Marine Log - November 2007 - (Page 41) TANKERTECH GULF FIRSTS: FPSO & SHUTTLE TANKERS B ack in 2000, ConocoPhillips seemed to be on the brink of a technology breakthrough for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The Houston-based company had envisioned the bold possibility of a Floating Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel servicing its GB798 Magnolia Field, a deepwater discovery lying in about 4,700 ft water depth. Oil from the FPSO would be offloaded to a fleet of newly built, U.S.-flag shuttle tankers. Given other deepwater discoveries, ConocoPhillips estimated that as many as 10 FPSO’s would be operating in the U.S. Gulf by 2010. ConocoPhillips projected that Gulf of Mexico oil production would peak at 2.5 million barrels of oil per day, with 1.5 million of that being moved by pipeline filling existing treelines and another million shipped by a fleet of 10 shuttle tankers to Gulf Coast ports. Then the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) weighed in on the FPSO and shuttle tanker plan. The result of its Environmental Impact Statement was that the U.S. Coast Guard and the MMS would have jurisdiction over the topsides and hull of the FPSO. The Coast Guard adopted international operating guide- lines for FPSO’s, which could be manned by U.S. or foreign nationals. As for the shuttle tankers, they would have to comply with the Jones Act; built in the U.S., flagged U.S. and manned by American crews. In the wake of the EIS Record of Decision, ConocoPhillips formed a team to build its shuttle tanker fleet; Seahorse Shuttle Tankers would own and operate the tankers, Korea’s Samsung would provide a proven design, procure materials and provide technical assistance to Alabama Shipyard, Mobile, Ala., which would assemble and build the hulls. Plans were to build an initial fleet of four 547,000 bbl capacity GoMAX shuttle tankers. The last of the four would have joined the SST fleet in the third quarter of this year. Of course, all of this didn’t happen. By 2003, ConocoPhillips had selected a Tension Leg Platform in combination with a pipeline to handle the Magnolia Field. Pipelines were chosen for other Southeast Green Canyon Discoveries. In the end, ConocoPhillips’s plan stalled. Artist’s conception of a Submerged Turret Production (STP) buoy and mooring system supplied by APL. APL will supply an STP buoy and mooring system for the Petrobras America’s FPSO for the U.S. Gulf of Mexico PETROBRAS DIVES IN Fast forward to the present. Now Petrobras America, Inc., a unit of Brazilian oil major Petroleo Brasileiro S.A., has announced plans for the first FPSO for deployment at the Chinook Cascade ultra-deepwater field in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. The company has selected BW Offshore Ltd for the conversion, installation and operation of the FPSO. The contract—valued at $740 million—is for a total of up to eight years, including optional periods of up to three years after the end of the first five fixed years. The FPSO will be installed on the ChiNOVEMBER 2007 MARINE LOG 41 www.marinelog.com http://www.marinelog.com
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