FPSO VI was originally the monohull tanker named Berge Pilot and was converted at Astano in Cadiz, for Ashland in Nigeria, to produce the Ebughu, Akam and Adanga fields. The actual conversion process was undertaken by the Keppel shipyard, in Singapore. The contract required Keppel to remove all the existing oil processing utility equipment, and install the new oil, water and gas-production and treatment facilities on the main deck in their place. Keppel also reconditioned the boilers for the gas and diesel oil system, as well as installing a flare tower, a helideck, supply handling deck cranes, foundations, walkways, lighting communications and utilities for various deck facilities. The Espadarte FPSO measures 344m in length and has a beam of 52m, a depth of 29m and a draught of 22m. The oil storage capacity is 1.9 million bbl and it has a tonnage of 285,000dwt. The operator specified that the facilities should be designed around an oil production capacity of 100,000b/d and 50,000b/d of produced water. To do this it has to treat/compress 88 million ft3/day of gas for gas lift and export, and inject 110,000 b/d of water. The contract to design the topside process system was awarded to Gusto, and the layout was based on 17 separate modules, located along a central pipecrack system. The next step in the process was to install the turret in the ship’s bow, after locating the moonpool. The turret which stands at 30m high and 17 m wide and has a gross weight of over 1000t, was built in Abu Dhabi. It can accommodate up to 45 flexible risers, including umbilicals and electrical cables.
Espadarte, Campos Basin, Petrobras, America(South),