Sofec to deliver turret system for CNOOC’s Lufeng FSO

August 31, 2018

Sofec, a Modec group company, has been awarded the Lufeng permanent reinstatement project provision of turret system by CNOOC China Limited.

Illustration - oil tanker; Image source: Pixabay

Sofec said on Thursday that a disconnectable turret system would be integrated into a replacement floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel and moored to the existing Lufeng 13-2 field moorings in the South China Sea.

The award is for the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) of an internal disconnectable turret system for the CNOOC Lufeng 13-2 field FSO project. The FSO to be moored will be a converted 110,000 DWT crude oil tanker with an overall length of 245 meters.

The disconnectable internal turret mooring system for this field was originally designed and installed in 1993. It moored a Modec converted 121,361 dwt FSO in the typhoon alley area offshore China.

The system was chosen to allow the FSO to disconnect and sail to safe harbor as typhoons approach. The vessel could then return to the field and reconnect after the typhoon has passed. Under normal operating conditions, the turret allows the vessel to continually rotate into prevailing weather without production interruptions.

In 2012, CNOOC replaced and relocated the mooring legs and submerged buoy of the original system as part of the field’s life extension. This new vessel and turret will be designed to connect to the existing buoy and moorings and provide a fluid flow path for the riser.

Sofec added that it would be responsible for all EPC activities related to the new system and its ancillary components. The company will also assist in turret integration and offshore commissioning activities in China.

Rick Hall, SOFEC’s CEO, said: “The original installation in 1993 was Sofec’s first project with CNOOC, and with subsequent CNOOC projects, Sofec has shown that the combination of our relationship with this most important client and the reliability of our turret moorings provides the confidence to be awarded another contract with CNOOC for this FSO mooring solution.”