Interest surging in FPSO redeployments as oil price stays strong
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Surplus of available floaters on market has made option increasingly attractive for marginal discoveries
A sustained oil price surge has sparked a flurry of activity in the oil and gas industry and created opportunities for fields once considered marginal, where developers are looking toredeploy floating production systems for quick returns on their investments.Natarajan Paulraj, chief executive of Tuff Group, said the Singapore-based offshore services company has seen a notable increase in enquiries for the redeployment of floatingproduction, storage, and offloading units, a field development option that has become more attractive amid a surplus of FPSOs coming off contract and available at reasonable prices.Paulraj, speaking at a recent floating production conference in Shanghai, said healthy oil prices are also driving an increase in brownfield redevelopments.Refurbishing existing assets for life extension and redeployment has emerged as a strategic move to reduce project development duration and enhance returns on investment, he said.
Currently, the focus is on enquiries and requirements related to redeploying FPSOs for marginal brownfields, with a keen eye on smaller FPSO projects for national oil companies andindependents in Asia and Africa.A changed geopolitical landscape — particularly the Russia-Ukraine conflict — has intensified interest in FPSO and floating liquefied natural gas projects, with marginal fields inAfrica, the Middle East and Asia becoming economically viable as European countries look for alternative energy sources.Soaring prices have spurred investments by oil majors, national oil companies and independents and led to a rush to acquire existing or end-of-life oil and gas assets, Paulraj said.Observers are projecting the trend of FPSO and floating solutions contract awards to continue for the next five or six years until the supply gap is addressed.FPSO1 redeployment projects tend to follow a lease and operate model, he said.Tuff is exploring opportunities that include an engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning model, with construction finance arranged through execution partners,and lease and operation opportunities in collaboration with consortium partners.The company has positioned itself at the lower end of the FPSO redeployment market, avoiding direct competition with major players, he said, itsfocus remaining on projects in the $50 million to $300 million range, primarily in Asia and West Africa.Tuff currently has several projects in progress, including the refurbishment, upgrade, and redeployment of existing floating production units in WestAfrica and Brazil.Additionally, the company is in the final phase of bidding for an FPSO project in Indonesian waters and has received two strong enquiries for FPSOredeployments in West Africa.
Original Article by Upstream Online