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Another monumental MODEC FPSO, built in a Chinese shipyard, is on its way to Brazil to serve Equinor projects in the Bacalhau field, in the Santos Basin pre-salt

Written by Paulo Nogueira
Published 30/05/2023 às 08:02
MODEC FPSO that will service the Bacalhau field for Equinor Brasil
FPSO Cod; Source: Dalian Shipbuilding

Chinese shipyard DISC delivers an innovative MODEC FPSO to Norwegian

Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Company (DSIC), a segment of China State Shipbuilding Corporation (CSSC), delivered a state-of-the-art Floating Production, Storage and Offloading Platform (FPSO) to an Equinor-operated field in Brazil.

FPSO Bacalhau: Conquest of Naval Engineering

In mid-2021, Equinor authorized the final investment (FID) for the Bacalhau project, with an input of $8 billion. Not long after this decision, MODEC validated the contract with Equinor to carry out the engineering, purchase, construction and installation of FPSO Bacalhau. This contract arose from a Purchase and Sale Agreement (SPA) for the FPSO, signed between Equinor and MODEC in early 2020.

Based on information made available when the initial steel for the FPSO was cut by the Chinese shipyard BOMESC, this offshore unit would be the first to use MODEC's M350 hull, a new generation of FPSO hulls, with a full double hull design. This was designed to support a larger topside and a larger storage capacity. compared to conventional VLCC tankers, featuring a longer design lifetime. According to MODEC, this will be one of the largest vessels ever sent to Brazil.

FPSO Bacalhau: A Milestone for DSIC

In a recent update, Dalian Shipbuilding confirmed the official delivery of FPSO Bacalhau on May 26, 2023, marking the seventh new FPSO built by the Chinese manufacturer. According to DSIC, this FPSO is the largest offshore engineering project in the world, designed according to the latest specifications of Det Norske Veritas (DNV), which is suitable for specific marine environmental conditions in Brazil, West Africa, Australia, and other regions. .

In addition, the vessel is well suited for oil and gas development operations in many offshore areas around the world, reducing the owner's operating costs. The FPSO measures 364 meters long, 64 meters wide, 33 meters deep, with a projected draft of 22,65 meters, displacement of more than 460 thousand tons and a deck area of ​​17,4 thousand square meters, equivalent to three standard soccer fields.

DSIC highlighted the close cooperation between the parties involved and the “one team, one goal” spirit, which allowed them to jointly overcome manpower and supply chain challenges, culminating in the towing of the vessel.

Capacity and technical specifications of this FPSO

With a production capacity of 220.000 barrels per day, equivalent to an onshore oil and gas processing plant with an area of ​​10 square kilometers, the upper oil and gas treatment module of FPSO Bacalhau weighs 50.000 tons. The vessel has up to 34.000 tubes, weighing about 4.000 tons, and the total length of the cables is about 800.000 meters, which is equivalent to the straight-line distance from Dalian to Shanghai.

The FPSO requires a low level of maintenance and meets the requirement of not mooring for 30 years. It has 22 cargo oil tanks, with a total cargo oil storage capacity of 2 million barrels. The vessel will be deployed in the Bacalhau field, located in the BM-S-8 and Norte de Carcará licenses, in the pre-salt region of the Santos Basin, in waters with a depth of 2.050 meters, about 185 kilometers off the coast of Ilhabela, São Paulo, Brazil.

The Bacalhau project, which will have 19 subsea wells connected to the FPSO, has recoverable reserves of more than two billion barrels of oil equivalent (boe), including the Bacalhau Norte area. Production is scheduled to begin in 2025.

Paulo Nogueira

With a technical background, I worked in the offshore oil and gas market for a few years. Today, my team and I are dedicated to bringing information from the Brazilian energy sector and the world, always with credible and up-to-date sources.

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