 FPSO — floating production, storage, and

offloading systems; offloading of the

crude oil to a shuttle tanker;

 These are typically converted or newly

built tankers that produce and store
hydrocarbons, which are subsequently
transported by other vessels to terminals
or Deepwater ports.
 FPS — floating production systems
 Universal term to refer to all production
facilities that float rather than are
structurally supported by the seafloor;
 Included would be TLP’s, spars, semi
submersibles, shipshape vessels, etc.
 The term is also frequently used to
describe the general category of floating
production facilities that do not have
onsite storage.
 The term is also used by the American
Bureau of Shipping to describe a
classification of floating production
facilities that do not have storage
capability
 FSO — floating storage and offloading
system;
 Like the FPSO, these are typically
converted or newly built tankers.
 They differ from the FPSO by not
incorporating the processing equipment
for production;
 The liquids are stored for shipment to
another location for processing.
 Offloading — transfer of produced
hydrocarbons from an offshore facility
into shuttle tankers or barges for
transport to terminals or Deepwater
ports.
 An FPSO relies on subsea technology for the
production of hydrocarbons and would typically
involve pipeline export of produced gas with
shuttle tanker (offloading) transport of produced
liquids.

 FPSO’s are relatively insensitive to water depth

compared with other types of FPS’s.

 To date, nearly all FPSO’s have been installed in

water depths less than 3,000 ft.

 Figure shows the typical field deployment of an

FPSO.
 An additional schematic, Figure, shows a
simplified breakdown and relative position
of the major FPSO unit components
 The hull of an FPSO is typically ship-shaped
 Non-ship shaped also exists
 Can be a monohull structure such as a spar or
purpose-built barge-shaped vessel.
 The typical existing FPSO can be characterized
simply as a tanker with dimensions ranging as
follows:
 length — 600 to 1,100 ft.
 breadth — 100 to 200 ft.
 depth — 60 to 100 ft.
 Of those systems deployed to date, most have
been conversions of smaller and older tankers.
 One of the major advantages of
conversions is the rapid time to first
production.
 New, purpose built FPSO’s have become
more prevalent in recent years as
operators incorporate specialized needs,
move into challenging (weather)
environments
 The main topsides processing system
components might involve
 crude oil, gas, and water separation;
 water injection equipment;
 gas compression;
 chemical injection;
 control systems for the subsea production
equipment;
 and associated piping.
 The processing system varies little from
other development concepts (fixed
platform, TLP, or other floating facility
serving as a host for subsea).

 One area that does differ is the need to

account for motion of the facility, which
requires specialized designs for the
production separators
 Another difference from current typical
systems is that operators may choose to
move liquids such as wet oil, dry oil, and
production system additives to in-hull
tanks.

 Since the fluids can be placed below the

deck, they will not have as significant an
effect on stability as if placed higher.
 Thus, operators may also choose to hold
larger volumes than for current typical
systems.
 Gas handling may be different for FPSO’s than for
typical current systems.

 All current production systems in the Gulf Of

Mexico(GOM) use gas-export lines.

 While this may still be a viable option for FPSO’s

in the GOM, it is anticipated that operators will
investigate the possible use of gas conversion
technologies.

 The Minerals Management Service(MMS) is on

record as not allowing long-term gas flaring or
reinjection into the formation.
 Two options exist for FPSO station
keeping
 Majority of existing FPSO’s employ a fixed
mooring system using anchors and
anchor lines;
 A few rely on dynamically positioned
systems that employ a series of thrusters
and positioning technology (satellite,
GPS, etc.).
 The fixed mooring system can be further
described as permanent or disconnectable.

 Most FPSO’s deployed to date (and planned) are

permanently moored

 They are designed to remain at the location

throughout all anticipated environmental
(weather) situations;

 There are few that have been designed to be

disconnected under severe weather
circumstances such as typhoons and hurricanes,
or threat of icebergs.
 Choice of mooring depends on
 Water depth,
 company preference,
 distance from shore (that is, the ability to
get personnel off the vessel in a timely
manner),
 economics (as such relates to design
capabilities),
 and the relative risks.
 Disconnectable mooring systems offer an
operator the ability to transport both
personnel and assets out of harm’s way
during harsh environmental conditions,
such as hurricanes, typhoons, and
icebergs (Figure).
 The design basis for power supply focuses on
three categories:
 Main power supply (all electrical functions during
normal operations),
 Essential power supply (startup of essential
services, shutdown of facilities as needed),
 Emergency power supply (life support during a
“survival at sea” situation).
 In addition to the conventional power generation
needed for production processing, an FPSO may
need power for the thrusters used in support of
or in lieu of the mooring system.
 The living quarters for an FPSO would typically
accommodate 50 to 100 persons and could
involve either the integrated superstructure of a
converted ship’s quarters or the addition of a
typical offshore quarters building.

 The staff on board would closely resemble that of

a currently operating TLP or other FPS (less
drilling crew), which includes a marine crew that
handles ballast control and product transfers, and
the production crew that handles the processing
of the produced hydrocarbons.
 The FPSO’s installed to date have storage
capacities ranging up to 2.3 million
barrels
 The storage volume provided in an FPSO
is a factor of available ship size (if a
conversion), availability and size of
offtake vessels (likely the main reason),
projected downtime (weather and
operational), and cargo destination (port
size, shipping limitations, etc.).
 By definition, produced liquid hydrocarbons from
an FPSO are offloaded into a shuttle tanker that
transports the product to existing infrastructure
(or to shore).

 The offtake system includes the equipment

associated with moving the liquids from FPSO
storage tanks to the shuttle tanker, plus the
moorings, buoys, transfer hoses, and other
equipment used during the transfer operation.
 This operation and equipment would be
similar for facilities that do not employ
storage, but use direct shuttle loading
(DSL), where liquids are produced
through the offtake systems directly into
the shuttle tanker.
 The offtake systems used for FPSO’s,
FPS’s, or other offshore installations
include tandem (Figure ), side-by-side
(Figure), single-point, and remote
systems