Eni has lined up a new floating production vessel for the next phase of its Baleine oil and gas project off Côte d’Ivoire, with China’s Wison New Energies set to build the FPSO and Norway-linked Altera Infrastructure to own and operate it under a 15-year charter.
The agreements cover engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning of the vessel for Baleine Phase 3, located roughly 70 kilometres offshore in water depths between 700 and 1,300 metres. Once running, the FPSO will be able to process up to 90,000 barrels of oil and 160 million cubic feet of gas per day, and store as much as 1.4 million barrels of crude.
Combined with the existing Baleine developments, Phase 3 is expected to lift total field production to about 150,000 barrels of oil and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day, with all of the gas earmarked for Côte d’Ivoire’s domestic market. Altera previously redeployed the FPSO Petrojarl Kong and FSO Yamoussoukro for Baleine’s second phase, and says it has now arranged the largest financing package in its history to back the new vessel through construction and its full charter term.
“Baleine Phase 3 is an important milestone for Altera,” said Chris Brett, the company’s president of production, noting the deal extends Altera’s presence in Côte d’Ivoire into the mid-2040s. For Wison, the contract builds on a recent nod from Lloyd’s Register for a new turret FPSO design and marks a further push into global offshore development.
Source: (offshore-energy.biz, oedigital.com)