FLNG market update

Petronas FLNG 1

With the low oil price environment dampening project sentiment.
Below are list of FLNG projects status:

1: Petronas’ PFLNG1 is expected to commence operations in 2016
2: Ophir Energy’s Fortuna FLNG still set for mid-2016 FID
3: ENI’s Coral FLNG development plan approved by Mozambique
4: Delfin FLNG project pushing ahead at for Port Delfin project
5: Petronas Delays PFLNG2
6: Browse FLNG decision delayed
7: Exmar, PEP cancel Caribbean FLNG deal

SBM suffered with corruption scandal

SBM Offshore, world No 2 largest FPSO contractor recently suffered in corruption case. The company declined to comment the quote in Wikipeidia.

"The company is involved in one of the biggest worldwide corporate bribery and corruption scandals in recent history, with more than US$250,000,000 of bribes and other malpractices spanning many years.

It has been alleged that SBM Offshore has paid in bribes between 2005 and 2011, more than 250 million dollars (185 million euros) in many countries. This could be seen in a document from a former employee of the company (who identifies himself as a Former Employee). According to the website of the magazine Quote SBM confirms that the document is genuine."

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SBM_Offshore


Petrobas investigates SBM corruption claims
SBM Offshore has been accused of paying US$139mn to "employees and intermediaries" to guarantee platform supply contracts, according to state news service Agência Brasil.

Petrobras CEO Maria das Graças Foster promised a prompt outcome to the investigation.

"We have started an internal audit and the investigation is expected to last less than 30 days," Foster said. "During this time we won't give any information about the matter."

source: http://www.bnamericas.com/news/oilandgas/petrobras-investigates-sbm-corruption-claims

The Making of FPSO Armada Sterling (youtube)

Production capacity: 60,000 bpd

Storage capacity: 580,000 bbls

Length Overall: 246.80 metres

Breadth: 42.0 metres

Depth: 21.3 metres

Deadweight tonne: 90,819 tonnes

Mooring type: Internal turret

Hull type: Double hull

Accommodation: 70 persons

Year built: 1997

Year converted to an FPSO  2012

Convertion Shipyard: Keppel Shipyard, Singapore

Class: ABS

Flag: Marshall Island

website: http://www.bumiarmada.com/

BP Schiehallion FPSO offstation (720p HD)

The largest new build FPSO, BP Schiehallion. 

After operated 14 years, BP have decided replace with new FPSO. 

The Schiehallion to be decommissioning. 

The animation is showing safely offstation the Schiehallion.

Fact sheet:

Oil: 200,000 BPD (2x50% trains)
Water: 200,0o0 BPD
Total Liquid : 270,000 BPD
Gas : 130 MMSCFD
Water Injection : 250,000 BPD
Power: 2 x GE LM-6000 dual fuel, 40 MW
Mooring: Internal Turret
Storage: 900,000 BBLS

FPSO Contractor Fleet Size

 FPSO Contractor (2011-2013)

The statistics above is shown the fleet size of FPSO contractors in producing. Total FPSO is decreasing from 90 to 77 for year 2011 to 2013. All players, BW Offshore, SBM, MODEC, Bluewater, etc reduced number of fleet size, except Bumi Armada is increasing fleet size, from 2 units to 4 units.

Due to maturity of current oil field, number of un-chartered FPSO is increasing, anticipating a challenging ahead FPSO industry.

2011 FPSO Contractor

2012 FPSO Contractor

 2013 FPSO Contractor

(source from: Offshore Magazine)

New Round FPSO (Part 1)

In the oil and gas industry, Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) is built in ship shaped either it made from conversion or new build. The problems are the motion and vessel stress. However, the industry mitigated this problem by developing turrets and swivels, which allowed the ship-shaped vessels to weathervane. Though swivels and turrets allow ship-shaped vessels to weathervane, they are costly, have long lead times and are typically available from only few specialized designers and fabricators. Swivels and turrets also have associated maintenance requirements and potential downtime (from leaking seals, for example).

The ship-shaped FPSOs are subjected to significant bending loads due to hogging and sagging and, as a result, are subject to fatigue damage. The fatigue problem is exasperated when using hulls built after 1985 where high tensile strength steel was used extensively to reduce weight. The requirement of stiffening steel, resultant increase the cost of construction.

Figure 1: FPSO

To overcome short comings associated with using traditional ship-shaped vessels for FPSOs, the industry is now developing fit-for-purpose FPSOs. The new FPSOs are being designed to have similar motion characteristics from all directions and to eliminate yaw excitation. This eliminates the need for a costly turret and swivels, minimizes the bending loads and fatigue and increases the storage capacity per plated area. Round-shaped FPSOs also have the advantage of being more easily approachable by service and installation vessels with minimum collision risk.

Figure 2: New Round FPSO

One way to minimize FPSO fabrication costs is to reduce the plated area (i.e., reduce steel tonnage) for a given storage capacity. In general, for any type of simple body, the shorter the longest distance between two points is, the smaller the surface area per volume.

Figure 3: Area To Volume Ratio

A simple example is illustrated in Figure 3 where a rectangle having typical length, width and height ratios for a ship-shaped FPSO is compared with a cylinder of typical ratios for a round-shaped FPSO. Both bodies have the same volume, but as can be seen in the figure, the surface area is about 50% larger for the rectangle. This illustrates one of the major advantages of a round-shape FPSO; it can have less plated area for a given storage volume, which minimizes the steel tonnage and associated costs with the plated shell structure of the hull. These savings are even further amplified when one considers that new-built FPSOs require a double hull.

Another concern with converted tankers is crack propagation and fatigue in structural connections. Mitigating these problems can require significant structural stiffening and frequent inspections. Extreme bending loads and stresses are significantly higher in a long slender body, such as a traditional ship-shaped FPSO, as compared to a more compact body such as the round-shaped FPSOs. Figure 4 is helpful in illustrating this phenomenon.

Figure 4: Forces, Bending Moment And Stresses In A Rectangle And

Cylinder Subjected To Wave Loading

Consider the two bodies shown in Figure 4 to be under the influence of a typical long period wave. The figure shows the wave when the trough passes the midpoint of the vessels. As the figure indicates, the center of gravity (i.e. the midpoint) is supported by very little buoyancy for the ship-shape with the buoyancy being concentrated at the bow and the stern of the vessel. This means that the buoyancy forces at the bow and the stern (the arrows pointing upwards) will be significantly larger for a ship shape than for a round shape, where the buoyancy is more evenly distributed along the vessel due to the more compact shape. Due to the lower buoyancy concentration at the bow and the stern and the shorter moment arm (midpointto-bow/stern distance), the bending moment arm is smaller than a comparable traditional ship-shaped FPSO. As a result the reduction in bending moments comes from both the reduction in buoyancy force differential between the center and bow/stern and the reduction in moment arm for a round-shaped vessel.

The Making of FPSO TGT1

youtube link

FPSO - Armada Perkasa

FPSO - Armada Perkasa sail out from Keppel shipyard, Singapore.

Movie Source: http://bumiarmada.dkm2.com/

website: http://www.bumiarmada.com/

Oil Rig / Offshore Structure

Type of design offshore platform subjects to water depth, geology condition and cost effective solution. The various types of offshore platform shown as below:

1. Fixed Steel Structure
2. Compliant Tower
3. Jack-up Platform
4. Concrete Gravity Base Structure
5. Tension Leg Platform (TLP)
6. Semi-submersible Vessel
7. Floating Production System
8. Spar Platform

1. FIXED STEEL STRUCTURE


The traditional offshore structure consists of weld steel, tubular framework or jacket to support the topside facilities. Piles driven into the seafloor secure the jacket.
Modern design with bridge linked jackets tending to favour a separate well head platform, processing platform and accommodation platform due to safety concern.
The Fixed Steel Structures are restricted to shallow water developments with water deep about 1500 ft.

2. COMPLIANT TOWER




Compliant towers are similar to fixed platforms in that they have a steel tubular jacket that is used to support the topside facilities. Unlike fixed platforms, compliant towers yield to the water and wind movements in a manner similar to floating structures. Like fixed platforms, they are secured to the seafloor with piles. The jacket of a compliant tower has smaller dimensions than those of a fixed platform. Compliant towers are designed to sustain significant lateral deflections and forces, and are typically used in water depths ranging from 1,500 to 3,000 ft.




3. JACK-UP PLATFORM






The Jack-up Platform consists of a triangular shaped (sometimes rectangular), box section barge fitted with three (sometimes four) moveable legs which enable the vessel to stand to the seabed in water depths of up to approximately 120 m (400 ft).


4. CONCRETE GRAVITY BASE STRUCTURE

The Concrete Gravity Base Structure have been constructed using a base manufactured from reinforced concrete. The design of base includes void spaces or caissons to provided the structure with a natural buoyancy which will enable it to be floated to field development location. Once on location the void spaces are flooded on the seabed whilst the topside modules are lifted into place. The void spaces then used as storage compartments for crude oil, or filled with permanent iron ore ballast. The colossal weight of concrete structures obviates the need to install foundation piles, hence the name gravity base structure.



5. TENSION LEG PLATFORM (TLP)





A Tension Leg Platform (TLP) is a buoyant platform held in place by a mooring system. The TLP’s are similar to conventional fixed platforms except that the platform is maintained on location through the use of moorings held in tension by the buoyancy of the hull. The mooring system is a set of tension legs or tendons attached to the platform and connected to a template or foundation on the seafloor. The template is held in place by piles driven into the seafloor. This method dampens the vertical motions of the platform, but allows for horizontal movements. TLPs are used in water depths from 1500 ft to 7000 ft.




The "conventional" TLP is a 4-column design which looks similar to a semisubmersible. Proprietary versions include the Seastar and MOSES mini TLPs; they are relatively low cost, used in water depths between 600 and 4,300 feet (200 and 1,300 m). Mini TLPs can also be used as utility, satellite or early production platforms for larger deepwater discoveries.



6. SEMI-SUBMERSIBLE VESSEL



These platforms have twin hulls (columns and pontoons) of sufficient buoyancy to cause the structure to float, but of weight sufficient to keep the structure upright. Semi-submersible platforms can be moved from place to place; can be ballasted up or down by altering the amount of flooding in buoyancy tanks; they are generally anchored by combinations of chain, wire rope and/or polyester rope during drilling and/or production operations, though they can also be kept in place by the use of dynamic positioning. Semi-submersibles can be used in water depths from 200 to 10,000 feet.


7. FLOATING PRODUCTION SYSTEM

FPSO (floating production, storage, and off-loading) vessel is converted from liquid cargo vessel or new built. FPSO equipped with processing facilities and moored to a location.

Basically, Floating Production Systems are ideal solution for

• The field is small and marginal
• The field is isolated and an established pipeline infrastructure does not exist
• The field is located in very deep water where it would not be possible to install a conventional fixed platform

A major advantage of FPSO lies in the fact that they can simply lift anchors and depart to pastures new when oil production reaches a commercially unprofitable level.

You may interest:
FPSO - Armada Perkasa (youtube)
The Making of FPSO TGT1 (youtube)
The Making of Armada Sterling FPSO (youtube)
New Round FPSO
FPSO Contractor Fleet Size
BP Scheihallion FPSO Offstation (youtube)


8. SPAR PLATFORM


SPAR is a deep-draft floating caisson, which is a hollow cylindrical structure similar to a very large buoy. Its four major systems are hull, moorings, topsides, and risers. The spar relies on a traditional mooring system (that is, anchor-spread mooring) to maintain its position. About 90 percent of the structure is underwater. Historically, spars were used as marker buoys, for gathering oceanographic data, and for oil storage. The spar design is now being used for drilling, production, or both. The distinguishing feature of a spar is its deep-draft hull, which produces very favorable motion characteristics compared to other floating concepts. Low motions and a protected centerwell also provide an excellent configuration for deepwater operations. Water depth capability has been stated by industry as ranging up to 10,000 ft.
The upper section is compartmentalized around a flooded centerwell containing the different type of risers. This section provides the buoyancy for the spar. The middle section is also flooded but can be economically configured for oil storage. The bottom section (keel) is compartmentalized to provide buoyancy during transport and to contain any field-installed, fixed ballast. Approximate hull diameter for a typical GOM spar is 130 feet, with an overall height, once deployed, of approximately 700 feet (with 90% of the hull in the water column).
The first Spars were based on the Classic design. This evolved into the Truss Spar by replacing the lower section of the caisson hull with a truss. The Truss Spar is divided into three distinct sections. The cylindrical upper section, called the “hard tank,” provides most of the in-place buoyancy for the Spar. The middle truss section supports the heave plates and provides separation between the keel tank and hard tank. The keel tank, also known as the “soft tank,” contains the fixed ballast and acts as a natural hang-off location for export pipelines and flowlines since the environmental influences from waves and currents and associated responses are less pronounced there than nearer the water line.