Historically, FPSO's have been the floating production solution of choice in Asia. Until 2012 only one Spar (Malaysia) and one TLP (Indonesia) has been installed. No Semisubmersible production units have been installed in South East Asia to date.
In the coming decade a large number of deepwater fields will be developed. We will see a large increase of TLPs, Spars & Semisubmersibles entering into operation. FPSO, TLP, Semisubmersible and Spar are proven solutions with mature technology and successful experience. They have been used for deepwater oil and gas production over many years worldwide. Different concepts bring with it advantages and limitations.
Before a field development concept is selected many design parameters need to be evaluated.
The primary drivers to be examined for concept selection are:
Water Depth - Major impact on mooring design
Reservoir Shapes - Drilling requirements
Metocean Conditions
Payload
Well access requirements - Dry tree or wet tree.
Availability of infrastructure and market location
Platform Drilling
Implication on Cap-Ex, Op-Ex for each concept
This paper discusses the selection criteria for application in Asia and also addresses design, fabrication and installation challenges. It will discuss the recent trend towards using Tender Assisted Drilling versus a permanently installed drilling facility and the associated challenges and solutions.
