Modec Inc.’s floating storage and offloading unit Ta’Kuntah has reached a milestone in the industry—offloading a total of 1 billion bbl of oil to 1,745 export tankers.
The FSO, owned and operated by Modec and leased to Petroleos Mexicanos Exploration & Production, celebrated 10 years of continuous operation on Sept. 14. Other achievements include its being the first FSO in the Gulf of Mexico, having 100% uptime throughout its operation, and operating with no incidents of oil pollution.
Ta’Kuntah FSO is a converted ultralarge crude carrier capable of storing more than 2 million bbl of oil. It is permanently moored in 80 m of water in Cantarell field in the Bay of Campeche off Mexico.
Sofec designed, engineered, and manufactured the mooring system, which consists of an external bow-mounted turret capable of withstanding 100-year hurricane conditions. The offloading system, designed to handle 800,000 b/d of oil, allows export tankers to moor either in tandem or side-by-side.