Time was that FPSOs were seen as the solution when an oil field was small, too small to justify a permanent facility. And as the ‘deepwater’ era began in the Gulf of Mexico, the talk was of spars and tension leg platforms (TLPs). But now, the FPSO is the dominant floating production facility, as evidenced by the most recent report from International Maritime Associates (IMA).
And thus any oil & gas company operating offshore more or less anywhere in the world has to understand this technology - what is it about, what are the cost and schedule benchmarks, what is best practice, are there some examples that we should try to emulate? Unless they do, their discoveries will be stranded..........................
What does the basic data tell us?
IMA reports that seventy-four production floaters currently are on order, 40 percent more than the backlog seen a year ago and more than double the mid-2009 backlog. These include 49 FPSOs, 6 production semi-submersibles, 3 TLPs, 4 spars plus 3 floating liquefied natural gas vessels and 9 floating storage and regasification units.
Brazil dominates actual orders for production floaters, with 28 units, or 38 percent of the backlog, being constructed for use offshore Brazil.
These statistics demonstrate the clear dominance of FPSOs, if anything showing an increasing trend from those reported a couple of years ago by Christopher M. Barton, who reviewing 209 developments over a longer period, noted that FPSOs were the preferred choice in 61% of cases whereas spars and TLPs together were 20%, the balance being made up by production semi-submersibles.
IMA further reports that the number of floating production projects planned worldwide continues to grow, with 233 projects planned as of July 2012, up from 196 projects in July 2011 and the 122 projects planned five years ago. Brazil tops the list of nations with planned floating production projects at 55, followed by Southeast Asia with 46 projects and 44 planned projects in Africa, other major locations include: Gulf of Mexico – 24 projects; Northwest Europe – 17 projects; Australia – 14 projects; Mediterranean – 11 projects; Southwest Asia/India – 9 projects.
IMA notes that while the number of planned floating production projects continues to grow, not all of the projects will materialize as actual orders as some discoveries prove non-commercial to develop or others are nominated as tiebacks or joint developments.
The reasons for this FPSO dominance are not a matter of technology – all the technologies are basically proven – but ultimately a matter of economics. The key drivers for establishing the type and shape - and ultimately the cost - of a floating production platform include:
Forum will consider each of these drivers and demonstrate how it is that the FPSO option more often than not leads to an economically advantaged development.
|
|
David Bamford is 63. He is a non-executive director at Tullow Oil plc and has various roles with Parkmead Group plc, PARAS Ltd and New Eyes Exploration Ltd, and runs his own consultancy. He writes regular articles for OilVoice and ROGTEC and is a co-founder of Finding Petroleum.
He retired from BP in 2003, after a 23 year career spent initially in research & technology, then the geophysics function, business unit leadership, and finally BP's global exploration programme.
Finding Petroleum
Finding Petroleum was established to help the oil and gas industry network, and stay up to date on the latest technological developments. It does this via hosting regular events, distributing their colour magazine - Digital Energy Journal, and with an online social network of nearly 700 members.
More...
|
|
David Phillips is a senior equity research analyst and co-head of the global oil & gas equity research team at HSBC , based in London. He joined HSBC in 2005 and has been an investment analyst since 1998, initially covering European Chemicals and moving over to cover the oil & gas sector in 2006. David currently researches oilfield services companies on a global basis, covering Europe, North America, Asia and Latin America. In the 2011 and 2012 Extel survey he ranked top 5 in the oilfield services category. Before working in equity research, he read Chemistry at Oxford and gained a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Cambridge in the UK.
HSBC
Headquartered in London, HSBC is one of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world. HSBC's international network comprises around 7,200 offices in over 80 countries and territories in Europe, the Asia-Pacific region, the Americas, the Middle East and Africa.
More...
|
|
Martin Shaw is ex VP technical, fleet manager and vetting service manager, BP Shipping
Marine Operations and Assurance Management Solutions Ltd
MOAMS,Marine Operations and Assurance Management Solutions, is a different type of consultancy. MOAMS combines a deep knowledge of marine operations with research into the future of the industry.
More...
|
|
|
|
Talk Description.
Jubilee Field Development Project and Production Performance
Gilbert Y Yevi, Tullow Ghana Ltd
The Jubilee project is one of the fastest and most successful deepwater developments in the World. Discovered in June 2007 in 1200-1500 meters water depth at approximately 60 km of the coast of Ghana, the Jubilee field started production in December 2010, just three years after its development decision was made in January 2008.
Jubilee project was delivered in a record pace and on budget. The phased development approach, the project team structure, the use of proven technology, the focus on HSE, the split of responsibilities amongst joint venture companies, and the emphasis on good relationships with local communities and government are some of the factors that contributed to the delivery of Jubilee.
Since start-up, the Jubilee field has performed above expectations with world class FPSO production uptime exceeding 98%. The FPSO oil production system capacity was tested at rates well over 125,000 bopd which exceed its design rates of 120,000 bopd.
This talk will present the Jubilee project and the key factors that enabled its success. The presentation will also discuss the sparing and maintenance strategies that help Jubilee sustain a top quartile production performance in an environment with no previously existing major oil and gas production activities or infrastructures.
|
Dr Yevi was appointed to his present role as Jubilee Asset Manager in Tullow Ghana in June 2011, where he manages all subsurface, production operations, drilling, and projects delivery activities for Tullow Ghana. He is a Petroleum Engineer with over 22 years in academic research and industry experience in oil and gas exploration, development and production.
Dr Yevi spent thirteen (13) years of his career in Shell where he worked in various technical and managerial roles in US Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. Prior to joining Tullow, Dr Yevi was a Joint Ventures Manager for Addax Petroleum in Gabon.
Dr Yevi holds an MBA in Finance and Management (Tulane University, 2000), a PhD in Computational Fluid Dynamics (Mississippi State University, 1996), an MSc in Petroleum Engineering (Mississippi State University, 1994), and a BSc in Drilling Engineering (University of Mining and Geology of Sofia, 1991).
Tullow Oil
Tullow Oil plc is one of the largest independent oil and gas exploration companies in Europe. The Group has operations in Africa, Europe, South Asia and South America. Tullow is headquartered in London and employs nearly 2000 people world-wide. Current production is ~90,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd). The company drills tens of exploration, appraisal and development wells annually, included multi-well campaigns in Ghana, Uganda and Kenya, with high exploration success rates.
More...
|
|
Title: Manager, Exploration and Production from February 2005 to present
IPA Experience:
Joined IPA in January 1998
Senior Analyst - July 2001 - May 2004
Analyst - January 1998 - June 2001
Areas of Expertise:
Mr. Gächter has over twelve years of capital project benchmarking experience, specializing in energy and minerals extraction projects. His experience includes large-scale project system benchmarkings for major oil and natural gas producers. His experience also extends to reviews of over 100 major capital projects worldwide in the petroleum exploration and production and mining sectors covering over $5 billion in capital expenditures.
Professional Profile:
Before joining IPA, Mr. Gächter developed six years of experience in energy industry analysis for the federal offshore oil and natural gas program by analyzing oil and gas issues of supply, demand, and corporate viability as the staff specialist for the federal outer continental shelf information program.
Education:
MBA with concentration in Finance, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
(Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, VA
BSc, Mining and Minerals Engineering, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
Professional Memberships:
Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration
Society for Petroleum Engineers, Manuscript Peer Reviewer
Publications:
Alaska Update: February 1990-1992. D. K. François and R. A. Gächter. 1992. Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) Information Report MMS 92-0053. 46 p.
Gulf of Mexico Update: August 1989-June 1992. R. A. Gächter. 1992. OCS Information Report MMS 92-0049. 29 p.
Gas Energy Review. Gulf of Mexico Update: August 1989-June 1992. R. A. Gächter. 1993. American Gas Association, Vol. 21, No. 3. P. 14.
Pacific Update: December 1989-January 1994. R. A. Gächter. 1994. OCS Information Report MMS 94-0039. 37 p.
Facts about Offshore Natural Gas. R. A. Gächter. 1994. OCS Report MMS 94-0069. 29 p.
Independent Project Analysis Ltd
IPA offers a wide range of products and services to benefit your company, including Individual Capital Project Services and Capital Project System Services. We also have a suite of products and services for Turnarounds. In addition, we have many tools that can be used to improve your company's Estimating, Planning, and Control. Organizations can also leverage our Research and we can provide Training of the capital project delivery process via the IPA Institute.
More...
|
|
Used for panel discussions
Panel Discussion
This is part of our agenda where Finding Petroleum has a panel discussion.
More...
|
|
|
|