New, large offshore discoveries open the way for floating production units throughout the world.

Most of the near future floating projects focus on West Africa or Brazil, where great water depth and large reserves dictate large production units with huge processing and storage capacity.
West Africa
Although the Girassol project off Angola was a giant, subsequent offshore projects are equally impressive for their sheer scale. And still it is West Africa that is seeing the bulk of new floating projects, where the hallmarks are great size and the level of capital investment required, often 10 times that of the average deepwater field in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Off Nigeria, in 3,300-ft (1,015-m) waters, Shell's 600 million-bbl Bonga field in OPL 212 is due to produce first oil next year with a new-build floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel. Bonga's FPSO hull is huge, measuring 1,033 ft (315 m) long and 206 ft (63 m) wide. Only Girassol is physically bigger - and only by a few feet.
The Bonga hull was launched at Samsung's Koje Island shipyard in Korea earlier this year. By October the hull is due at Amec's Teesside fabrication facility in the United Kingdom for outfitting with preassembled process and production units fabricated by Amec and nearby Heerema Hartlepool before it begins work off Nigeria for Shell.
But the subsequently discovered Bonga South West field, about 10 miles (16 km) distant in 4,085-ft (1,245-m) waters in OML 118, is set to dwarf Bonga in terms of overall reserves. Amec is keen to provide a Bonga Mark II floating production system for the field, thought to contain 1 billion bbl of oil.
Reporting first-quarter 2002 results, Shell said a first appraisal well "confirmed the importance of Bonga South West," and development work is under way. A Shell spokeswoman said of the appraisal: "This confirmed results of the first exploration well, and this proved up the oil and new reservoirs. Following the results of these two wells, Bonga South West field volumetrics are estimated to be 1 billion bbl of oil." Shell plans another appraisal in the third quarter. A new FPSO for Bonga South West is unlikely to materialize before 2005 or 2006. But if it is a floater, it is bound to be big.
Earlier this year, Shell discovered Bonga West on the same block with reserves of about 600 million bbl. That discovery is too far from the other two Bonga wells for a tieback. It too could generate a new FPSO order.
Shell's Ea project in Nigeria has a newly named FPSO - the Sea Eagle. In a ceremony in South Korea accompanied by fireworks, the wife of the Nigerian ambassador to South Korea, Agnes Obi Odu, named the US $90 million hull.
Politics and economics may interfere with some of the offshore Nigeria projects. An extension of Opec production quotas could hold up development of Bonga and Amenam/Kpono. At the same time, Angola's emphasis on natural gas could hold up approvals on Benguela/Belize/Tomboco and the giant Dalia complex.
The Ea FPSO is 898 ft (274 m) long, 164 ft (50 m) wide and 92 ft (28 m) deep. Constructed by Hyundai Heavy Industries, it has storage for 1.4 million bbl of oil. Integration of topsides modules is taking place in Singapore, and it will be moored with a soft yoke system, allowing 360° rotation.
Capable of processing 100 MMcf/d of gas, the unit will deliver production to the Bonny Island plant in Nigeria via Shell Petroleum Development Co.'s gas gathering pipeline. It represents part of an $8.5 billion investment in Nigeria.
Ea's first phase features three platforms for which jackets have been built at the Globestar yard in Warri, Nigeria. Development drilling began in May 2001. Construction of the soft yoke is under way in the United Arab Emirates, and platform piles are being fabricated in Nigerdock, Lagos. Offshore installation is due this summer.
TotalFinaElf's (TFE's) 1 billion-bbl Akpo discovery in OPL 246, in 3,936-ft (1,200-m) waters offshore Nigeria, is expected in production by 2004. Market projections indicate an Akpo floating production unit will require storage for 1.5 million to 2 million bbl of oil and processing for 100,000 b/d of oil. However, Akpo features a lot of associated gas, so high-capacity gas processing also is likely.
Following Girassol, TFE initiated its Block 17 development off Angola by launching invitations to tender for its Dalia development, estimated to be worth $2.5 billion. Dalia will echo Girassol by using buoyant riser towers and another large FPSO - with processing for 240,000 b/d of oil and storage for 2 million bbl. It will involve a substantial subsea layout of wells, manifolds and flow lines linked back to the vessel. With up to 68 wells envisaged on Dalia, the layout will comprise at least 34 production and 30 water injection wells, plus three gas injection wells.
Tenders have been issued for the main field facilities, including the hull, umbilical flow lines and risers, the subsea production system with trees and manifolds, and development drilling. Izar of Spain, Hitachi and Samsung are thought to be in contention for the Dalia hull, while the subsea production system probably will go to Cooper Cameron, FMC Kongsberg or Kværner. Stolt Offshore, Bouygues, now with Saipem, and TechnipCoflexip are likely competitors for installation of the umbilical flow lines.
TFE is appraising another West African discovery with the Andromede Marine 2 well in the Mer Tres Profundo Sud concession. In 6,560-ft (2,000-m) waters offshore Congo, the well follows the Andromede 1, drilled in May 2000, which tested at 7,000 b/d of oil. This could be another FPSO contender.
ExxonMobil has the Kizomba A project rolling forward in Block 15 off Angola in 3,280- to 4,264-ft (1,000- to 1,300-m) waters. This project, with an estimated 2 billion boe of reserves, involves eight separate discoveries, starting with Kissanje in 1997, and including Marimba, Hungo, Dikanza, Chocalho, Xikcomba, Mondo and Saxi. An FPSO with 34 production wells, 26 water injectors, storage for 2.2 million bbl of oil and processing for 250,000 b/d of oil is planned.
Hyundai, Fluor and Amec landed the FPSO contract and plan to deliver the vessel in time to put production onstream in late 2004.
In Block 18 off Angola, the BP-operated 1 billion-bbl Greater Plutonio project in 4,467-ft (1,362-m) waters is another big FPSO development. It is estimated to be worth $3 billion, and major contract bids are due out to the international market later this year. Greater Plutonio will tap five discoveries: Cobalto, Cromio, Galio, Paladio and Plutonio.
KB&R earned the contract for front-end engineering and design for the project. BP wants first oil in 2005.
ExxonMobil's Erha discovery in Nigeria is yet another huge FPSO contender with rumored requirements for storage of up to 2.2 million bbl and processing capacity of 230,000 b/d of oil and 480 MMcf/d of gas. Up to 32 subsea wells in 3,900-ft (1,200-m) waters also are planned. The field is in Nigeria's OPL 209 in 4,428-ft (1,350-m) waters, and expenditure is put at $2 billion.
That base proposal may not hold up. ExxonMobil sent out a set of reduced technical specifications after disappointing results from its second appraisal well.
At press time, Bouygues was the leader for the project's FPSO portion with a bid of $758 million.
Agip awarded the $220 million contract for the Abo FPSO to Prosafe Production for installation on OPL 316 offshore Nigeria. Prosafe plans to convert the 1 million-bbl capacity Suezmax Grey Warrior tanker for the project. First oil could flow early next year from 2,270-ft (700-m) waters.
Agip's Okono project on Nigeria's OML 119 is scheduled to flow first oil in December.
South Africa is set to see its first FPSO with the arrival later this year of Bluewater's Glas Dowr, which is due to begin work for Soekor and Pioneer Natural Resources on the Sable Energy project in the Bredasdorp Basin off South Africa.
The Glas Dowr, which was laid up at Aker McNulty in the United Kingdom for nearly 2 years after retiring from the Amerada Hess-operated Dauntless and Durward fields, underwent a refit at the Verolme Botlek shipyard in Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
Verolme is dry-docking the ship for installation of a new azimuth thruster, painting and modifications to the seawater lift pump, turret and chain spider. Verolme also is completing upgrades to the turret turntable and turret deckhouse.
Single Buoy Mooring's FPSO Falcon is aimed at ExxonMobil's estimated $1.2 billion Yoho development on OML 104 off Nigeria in 209-ft (64-m) waters. The field is due to produce first oil by November. The 315,000-dwt Falcon has 90,000 b/d of oil-processing capacity, and storage for 2.2 million bbl.
Brazil
Enterprise Oil - now part of Shell - is pioneering the first non-Brazilian owned and operated FPSO development with its Bijupira-Salema project, using a ship-based, turret-moored floating production platform from Modec International. Modec is a prime contractor on this $280 million FPSO segment of the $650 million project, which involves converting the 354,000-dwt ultralarge crude carrier Sahara into an FPSO under the new name Fluminense. Shell will install the vessel in Brazil's Campos Basin, where water depths range from 1,574 ft to 2,886 ft (480 m to 880 m). The companies want first oil to flow in July 2003.
While Modec is providing hull and marine systems design, Alliance Engineering in Houston, Texas, is providing process and topsides design. Delta Engineering, also in Houston, is providing topsides module fabrication. Various parts of the FMC group are providing subsea controls, turret design, mooring and subsea manifolds.
Halliburton's Wellstream picked up the Modec contract for flow lines, risers and jumpers.
Singapore's Jurong Shipyard is converting the vessel, which will be equipped with storage for 2 million bbl of oil and processing capacity for 70,000 b/d of oil and 1.4 MMcf/d of gas from 170 million boe of reserves.
Single Buoy Moorings is due to deliver the leased 255,000-dwt FPSO Brazil to debut on the Roncador field, also in Brazil, by August in 4,460-ft (1,360-m) waters. This is equipped for 90,000 b/d of oil processing and 1.7 million bbl of storage.
Since the FPSO on Roncador sank last year, Petrobras has been using the Transocean Seillean FPSO on the field. It plans to move the Seillean to a new location on Block BC-60 in October to test the feasibility of producing recent heavy oil discoveries in the Campos Basin.
The Petrobras Marlim Leste FPSO is waiting in the wings while the company tries to line up a production unit for its 700 million-bbl Albacora Leste field. The bids are in, so the decision shouldn't take long. The winning Albacora Leste FPSO must handle 180,00 b/d of oil, and Petrobras wants to see oil flowing by late 2003.
Two FPSOs are lined up to begin production in December 2003 from the Caratinga and Barracuda fields offshore Brazil, the P-48 and the P-43. The P-48 is a conversion of the very large crude carrier Stena Concordia.
Elsewhere...
Outside West Africa and South America, new FPSOs are few and far between. In other parts of the world, Cairn Energy reportedly favors an FPSO for development of its Annapurna, P, N and M fields on Block KG-DWN-98/2 off the east coast of India's Andhra Pradesh state. Annapurna and P have combined reserves of up to 1 Tcf of gas. Cairn wants to see first production in 2005.
Offshore the Philippines, Malampaya has a production platform to produce its gas, but further tests by Shell could lead to an FPSO to develop 50 million bbl from the field. Shell expects flow rates as high as 25,000 b/d.

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