Prosafe has been awarded a contract by Murphy West Africa Ltd (“Murphy”), a subsidiary of Murphy Oil Corporation, for the conversion and operation of a Floating Drilling, Production, Storage and Offloading unit (“FDPSO”) on the deepwater Azurite development in the Mer Profonde Sud Block offshore the Republic of the Congo. This is the first time an FPSO will be developed comprising a mobile drilling rig.
The FDPSO technology is a cost-efficient solution for drilling and producing deepwater fields. Prosafe will be responsible for the conversion of the FDPSO, including the moonpool arrangement, but not for provision, integration and operation of the drilling rig.
Prosafe will utilize the VLCC MT Europe and after conversion the vessel will have a storage capacity of 1.4 million barrels of oil and a process capacity of 60,000 bfpd/ 40,000 bopd. The vessel will be spread-moored at a water depth of 1,400 meters.
The contract is expected to commence in the first quarter of 2009 and has a firm period of seven years followed by four 2-year options. The estimated contract value of the firm period is USD 400 million.
The award is a result of Prosafe’s strong track record, engineering competence and innovative solutions, and manifests the company’s leading position in the FPSO market.