Murphy Oil to Release Azurite FDPSO Early (Congo)

Murphy Oil has informed BW Offshore that the Azurite FDPSO unit, moored offshore Congo, may end production prior to the end of the firm contract, due to low production volumes from the Azurite field.

The unit has been under the contract with Murphy since 2009, and, under the original agreement, was supposed to stay at location until at least 2016, with an option for Murphy to extend until 2024.

Instead, the unit is expected to be released even before the firm contract expires.

The news was revealed by BW Offshore during the quarterly results presentation, when the Norway-based owner of FPSO units said that it was told by Murphy that production stop from the Azurite field, offshore Congo, was imminent.

BW Offshore CEO Carl Krogh Arnet said that the company would be fully compensated to the end of the firm contract  and that BW Offshore has already started looking for redeployment opportunities for the Azurite FDPSO unit.

When asked about the Azurite redeployment timing, he said that more information from Murphy itself was needed, but added that 2016 should be the year to look at.

Arnet explained that the exact date for the production stop is still not known. “There will be a time lag between the stop of production and the actual release of the unit. It’s early to say how this will pan out.”

 “We have enough time to find another prospect,” he added.

The Azurite FDPSO is the world’s industry’s first Floating Production Storage and Offloading facility with drilling capability. The Azurite development is located in about 4,500 feet of water, in the Mer Profonde Sud (MPS) block, in territorial waters of the Republic of Congo (Brazzaville).

The FDPSO has storage capacity of 1.3 million barrels of oil and the capability to process 40,000 barrels of oil per day and is being used for drilling and completing the production and injection wells.

[mappress]
Offshore Energy Today Staff, August 29, 2013