BW Offshore bringing world’s first FDPSO out of mothballs?

The world’s first and so far only floating drilling production and offloading unit is set to be deployed to an offshore location again, after having been out of work for more than three years.

Owned by the Oslo-listed BW Offshore, the Azurite FDPSO had been deployed at the Azurite field offshore Congo until early 2014, when the production there ceased, and the contract was terminated, with BW Offshore unable to find work for the unit ever since.

In a quarterly update on Monday, BW Offshore said the FDPSO might now be deployed offshore Gabon.

The company has envisioned dispatching the FDPSO to the Dussafu field, off Gabon.

To remind, BW Offshore, traditionally focused on ownership and leasing of offshore production units, has recently also ventured into the oil and gas asset ownership business.

BW Offshore has acquired 91 percent stake in the Dussafu licence, where it now expects to deploy the Azurite FDPSO.

The Azurite FDPSO is the industry’s first Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility with drilling capability.

The FDPSO has a storage capacity of 1.3 million barrels of oil and the capability to process 40,000 barrels of oil per day and can be used for drilling and completing the production and injection wells.

“The FPSO Azurite fits well with the approved field development plan specifications for the Dussafu field in Gabon. The FPSO has been well maintained and can be deployed on the Dussafu field with only minor investments required. The FPSO has been moved to the Keppel yard,” BW Offshore said.

In its presentation on Monday, the company said it expected to have a contract awarded for the unit in 2017. First oil is targeted for the second half of 2018.

Providing a comment on the Dussafu project, BW Offshore said: ”While being an extension of the traditional business of building, owning and operating FPSOs, the company has access to the necessary competence and resources to execute the envisioned development. Once production is established, the Dussafu license also holds other discoveries and a number of prospects for future exploitation.

As for the financial results for the quarter, BW Offshore posted a deeper net loss, when compared the first quarter of 2016.

The loss for the quarter was $15.1 million, compared to a net loss of $2.9 million in the corresponding quarter a year ago.

Offshore Energy Today Staff