Fore part of hull launches in China for ‘world’s largest FPSO unit’

Chinese state-owned engineering company ZPMC has launched the fore part of the hull for what it says is the world’s largest floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit, destined to work for Brazilian oil and gas company Petrobras.

The fore part of the hull for the N1151 (P-82) FPSO exited the dock at ZPMC Qidong Marine Engineering on July 11, a year and a couple of months after the groundbreaking ceremony was held for the vessel.

The unit will be the tenth platform to be installed in the Búzios field, where Petrobras is the operator with an 88.99% stake, while its partners are CNOOC (7.34%) and CNODC (3.67%).

The FPSO will have a total length of 360 meters, a beam of 60 meters, and a depth of 34.3 meters, with the steel structure of the hull weighing over 80,000 tons, making it the largest FPSO project in the world, ZPMC said.

The vessel will have a storage capacity of 1.6 million barrels of oil, with a daily production capacity of 225,000 barrels of oil and 12 million cubic meters of natural gas.

The P-82 FPSO is scheduled to start operating in 2026.

NOTE: The article was amended on July 15 at 08:40 a.m. to state that ZPMC had launched the fore part of the hull for the FPSO and not the vessel.