Introduction: The offshore oil and gas industry plays a crucial role in meeting global energy demands. To extract and process hydrocarbons from beneath the seabed, a variety of offshore production facilities are employed. These facilities are marvels of engineering, designed to withstand harsh marine environments while ensuring safe and efficient production. In this blog post, we will explore some of the most common types of offshore production facilities.
1.Fixed Platforms: Fixed platforms are perhaps the most iconic and common offshore production facilities. They are firmly anchored to the seabed and rise above the water’s surface and normally installed in shallow water field. These are the most common facilities we have not just in Malaysia, but all over the world.
This facilities normally comprises of two main structure; Jacket and Topside. Jacket is a steel structure built anchored to seabed to support the topside while the Topside is the upper half of offshore platform that houses the accommodation or living quarters and processing facilities. Once the jacket is in its final position and piled, the topside deck is lifted into position and welded to the jacket. Two common categories of this fixed platform that includes:
- Central Processing Platform (CPP) – Main manned platform of an oil and gas field that has houses the wellhead that producing the hydrocarbon and has the capability to process the hydrocarbon produced being sent to shore or offload onto tankers.
- Wellhead Platform or Satellite Platform – Remote facilities within the field to extract hydrocarbon from below the seabed before being sent to CPP for processing via pipeline.
2. Floating Production Systems: Floating production systems are versatile solutions for offshore production, especially in deeper waters. They can be moved from one location to another as needed. They can be in the form of conversion of tankers or built new for specifically for this floating production system. Some common types include:
- Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading (FPSO) Units: FPSOs are vessels equipped with production, storage, and offloading facilities. They are often used in remote or deepwater locations where pipelines to shore are impractical. Some of the FPSOs available in Malaysia are FPSO Bunga Kertas, FPSO Helang, FPSO Kikeh and many others.
- Floating Production System (FPS): FPS systems include floating production platforms and semisubmersibles. They are typically used in deepwater regions. FPS Gumusut-Kakap is the region’s first deepwater FPS.
- Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO) Units: FSO units are used primarily for the storage and offloading of produced oil. They are often tethered to subsea wells. FSO Sepat, FSO Mekar Bergading and FSO Puteri Cakerawala are examples of such facilites deployed in Malaysia water.
- Floating Liquified Natural Gas (FLNG): FLNG is a floating production storage and offloading unit that conducts liquefied natural gas (LNG) operations for developing remote and stranded offshore natural gas resources. LNG is transferred directly from the floating facility to specific carriers, for convenient shipping to countries around the world. FLNG requires a much smaller environmental footprint than land-based LNG plants, which require major infrastructure works. It also eliminates the need for long pipelines to land. Currently, PETRONAS has deployed two FLNG namely PFLNG SATU and PFLNG DUA to Kanowit and Rotan field respectively.
3. Subsea Production Systems: Subsea production systems are located on the seabed, directly connected to wellheads. These systems are used to extract hydrocarbons and transport them to surface facilities. Subsea production can be standalone or linked to other types of production facilities.
4. Tension Leg Platforms (TLPs): TLPs are semi-submersible platforms tethered to the seabed with vertical tension legs. They offer stability and are suitable for deepwater production. Shell’s Malikai is first tension leg platform (TLP) in the Malaysia where it floats on the surface of the sea while moored securely to the sea floor, produces and pipes oil 50km (around 30 miles) to the shallow-water Kebabangan platform for processing. Source: Shell
5. Spar Platforms: Spar platform is a floating platform with vertical cylinders moored to the seabed. They are used in deepwater regions and can support both drilling and production operations. Kikeh Spar is the first spar constructed in Malaysia and also the first spar installed outside Gulf of Mexico.
Conclusion: The offshore oil and gas industry relies on a diverse array of production facilities to extract and process hydrocarbons from beneath the ocean floor. Fixed platforms, floating production systems, subsea production systems, TLPs, and spar platforms are just some of the types of facilities used to meet global energy demands. Each type has its own advantages and is chosen based on factors like water depth, reservoir characteristics, and project economics. As technology advances, we can expect to see even more innovative solutions for offshore production in the future.
