Conversion of the TT Sahara to FPSO Fluminense, A Low Cost Solution for the Bijupira and Salema Field Development, Offshore Brazil
Authors: Lane John A. , Bryans Ron , Preston Rick 
Published: October 2008

In todayâ??s economic climate, floating production, storage and off-loading systems (FPSOs) are widespread in the offshore industry and have proven to be an effective solution in the development of Marginal Fields. There are currently 81 FPSOs and 83 FSOs in operation worldwide. In the past 5 years 72 floating production units have been installed and in the next five years there is a forecast of a further 116 floaters being considered. (6) The Bijupira and Salema program included delivery of all systems (excluding wells) under an EPCI Contract combined with a separate Contract to operate the facilities for a period of 13 years.

The project involved engineering and coordinating all the equipment and work processes from the Christmas Tree Wing Valve to the Offloading Hose connecting to the shuttle tanker. In addition, the work involved the completion of the engineering, the fabrication and installation of the subsea and surface components, the FPSO conversion and topside preparation for the installation of the production and utility modules. This included the pre-commissioning, start up and commencement of the project operational phase. This ambitious program was achieved by closely coordinating the management team and with the cooperation of the principal contracting parties. There is little doubt that the role of the client (Enterprise Shell) and the relationship with MODEC as lead contractor was a key factor in the projectâ??s success, leading to the achievement of both an aggressive schedule, low cost and an exemplary project safety record.

Of importance is that the above was achieved against a background of both a major corporate acquisition, with Shell acquiring Enterprise Oil in May 2002 and a change in tax legislation in Brazil. Both these events caused major changes in project execution strategy and had to be very carefully managed to negate the impacts on cost and schedule. In the case of the acquisition significant effort was put into ensuring strategic (re) alignment between all parties and in the case of the changes in tax legislation it was required to revise the execution strategy and sail incomplete from the shipyard and complete work in the more complicated and less favourable environment offshore in Brazil. Within a period of 27 months from the execution of the LOI to the MODEC/FMC organization, the offshore development was producing And the production is being steadily ramped up towards the contract rate of 70,000 BOPD with nearly all systems fully commissioned and started up.

Finally, the paper discusses experience gained by MODEC and Shell during the project execution phases with particular focus on those areas considered to be critical in the execution of a low cost development. Results to date have confirmed that, although providing an economically attractive solution, the execution strategy could have been further improved resulting in potential additional cost savings and improved start up performance.

Note: The name "Fluminense" is a Portuguese word meaning "belonging to the State of Rio de Janeiro".