Dutch floater specialist SBM Offshore said Monday the Fast4Ward® Multi-Purpose Floater (MPF) hull for the Liza Unity FPSO has moved to the integration quayside in Keppel TUAS, where the topsides integration phase started with the progressive lifting of the topsides modules.
This phase will facilitate gradual preparation of the FPSO for the start of the onshore commissioning activities, leading up to the final quayside departure, SBM Offshore said. The mooring and riser system integration, as well as other work scope, were completed in dry dock at Keppel FELS.
Both Keppel and Dyna-Mac shipyards are fabricating the topsides modules for the Liza Unity FPSO. This FPSO represents SBM Offshore’s first Fast4Ward® design, benefitting from standardization of the project`s execution plan and using a fully completed and commissioned MPF hull, which sets the benchmark for future FPSO projects.
“This latest milestone is in line with the Liza Phase 2 project schedule, which targets departure of the FPSO to its final offshore location in Guyana next year, with start-up in 2022,” SBM Offshore said. “It represents another key step forward on the path to delivering SBM Offshore’s first Fast4Ward® FPSO to our client ExxonMobil.”
In January 2020, after a journey of 2,300 nautical miles, the Fast4Ward hull arrived at Keppel shipyard in Singapore from China.
The MPF hull was built at SWS shipyard in China in less than two years; first steel cut was in March 2018 and the yard delivered the hull in December 2019. It is the first hull in a series of five MPF hulls to date by SBM Offshore.
The company ordered the first MPF hull with SWS in July 2017, followed by several months of detailed engineering.
Subsequent hulls will gain on schedule, as the engineering phase will be reduced, the company stated.
Final Investment Decision (FID) by ExxonMobil, Hess and CNOOC was in May 2019, when SBM Offshore was awarded contracts for the next phase of the Liza field development in Guyana.
Under these contracts, SBM Offshore will construct, install, and thereafter lease and operate the Liza Unity FPSO. It will be the second FPSO for the Liza project in Guyana (following FPSO Liza Destiny, which achieved first oil in December 2019).
The Liza Unity FPSO design is based on the Fast4Ward® program with a new build, multi-purpose hull. Basic Design Approval has been given by both Bureau Veritas and ABS.
The FPSO is designed to produce 220,000 barrels of oil per day, to have associated gas treatment capacity of 400 million cubic feet per day and water injection capacity of 250,000 barrels per day. The FPSO will be spread moored in water depth of about 1,600 meters and will be able to store around 2 million barrels of crude oil.
In September 2020, ExxonMobil announced FID for the Payara project offshore Guyana. Payara is the third project in the Stabroek Block and is expected to produce up to 220,000 barrels of oil per day after startup in 2024, using the Prosperity FPSO. The Prosperity FPSO will utilize a design that largely replicates the design of the Liza Unity FPSO.
As such, the design is based on SBM Offshore’s Fast4Ward® program. Prosperity will utilize SBM’s second MPF hull from SWS.
The Liza field is located at the Stabroek block approximately 200 kilometers offshore Guyana. ExxonMobil is the operator and holds a 45 percent interest. Hess Guyana Exploration Ltd. holds a 30 percent interest, and CNOOC Petroleum Guyana Limited holds a 25 percent interest.
