Home Capabilities FPSO and modularised process equipment

Capabilities

• EPC: Provision of Process Technology Equipment
• FPSO & Modular Process Equipment
• MOPU: Mobile Offshore Production Unit
• OEPF: Onshore Early Production Facilities
• In stock equipment

FPSO and modularised process equipment

FPSO Topsides and modularised process equipment

GPS offers complete turnkey capability in the design, fabrication and supply of FPSO topsides, either stand-alone or for integration into topsides facilities. Historically typical contract sizes have been in the $20-60m range. GPS has the engineering resource to complete a number of FPSO topsides per year.

GPS is located close the modern Dubai Dry Dock where many of the world's large FPSO hulls have and are been converted. Similarly the Singapore office is strategically located close to the Keppel's ship yards where a large number of FPSOÕs are currently being converted. Indeed some 98% of the FPSO market is being converted in the Middle East, Singapore or Kuala Lumpur.

GPS has overcome the lack of global fabrication facilities by securing yard capacity at Batam Island in Indonesia and is considering developing further facilities to meet expected growth in this area.

Outlook for the FPSO market

The FPSO market is booming, as it remains the preferred option for field development in areas remote from infrastructure.

FPSO (floating production, storage and offshore loading) is the design of choice for many offshore areas from small marginal fields to ultra-deep large complex fields remote from any oil & gas infrastructure. The advantage is that the facility is stand-alone, has storage capacity, is flexible (can add satellite fields) and is capable of relocation when the field is exhausted.

Over 100 FPSOs are in use world-wide, with at least another 80 at the design stage.

Floating production systems will continue to be the preferred method for major deep water field developments. Douglas-Westwood's 'World Floating Production Database' shows that 61 floating production systems of various types are being considered for installation in the period 2004-8 and 32 of these are FPSOs. Other surveys put the number of identifiable FPSO projects in the planning or final design stage at between 80-100.

Douglas-Westwood also forecast that five-year expenditure on deep-water floaters will grow from a present average of some $3.5 billion per annum to $6.5 billion by 2008.

A number of companies provide FPSO vessels for lease or sale including SBM Offshore, Bergesen, Saipem, Modec, Bluewater, Tanker Pacific, Fred Olsen, Aker Kvaerner Floating Production, Frontline and Prosafe. There is also an increasing number of tanker fleet operators entering the market, who have the ability to source the required hulls for conversion.

The total number of FPSO units is likely to grow at an increasing rate. This is partly due to the growth in developments in deep and ultra-deep water areas where FPSOs offer a low-cost development solution; and the opening up of existing deep water areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico, to FPSO installations.

The lease contractors and oil companies do not perform the conversion work. Turrets, loading and mooring systems are contracted out. Similarly, the tanker conversion work, of which the topsides is the main portion, is an attractive business for companies such as GPS. The processing and water/gas injection modules etc are usually bespoke for each unit providing design and construction work for companies such as GPS, which provide the processing modules mounted on the FPSO deck, and other specialists who provide the swivel turret or mooring system.

In addition, in the medium term there is an increasing trend to use FPSO solutions to develop offshore LNG projects in areas remote from infrastructure.