The use of spread moored floating production units is found feasible for fields in the deeprnwaters of West Africa. The lack of pipeline infrastructure in these remote areas meansrnproduced fluid is exported via shuttle tankers, which are loaded employing an offloadingrnsystem. The transfer of product from the production vessel to offloading buoy is carried out byrnlarge diameter suspended flow lines. The flow lines (Rigid or Flexible pipes) are configured in arndouble wave shape, “W” concept, by introducing distributed buoyancy along the middle sectionrnof the lines.rnThe paper presents an alternative concept, a naturally suspended double catenary (“U”rnconfiguration) rigid steel flow line. A preliminary, but comprehensive, study was conducted,rnwhich considered strength and fatigue performance, technical merits and demerits, economicrngains and losses, and safety and reliability concerns between the two concepts. The results ofrnthe study confirmed the feasibility of the “U” concept and that it is most cost effective oil exportrnflow line for fields in deep waters.
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