Norway's Den norske stats oljeselskap AS (Statoil) and China National Offshore Oil Corp. (Cnooc) have leased a vessel for 2 years for installation as a floating production, storage, and off- loading (FPSO) ship in development of Lufeng 22-1 oil field in the South China Sea.
The project will serve as a launch point for Statoil's ambitious plan to develop a fleet of combination shuttle tankers/FPSOs for service around the world.
In a complex deal valued at 600 million kroner ($92 million):
- The ship will be built and owned by Statoil.
- Process facilities will be leased from Advanced Production Systems (APS), Oslo, a 50-50 joint venture of Statoil and Oslo-based contractor Aker AS.
- Flowlines, risers, and mooring systems and risers will be provided and installed by Stolt Comex Seaway SA, Aberdeen.
"Convertible" FPSO planned
The floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) ship is one of three being built for Statoil in South Korea by Samsung and is expected to help bring Lufeng field on stream by yearend 1997.
The FPSO will have capacity to produce 60,000 b/d and store as much as 635,000 bbl of oil. It will be built to Stat- oil's submerged turret loading design (OGJ, Oct. 25, 1993, p. 34).
The concept is for a multipurpose ship design that can be used as a shuttle tanker in its simplest mode or as an FPSO after fitting of topsides modules.
Lufeng 22-1 field has estimated reserves of 35 million bbl of oil. Once this has been depleted, Statoil plans to move the ship to produce another field or strip off the process plant and use it as a shuttle tanker.
Statoil recently let a 100 million kroner ($15 million) contract to China Offshore Southern Drilling Co. for charter of Nanhai 5 semisubmersible rig to drill five production wells in 330 m of water in Lufeng 22-1.
Kongsberg Offshore AS, Kongsberg, Norway, is to supply five subsea production wellheads plus umbilicals under a 160 million kroner ($25 million) contract.
Statoil is 50% owner of the Berg Hugin vessel, first of the three under construction in South Korea, which is expected to be delivered this December.
Statoil strategy
Statoil plans, in cooperation with the Norwegian shipowner that is a partner in the ship, to begin operating the Berg Hugin as a shuttle tanker in the North Sea.
Statoil intends to fit topsides so the vessel can operate as a production ship once a production contract is secured. The ship is said to be a candidate for development of several fields worldwide, including Statoil's Connemara oil find off western Ireland (OGJ, Oct. 7, p. 49).
The third of the South Korean-built ships is expected to be outfitted with a moon pool, said the official, so it can operate as both production ship and drillship, as well as a shuttle tanker.
Statoil is thought to be considering using this ship for well workover operations in Aasgard development in the Norwegian Sea, following the recent failure of its small waterplane area twin-hull (Swath) rig design in wave tank trials (OGJ, Aug. 5, p. 30).
Statoil also has an option to build three similar ships at the South Korean yard. A Statoil official said it has a shuttle tanker version of the design under construction in Spain. This will be used in development of Norne oil field in the Norwegian Sea.
The company has options to build another three similar ships, either as shuttle tankers or production ships, at the Spanish yard, if demand for floaters takes off as expected.
The official said Statoil could have nine production ship/shuttle tanker vessels available for marketing to third parties within the next few years.
Besides Connemara, Statoil sees the Siri find off Denmark and recent deepwater discoveries off Nigeria as potential developments for this concept.
Statoil intends to contact potential partners in the next few weeks, with a view to setting up a joint venture to build and market the fleet of shuttle tanker/production ships.
The official said Statoil will be contacting international and Norwegian shipowners and offshore service companies, with the aim of having a joint venture operational next year.
Stolt contract
Statoil Orient Inc. let a $20 million contract to Stolt Comex Seaway to install flexible risers, umbilicals, a submerged turret production buoy, and a mooring system in 330 m of water in Lufeng 22-1 field.
Installation work will begin in second half 1997.
Meanwhile, Stolt Comex bought the Navigator construction and flowline lay ship from receivers of Boelwerf Vlaandern shipyard in Belgium.
The ship is nearing completion and will be upgraded with addition of subsea installation facilities in readiness for the 1997 North Sea season.
The contractor said Navigator will work in the North Sea next summer, then move to the South China Sea for subsea installation work in Lufeng 22-1 field.
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