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Chinese shipyards! Petrobras is bidding for a $3bn FPSO

Chinese shipyards! Petrobras is bidding for a $3bn FPSO

Column:Industry News    Date:2020/7/13 15:47:31    Viewed:


    Petrobras is bidding to build Brazil's largest floating production storage and offloading vessel, or FPSO, which could cost up to $3bn.Two of the world's largest FPSO operators, MODEC of Japan and SBM Offshore of the Netherlands, will be bidding, while their partners, Chinese yards that are the mainstay of the FPSO market, are expected to secure orders.


    Brazil's state-owned FPSO, with a capacity of 225,000 barrels a day, is set to become the country's largest by the end of August, according to two sources, Reuters reported.


It will be the seventh FPSO in Brazil's Buzios field.The Buzios field is Brazil's second largest oil field and one of the biggest deepwater discoveries of the century.The tender shows that Petrobras is pressing ahead with its plans to invest in high-production fields in spite of the recent slump in crude prices.


    A similar FPSO for deepwater production has traditionally cost between $2.5bn and $3bn to build.Bidders will build and own fpsos and lease them to Petrobras for up to $1m a day, usually for more than 15 years.


    Petrobras's bid for the FPSO is expected to last several months, sources said.About 10 companies, including Mitsui Offshore (MODEC), the world's largest FPSO operator, and SBM Offshore of the Netherlands, have been pre-qualified to bid.



    It is worth mentioning that BOTH MODEC and SBM Offshore have long-term partnerships with Chinese shipping companies on FPSO construction projects.MODEC, in collaboration with Ofunship, has developed a new generation FPSO hull M350, which has received approval in principle from the American Classification Society and DNV GL.



    MODEC's M350 FPSO, in collaboration with The Ofunship Group, is designed to accommodate a larger upper module and storage capacity than the traditional VLCC, with a longer design life of over 25 years.Last year, the two companies teamed up to win conocophillips' $1.5 billion FPSO contract to build the hull and living modules of its Australian Barossa field, beating out Samsung Heavy Industries, the dominant competitor.


    In addition to MODEC, SBM Offshore is currently building up to five Fast4Ward FPsos with Shanghai Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding and Merchant Marine Industries.One of the vessels is scheduled to be leased to Petrobras to operate from the Mero field in the Santos basin off the coast of Brazil.The FPSO, which is scheduled for delivery in 2022, is designed to produce 180,000 barrels of oil a day, with a water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels a day, associated gas processing capacity of 12 million standard cubic meters a day and a minimum storage capacity of 1.4 million barrels of crude.



    The Fast4Ward FPSO is SBM's original "all-purpose" hull design concept. The Fast4Ward FPSO is based on an FPSO capable of storing 2 million barrels of oil.The hull is 333 meters long, 60 meters wide and 33 meters deep, with a displacement of 460,000 tons. It is the world's largest floating oil production and storage device.The hull meets a wide range of Marine environmental conditions in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa and Brazil, and is suitable for oil and gas development operations in all Marine areas worldwide.


    SBM signed a total of three Fast4Ward FPSO hull contracts with Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding on July 1, 2017, November 21, 2018 and December 4, 2019.The first of these, Liza Unity, which was successfully delivered in December, will complete the upper module and other upgrades at Keppel Shipyard this year and will be deployed to ExxonMobil's 220,000 b/d Offshore Liza field in Guyana.


In addition, SBM signed the Fast4Ward FPSO hull 1+3 on 5 April 2019 with China Merchants Industries and the second FPSO hull on 5 December 2019.



    At present, Chinese shipyards have become the main force in the FPSO construction and refit market, basically participating in almost all FPSO projects in 2018-2019.Chinese shipyards, including CosCO Marine Heavy Industry, Waigaoqiao Shipbuilding, Shiofang Group, CIMC Rafuji, Zhaoyang Industrial and Cnooc, are expanding the overall contracting capacity of THE FPSO project for EPCI (design, acquisition, construction and installation).


  
  
  
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