SBM Offshore’s first Fast4Ward FPSO hull reaches Singapore

Dutch FPSO provider SBM Offshore has informed that its first completed Fast4Ward FPSO hull has arrived from China to Singapore.

After a journey of 2,300 nautical miles, the Fast4Ward hull has arrived at a Keppel yard in Singapore from China, SBM Offshore informed on Monday, January 13.

This is SBM Offshore’s first generic hull, the Multi-Purpose Floater (MPF1) in its series of hulls currently under construction. SBM Offshore ordered the MPF1 hull on speculation in July 2017, followed by several months of detailed engineering.

This first, newbuild hull was completed by Chinese yard SWS in December and is part of SBM’s Fast4Ward program. The hull’s arrival represents a significant milestone on the path to delivering the company’s first standardized FPSO, SBM said.

The hull was completed in less than two years from first steel, which was cut in March 2018. According to SBM, its Fast4Ward can accelerate the delivery of an FPSO by up to 12 months.

The MPF1 hull was allocated to the Liza Unity FPSO for offshore Guyana, following the Final Investment Decision (FID) by ExxonMobil in May 2019. ExxonMobil targets Liza Phase 2 start-up in early 2022. The Liza field is located in the Stabroek block circa 200 kilometers offshore Guyana.

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.

It is also worth reminding that SBM Offshore in December 2019 ordered two new FPSO hulls in China. These will be SBM’s fourth and fifth hulls ordered under the company’s Fast4Ward program.

Offshore Energy Today Staff