Petroleo Brasileiro SA (Petrobras) has marked further progress in readying new floating production facilities for installation in the deepwater Campos basin off Brazil.
Deep and ultradeep waters of the Campos basin will provide most of the Brazilian state oil company's expected steep production growth this decade (see related story, this issue).
Much of the development in support of that production will entail the use of floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) units converted from shipshape vessels.
ABS Group, a unit of Houston-based ABSG Consulting Inc., is currently handling classification and certification services for five such FPSO conversions slated for installation off Brazil.
Meanwhile, Petrobras awarded a contract to ABS Group Brazilian affiliate ABS Group Services do Brasil Ltda. for marine engineering management services for 20 offshore units in Brazil. The contract provides for ABS to assist in the management of production and operational changes or modifications to the units over the next 5 years.
Jack-ups, semisubmersible drilling rigs, and FPSOs are included in the project.
In the photo on the right, Petrobras readies the Caratinga FPSO vessel at Brazil's Angra dos Reis shipyard for installation in the deepwater Campos basin. ABS is providing classification and certification services for both the Caratinga and the Barracuda FPSO conversions. Each FPSO will have capacity for processing 150,000 b/d and storing 2 million bbl of crude oil. For conversion of the Caratinga FPSO, Petrobras has used the ABS-classed Stena Concordia VLCC. Its sister VLCC, Stena Continent, also ABS-classed, is being used for the Barracuda FPSO. Water depths for the Barracuda-Caratinga complex are 670-1,200 m. Photo by Chris Salvo, courtesy of ABS.
In the photo on the left, the Sahara-one of the 15 largest tankers in the world with an oil storage capacity of 1.3 million bbl-is to be converted into an FPSO and renamed the Fluminense for installation as part of the Bijupira-Salema fields complex development off Brazil. Modec International LLC is the owner-operator for the unit, which is due for delivery to Petrobras in first quarter 2003. The Fluminense will be moored in 700 m of water and will have capacity to process 70,000 b/d of crude oil and 75 MMscfd of natural gas from the adjoining Campos basin fields. Photo courtesy of Modec International.
