Eric Watkins
Senior Correspondent
LOS ANGELES, Mar 19 -- Sevan Marine ASA, Tanager, said Mar 16 it is expanding its long-term cooperation with China's Hantong Shipyard and has ordered an additional Sevan 300 floating production, storage, and offloading unit, Sevan 300 No. 5.
Sevan also intends to increase the scope of work on the Sevan 300 No. 4, currently under construction at Hantong, to include living quarters and a central shaft. Sevan has further agreed with Hantong that the previously ordered Sevan 650 will be built as a floating production platform.
To secure sufficient capacity for future construction, Sevan signed a long-term exclusive agreement with Hantong, leasing dedicated parts of the shipyard facilities, until Dec. 31, 2012. Sevan secured rights to build as many as nine additional Sevan platforms of various sizes and types.
Meanwhile, on Mar. 15, following completion of the acceptance testing, Brazil's state-owned Petrobras said it has accepted Sevan's SSP Piranema, an FPSO with the capability to process and treat 30,000 b/d of crude oil and 3.6 million standard cu m/day of gas.
Under an 11-year plus 11 charter contract with Petrobras, the SSP Piranema—a Sevan 300 with a 300,000 bbl storage capacity—will be deployed in the 1,000 ft waters of Brazil's Piranema field 40 km off Aracaju, in Sergipe state.
SSP Piranema's hull was constructed at the Yantai Raffles Shipyard in China, which is constructing two more Sevan platforms.
The first, the Sevan Hummingbird, is expected to be installed in Chestnut field in the central North Sea in August 2007, under 2½-year contract plus extension options with Venture Production.
Also the Chestnut unit, another Sevan 300, will be capable of processing 30,000 b/d of crude oil and has equipment required to process and reinject about 20,000 b/d of water into its wells.
The second additional Sena platform is expected to be delivered from Yantai Raffles in the second quarter.
Oilexco North Sea Ltd., a Calgary-based oil company with its UK base in Aberdeen, has entered into a letter of intent for the use of the Sevan No. 3 production unit. The Sevan No. 3 will be installed in Shelley field in the central UK North Sea in 2008.
The Norwegian firm has signed an agreement with Yantai Raffles allowing for the construction of four additional Sevan units.
Contact Eric Watkins at [email protected].
