Floating production facilities to produce marginal deepwater fields

摘要

As gas supplies decrease and demand continues to increase, the importance of producing marginal fields becomes more important. Friede & Goldman Ltd. has designed a series of very small production units for marginal deepwater fields in water depths from 1,000 to 6,000 ft. The Centurion class floating production facility (FPF) has been designed as a stand-alone unit that can be used as a small production hub or can be moved from one location to another as fields are depleted. This makes it possible to write off the capital expenditure over the combined life of multiple fields, which greatly enhances field economics. The Centurion FPF is ideally suited for gas fields or fields with relatively small quantities of oil. Designed to withstand 100-year storm criteria and loop currents as high as 4.1 knots, these units are ideally suited to work in the Gulf of Mexico. Minor changes can be effected if more severe environmental conditions are anticipated.