Following the completion of the construction phase for a floating, production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessel, Australia’s energy giant Woodside has tucked “another important milestone” under its belt for the first phase of Senegal’s first offshore oil development.
Woodside Energy revealed on Tuesday that the construction phase for this FPSO, destined to be deployed at the Sangomar field off Senegal, was completed. The first phase of this project will consist of a stand-alone FPSO, 23 subsea wells, and supporting subsea infrastructure designed to allow the tie-in of subsequent phases.
The Australian company has been working on the Sangomar field development Phase 1, targeting approximately 230 million barrels of crude oil, since the project was sanctioned in January 2020 . As a result, Woodside awarded the contract for the supply of the FPSO, named after Senegal’s first president, Leopold Sédar Senghor , for the project to MODEC that same year.
Furthermore, China’s Cosco started converting a very large crude carrier (VLCC) into an FPSO for the Sangomar project last year. Woodside underlined that COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Dalian) had completed the hull and marine works, external turret and topsides module installation and conversion work on the vessel.
Moreover, the topside modules were fabricated by both COSCO and BOMESC Offshore Engineering Company in Tianjin, and the external turret mooring system was done by Penglai Jutal Offshore Engineering Heavy Industries (PJOE).
Acknowledging the work done by MODEC, COSCO, BOMESC and PJOE in completing the fabrication and conversion works, Meg O’Neill , Woodside Energy CEO, remarked: “ The Chinese yards achieved excellent safety performance throughout this phase of construction, logging more than 16 million hours of complex construction work without a lost-time injury event.
“The construction teams also successfully navigated the challenges posed by pandemic-related travel and logistical restrictions throughout 2021 and 2022, ensuring the FPSO remained on schedule for start-up at the Sangomar field in late 2023 .”
Woodside says that the FPSO is now being relocated to Keppel Offshore & Marine’s Tuas Shipyard in Singapore. As a reminder, Keppel was hired by MODEC a few months ago to complete topsides integration and support pre-commissioning and commissioning activities for this FPSO .
Once completed and delivered to Woodside, the FPSO, which will have the capacity to process 100,000 barrels of oil per day , will be moored in waters approximately 780 metres deep and will be located approximately 100 km south of Dakar, Senegal.
The Australian giant underscores that the Sangomar field development Phase 1 is currently around 70 per cent complete and will be Senegal’s first offshore oil project. Woodside is the operator with an 82 per cent participating interest in the project, while its parent, Petrosen, holds the remaining 18 per cent.