonMobil Guyana’s Stabroek Block development and the first delivered under SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward program.

The American Bureau of Shipping dominates the global market in the classification of Floating Production. Offshore Engineer recently sat with Matt Tremblay, ABS’ Vice President of Global Offshore Markets, at American Bureau of Shipping HQ in Houston for his insights on market drivers and technical trends in this dynamic market.Matt, big picture, how do you see the Floating Production market developing in the coming years?At a macro level, I think we're going to be supply limited over the next five years.

The specialized deepwater oil & gas and floating offshore wind segments will share many of the same stakeholders and supply chains, competing for increasingly scarce resources.To receive a full version of Inteletus analysis, click hereThe established floating production segment is forecast to experience continued growth through this decade, driving demand for, among other things, moorings, subsea systems, umbilicals, risers, flowlines and the large anchor handlers and subsea support vessels that will install and maintain the elements.At the same time…

Japanese FPSO leasing firm MODEC said Thursday that the first steel-cutting ceremony for the Guyana-bound FPSO Errea Wittu had been held in China.MODEC secured its first order to supply an FPSO to Guyana in May 2023. The order came from an ExxonMobil-led consortium and is for the deployment of the FPSO to the giant Stabroek offshore block in Guyana, where Exxon already has three FPSOs in production, all three supplied by SBM Offshore.According to World Energy Reports, China's DSIC has the construction hull contract…

FPSO leasing company BW Offshore said Thursday that the hull of BW Opal, one of the largest FPSO hulls ever built and destined for Santos' Barossa gas project in Australia, had set sail from a yard in South Korea and was en route to Singapore for topside integration."On October 28, 2023, at 11:30 local time, the newbuild hull for the BW Opal FPSO, which is based on BW Offshore’s RapidFramework concept, started tow from the SK Oceanplant (SKOP) yard in South Korea, to the integration shipyard in Singapore…

Shell is suing Greenpeace for $2.1 million in damages after the environmental group's activists boarded the company's oil production vessel in transit at sea this year, according to Greenpeace and a document seen by Reuters.The British oil and gas major filed the claim in London's High Court. Greenpeace activists boarded the vessel in January near the Canary Islands off the Atlantic coast of northern Africa to protest oil drilling and traveled on it as far as Norway.In an email to Reuters…

Classification society ABS announced it has granted approval in principle (AIP) for a the Sterling Streamline, a next generation concept design for large floating production storage and offloading unit (FPSO) newbuild hulls from India's Shapoorji Pallonji Energy (SPE).The design features flexible mooring configurations, 60 risers and an umbilical slots riser balcony, with an oil processing capacity of up to 250,000 barrels per day and storage capacity of minimum 2.2 million barrels of crude oil.

Shapoorji Pallonji Energy Pvt Ltd (SP Energy) said Monday it had obtained a Class Approval-in-Principle for the Concept and Design Basis of its FPSO Newbuild Hull from the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS). SP Energy has been working on the concept design of ‘STERLING STREAMLINE’, described as a new generation of its standardized newbuild hull concept design for large FPSOs, since July this year. According to SP Energy, the new FPSO hull will be designed for a circa 33-year lifespan with a topside capacity of up to 65,000 MT of wet weight.

Harland & Wolff has secured a contract with Canada-based Cenovus Energy for the mid-life upgrade of the SeaRose FPSO vessel. The base contract value is approximately £61 million (~currently around $74 million). The FPSO is expected to arrive at Harland & Wolff in Belfast in the first quarter of 2024 and will be in the building dock for a period of more than three months.The contract follows a letter of intent announced earlier this year, and a number of pre-arrival works have already started…

Chinese shipbuilder China Merchant Heavy Industries (CMHI) has contracted TMC Compressors (TMC) to deliver the completed marine compressed air system to a newbuild FPSO the Chinese yard is constructing for the Dutch FPSO leasing firm SBM Offshore.Under the contract, TMC will provide a large-capacity marine compressed air system, including compressors for control and service air on board the FPSO.TMC will manufacture and assemble the equipment in Europe and deliver it to CMHI in China.

Dutch firm SBM Offshore said Friday it had won contracts to perform front-end engineering and design (FEED) for a floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO) for the ExxonMobil-led Whiptail development project in Guyana.Following FEED and subject to government approvals in Guyana of the development plan, and project sanction, including the final investment decision by ExxonMobil, to release the second phase of work, SBM Offshore will construct and install the FPSO.

Singapore-based Dyna-Mac has secured several contracts, including an order to construct topside modules for an FPSO vessel.Dyna-Mac said that it had recently secured contracts worth a total provisional sum of S$88.0 million from unnamed repeat customers.The main contract involves the construction of topside modules for an FPSO. Dyna-Mac will start the construction of the topside Modules in the first quarter of 2024 and will utilize the new yard space recently secured. The project is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2025…

Shapoorji Pallonji Energy Pvt Ltd (SPE), on Friday unveiled a new generation of its standardized newbuild Hull concept design for large FPSOs called Sterling Streamline."SP Energy, India’s sole specialist in designing, building, owning and operating Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) units, is developing this new hull design that it believes would be an appropriate off-the-shelf solution for the offshore industry," the company said.“The new FPSO hull design signifies SPE’s commitment to drive efficiency across all aspects of the project.

Brazilian oil and gas company Enauta, the operator of the Atlanta field in Santos Basin. offshore Brazil, has started the anchoring campaign for the FPSO Atlanta, which is expected to start production in 2024.This marks the start of installation works on what is called Atlanta’s Phase I, which will bring a larger capacity FPSO to the field that has so far been producing oil via the Petrojarl I FPSO."[The anchoring ] stage consists of installing flexible riser anchors and torpedo anchors for the new [FPSO].

The American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) has awarded Approval in Principle (AIP) for Bumi Armada’s pioneering design for a floating carbon storage and injection unit (FCSIU).Bumi Armada’s FCSIU concept is a floating terminal capable of storing and injecting liquified carbon dioxide (LCO2) into depleted oil and gas fields or aquifers. This novel concept incorporates the ability to accept LCO2 deliveries in an offshore setting, the flexibility to manage LCO2 at low or medium pressure…

At Gastech 2023, Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) offers a separate 216 sq. m. exhibition hall at the Singapore Expo venue showcasing its technological developments in LNG and LCO2 transport vessels, centered around the FLNG (Floating Liquefied Natural Gas Production Facility) models.On the September 7, SHI plans to hold a future eco-friendly technology seminar for key customers to address global climate change. Dubbed "Sustainable Future with Green & Digital," the seminar will feature participation from major customers…

Asia Pacific-focused Jadestone Energy, which last month shut down production from its Montara Venture FPSO off Western Australia due to an issue with the FPSO's 4S ballast water tank,is still working to address the defect in the tank.Jadestone Energy said Thursday that since the shutdown, tank 4S has been emptied and cleaned, with an inspection starting on August 8, 2023."The initial inspection has identified the location of a small defect between tank 4S and oil cargo tank 5C…

FPSO leasing company BW Offshore has signed a short-term extension for its Abo FPSO.The extension was signed with Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd, a subsidiary of the Italian oil firm Eni, and runs until August 14, 2023.BW Offshore has been in talks to divest the FPSO, which is operating at the Abo field offshore Nigeria, and is seen as non-core to its FPSO fleet. This extension is the latest in a series of short-term extensions announced for the Abo FPSO recently.The ABO FPSO started producing in April 2003.

Bumi Armada's Armada Kraken FPSO, a production unit operating at EnQuest's Kraken offshore field in the UK North Sea, has increased operational performance following a shutdown in early June.As Offshore Engineer previously reported, the Armada Kraken FPSO was shut in in June following the failure of critical hydraulic submersible pump (HSP) transformers.The Kraken FPSO is deployed at Kraken field under a bareboat charter contract.During the first four months of 2023, the average net production from the Kraken field was 15,910 barrels of oil equivalent per day.On June 21, Bumi Armada said that production had resumed from the FPSO and was at around 60% of pre-shutdown levels.In an update on Thursday…

In a first, Brazilian oil company Petrobras last week reportedly sold the P-32 FPSO for sustainable recycling in Brazil, paving the way for the development of the local ship recycling industry.The sale of the floating unit P-32 reportedly took place on July 7, 2023. In a collaboration supervised by Petrobras, the steel company Gerdau S.A. and shipyard Ecovix have been entrusted with the responsible and environmentally sound recycling of the FPSO."This decision marks the first time a commercial vessel at the end of its lifecycle will be dismantled in Brazil.

The Brazil-bound FPSO Sepetiba sailed away from the BOMESC shipyard in China on June 16, 2023, following completion of the topsides integration and onshore commissioning phases.The unit—SBM Offshore’s third Fast4Ward FPSO—is transiting to the Mero field in the Santos Basin offshore Brazil, located 180 kilometers offshore Rio de Janeiro. SBM Offshore has a contract with Petróleo Brasileiro S.A. (Petrobras) for the 22.5 years lease and operation of FPSO Sepetiba. First oil is expected in the second half of 2023.The FPSO will have the capacity to produce up to 180…

Four international groups are competing to buy Exxon Mobil Corp's majority stake in a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal offshore Italy, two sources familiar with the matter said. The deal could value the entire LNG terminal at around 800 million euros ($881 million), the sources said. Exxon said in March it was considering selling its majority stake in Adriatic LNG, Italy's main regasification terminal, as part of a wider strategy to divest non-core assets. The U.S. group is being advised by Rothschild & Co. on the process.

Japanese FPSO supplier MODEC has won a contract with Equinor to supply an FPSO vessel for the BM-C-33 block of the Campos Basin offshore Brazil. The order comes just days after Equinor and its partners Repsol Sinopec Brasil, and Petrobras took the $9 billion investment decision to develop the BM-C-33 project in Brazil. Located in the Campos Basin, BM-C-33 comprises three different pre-salt discoveries – Pão de Açúcar, Gávea and Seat – containing natural gas and oil/condensate…