BP enlists ABS for floating production unit destined to be deployed at its oil project in Gulf of Mexico

UK-based energy heavyweight BP has tapped the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS), a classification society, for a batch of services related to its floating production unit (FPU), which will work at its sixth-operated deepwater project in a prolific high-margin basin within the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

After employing Audubon Engineering and Exmar Offshore to handle the engineering and design of the FPU’s topside and hull, respectively, for its recently sanctioned Kaskida development, BP has now picked ABS to support this deepwater project in the Gulf of Mexico by providing classification and engineering verification services for the new semi-submersible production unit.

Miguel Hernandez, ABS Senior Vice President of Global Offshore, commented: “ABS is the recognized Class leader in offshore exploration and in the Gulf of Mexico; we have decades of experience classing complex semisubmersible production platforms. But this project goes beyond classification. We are also providing numerous other services related to engineering review and verification, expanding our portfolio of high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) projects.”

Moreover, ABS will act as the certified verification agent (CVA) for the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement (BSEE), a role the firm claims to have performed for most floating production units operating in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Additionally, BP has tasked the classification society to act as the independent third-party (I3P) verifier for high-pressure, high-temperature (HPHT) subsea equipment and technology to comply with BSEE’s requirements. ABS will also act on behalf of the United States Coast Guard (USCG) to inspect and approve the design, construction, installation, and equipment.

The engineering work for the Kaskida FPU is already ongoing, with Audubon embarking on designing the topside and Exmar Offshore handling the hull. Singapore’s Seatrium was selected to undertake early engineering works for the newbuild FPU.

The production from the FPU with the capacity to produce 80,000 barrels of crude oil per day is slated to start in 2029, encompassing six wells in the first phase. The Kaskida project’s discovered recoverable resources are estimated at around 275 million barrels of oil equivalent from the initial phase.

Located about 250 miles southwest off the coast of New Orleans, the 100% BP-owned deepwater project in the Keathley Canyon area is said to unleash the potential future development of 10 billion barrels of discovered resources in place across the Kaskida and Tiber catchment areas.

BP has confirmed that Kaskida will be its first development in the Gulf of Mexico to produce from reservoirs requiring well equipment with a pressure rating of up to 20,000 pounds per square inch (20K).

The advancements in 20K technology also recently enabled Chevron and TotalEnergies to bring online an oil and gas project in the Gulf of Mexico, which is seen as the industry’s first high-pressure deepwater development.

Deemed as one of the largest projects in the U.S. energy industry’s history, it employs high-pressure 20,000 psi technology with reservoir depths reaching 34,000 feet below sea level.

ABS has had a busy year so far. Most recently, it was hand-picked to assist with engineering and risk management solutions to bring a planned field development online at Qatar’s largest oil field.