More Than 30 Years’ Experience With F(P)SO’s and Offloading Techniques

摘要

TOTAL E&P Branch, present today in more than 43 countries and producing 2.6 Mboe/d, has steadily become an important player in the field of Floating (Production) Storage and Offloading facilities, key to several oil and gas field developments. The experience described below is the cumulated experience (upstream) from TOTAL, Petrofina and Elf Aquitaine who successfully merged in 1999 and 2000 to form TOTAL. As the reader will rapidly notice this experience is extremely rich and diversified and includes many maiden installations as well as technology breakthroughs. Some of them: - The Ifrikia (Ashtart field Tunisia 1973) was the first FSO (Floating Storage Unit, converted tanker) permanently moored by a rigid yoke on a CALM buoy, followed in 1978 by the Ifrikia II, the first purpose build FSO barge. - The Frigg flare (North Sea 1974) was the second Articulated Column. It followed an experimental articulated column installed in 1967 in the Bay of Biscay. - The first Ready Made Dolphin was installed on Quinfuquena (Angola 1979). - In the same year the first two turret type CALM buoys were installed on Mayumba (Gabon 1979), then Kole (Cameroon 1979). - Three CALM type buoys of a new design using self lubricating bushing in lieu of main roller bearing, were ordered for Rospomare (Italy 1981), ABK (U.A.E 1981) and Victoria field (Cameroon 1982). - The Licorne Pacifique converted tanker on Palanca field (Angola 1984) was the third CALM soft-yoke (the first one was in 1981). - The first disconnectable FPSO soft mooring on a fixed tower was installed on Weizhou 10-3 field (Beibu Wan South China Sea P.R. China 1986). - The most southerly CALM installed in Hidra Tierra Del Fuego (Argentina 1987). - The second ever installed LPG FSO started operations on NKossa field in 1995 (Congo). - The first huge concrete FPU (Floating Production Unit) NKP was installed on spread mooring on NKossa field (Congo 1996) and using for the first time suction anchor piles in soft clay.