The document discusses offshore oil and gas production and focuses on floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) platforms. It describes FPSOs as having four key functions - floating, production, storage, and offloading. FPSOs are preferred for remote locations, smaller marginal fields, deep waters where fixed platforms are not viable, and areas where mobility is needed to avoid harsh weather. Their modular, self-contained design also makes them easier to decommission and reuse compared to fixed platforms.

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Offshore Production Technology
Introduction to
Offshore Production Technology
Marine & Offshore Technology

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Learning Outcomes
1. Quick overview of Oil Production (covered in
Offshore Drilling)
2. Types of Production Systems
– Fixed vs Floating Systems comparison
3. Factors favouring deployment of Floating
Production Storage Offloading (FPSO) Platform
4. Key Functions of FPSO Platform

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1. Quick overview of Oil Production
(covered in Offshore Drilling)

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Drilling and Production (overview)
• Drilling is exploring after geographic/topographical and
seismic studies
• Production is to get the oil in large quantities to the surface
for treatment and export

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World’s Oil Reserves
US Energy Information Administration 2021

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World’s Natural Gas Reserves

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Offshore Oil & Gas
Production (overview)
1. Exploration
2. Exploratory drilling
3. Development drilling
4. Production operations
5. Transportation of products

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1. Exploration
• Traditional: Seismic survey
– Study pressure waves thru Earth’s crust
– Locate oil-bearing strata beneath the seabed
floor
– Seismic exploration – sends sound waves into
the ground
– Mobile vessel such core-drilling ship
• Others
– Gravimeters
– Magnetometers
– Sniffers

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2. Exploratory drilling
• Confirm the presence of hydrocarbon
at the offshore site
• Mobile rigs deploy to perform
exploratory drilling
– jack-up rig
• 80-120m
– semi-submersible, drill ship
• 120 - 1000m & more
Drill Ship
Drill ships and semi-submersible rigs are for
drilling in water depths from 120 to 1000+ m Semi-Submersible Rig
Jackup Rig
For drilling in water
depths up to 120m

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3. Development drilling
• Confirm the presence of hydrocarbon
at the site
• Installation of permanent and self-
containing structures
• Complete with topside facilities
(production, accommodation)

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4. Production operation
• Drilling is completed, extraction of oil
commences
• Production and processing on one platform
• A cluster of smaller platforms could be used
for different operations

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FPSO operations

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5. Transhipment of Crude
• Storage (mainly in production platforms)
– Steel jacket platform – no storage
capability
– Concrete gravity platform – temporary
storage
– Floating Production, Storage, and
Offloading vessels (FPSO).
• Bonga FPSO off the coast of Nigeria (1030m)
• deployed for processing oil, water and gas
• storage capacity of 90,000 to 150,000 bbl
• Main dimensions – 350 m by 75 m, 345,000 dwt
• Transportation
– Tankers and barges
– Submarine pipelines

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2. Types of Production Systems
Fixed vs Floating Systems comparison

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Types of Production Systems
• Fixed Systems
– Fixed Steel Jacket Platforms
– Concrete Gravity-based Platforms
• Floating Systems
– Tension Leg Platforms (TLP) without Storage
– Floating Storage and Offloading Vessels (FSO)
– also called Floating Storage Units (FSU)
– Floating Production Vessels (FPV) without Storage
– Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessels
(FPSO)
– SPAR (for Storage or for Production and Storage)
– Semi-submersible Production Vessels (Semi)

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Types of Production Systems

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Fixed Production Systems
• Fixed structure - either as a
tubular steel jacket or
reinforced concrete
construction
• Topsides facilities including
the drilling rig, processing
equipment, controls and
export systems
• Concrete structures as
additional oil storage
Fixed Steel Structure

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Fixed Production Systems
Fixed Steel Structure

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Fixed Production Systems
• Concrete structures as additional oil storage

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Subsea Production Systems
• First subsea well completed
in 1960 in Gulf of Mexico by
Shell Oil
• At water depths greater
than 400m, the subsea
production techniques need
to change
• More than 2500 subsea
wells have been deployed,
about 1900 are in operation

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Dalia (Angola) - Subsea Production System
Show Dalia Field video

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Schiehallion Oil Field, United Kingdom

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Teal-Guillemot Project
Anasuria
Show Anasuria Video

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Northen North Sea - Pipeline Systems
Subsea Pipeline Infrastructure

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Floating Production System - SPAR
Horn Mountain SPAR Gulfstar FPS
Neptune SPAR

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FPS – Tension Leg Platform
TLP with Subsea Tieback

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FPS – Tension Leg Platform
Seastar mini TLP

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FPS – Semisubmersible
Semisub Production Platform

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FPS – Sevan (new design)
Show Sevan FPSO video
Sevan Platform

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FPS – Monohull
Anasuria FPSO Kizomba

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FPS – Monohull
Gryphon Field – First Full Field Developed with an FPSO in North Sea

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FPSO Monohull – Brasil (by Keppel)

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FPS – Worldwide Operations
• North Sea
• Brazil – some operating in 1,000 – 2,000m water depth
• Australia and New Zealand
• South China Sea and other S E Asian locations both in
shallow and deepwater locations.
• West Africa, in both shallow and deepwater
• Canadian Terra Field
• Mediterranean Sea

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Various floating production
solutions

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3. Factors favouring deployment of Floating
Production Storage Offloading (FPSO)
Platform

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Factors Favouring
Floating Production and Subsea Systems
• Characteristics of Movement of FPS
• Location
• Field Size
• Water Depth
• Mobility
• Decommissioning and Reuse

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Different Weather Conditions
• Benign off West Africa and Brazil
• Moderate off the North Sea
• Severe off the West of Shetlands
• Ice flows off Western Canada
• Cyclones off South China Sea and Australia

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Characteristics of Movement of FPS
• Relatively high degree of movement of the
floater:
• + or – 25 m in the horizontal plane
• + or – 8 m in the vertical plane
• Well cannot be completed topsides on a
floating system (as in a fixed platform), but
must be completed subsea with the
flexible dynamic providing the link in
between
• TLPs and SPARs do not have such massive
movements and wells can be completed in
dry topsides

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Remote and Infrastructure
Location
• Often the first choice for new areas where there is little or
no existing infrastructure with the possibility of a tie-back to
existing hosts or accessing existing export lines.
• Self-contained nature of the FPSO including its shuttle
export system makes it ideal for such locations.

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Marginal Fields
Field Size
• In the early days of FPSO, they seemed to be the solution to
small marginal fields (say up to 20,000 bopd), but nowadays
they are being used on fields with 250,000 bopd production.
(bopd stands for barrels of oil per day)

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Deep Waters
Water Depth
• Floating production system were first used in shallow water
depths, where they competed with jack-up platforms.
• As exploration and production have moved to ever
increasing water depths, production from bottom founded
structures is no longer viable and the range of floating
system must be deployed.

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Mobility
• In a number of areas of the world, it is not possible to
design a production system host that can survive the local
weather conditions.
• FPSOs are an ideal solution with a disconnection capability
to shut down the wells, disconnect and move off station.
• At the end of the weather situation, the FPSO may come
back and reconnect to the well systems.

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Decommissioning and Reuse
• At the end of the field life, FPS may be easily
decommissioned and disconnected and taken to shore.
• Floating facility can be refurbished or upgraded and re-
deployed to another field.

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Summary –
Advantages of FPS
• Economic benefit and reversibility in utilising floating
facilities
• In many cases, floating production is the only economic
means to develop an offshore oil field in:
– Remote water and deep-water areas with no existing
infrastructure
– smaller marginal fields
• Mooring design and subsea production systems – increased
feasibility, reliability and unit cost reduction

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4. Key Functions of FPSO Platform

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FPSO - Floating Production
Storage and Offloading
By Floating - The body is in equilibrium when floating. This could include
Semi-subs, monohulls, deep draft semi-subs and spars, but does not include
TLPs. Note that the motion characteristics of the deep-draft semi-sub and the
spar permit the use of deck mounted "dry trees" whereas the first two types,
have normally to deploy subsea completed "wet trees".
By Production - the unit supports processing equipment to fully treat live well
fluids, with separation, gas compression, water injection, cooling and heating
systems, water treatment, fuel gas, chemical injection etc.
By Storage - the processed oil is held in tanks on the unit prior to export. Gas
cannot be stored and must be exported by pipeline, used for power generation,
re-injected, used for subsea gas-lifting or flared.
By Offloading - a means by which the oil product is transferred to a shuttle
tanker or other export system like pipelines.

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Key Questions
1. Provide any four (4) reasons why the floating production system is
preferred when compared to fixed production platform, especially in
offshore (deep water)
i.e. Explain the advantages of the floating over the fixed production
system in the context of:
– Location and field size
– Water depth
– Mobility
– Decommissioning and reuse
2. Describe in detail the 4 functions which make up the system
Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO).