Page 54: of Maritime Logistics Professional Magazine (Q2 2016)

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OFFSHORE ENERGY “2016 and Two

FPSOs in US GoM:

The Twenty Year Saga”

Credit: Claudio Paschoa

Peter Lovie’s Chronology of the FPSO’s dif? cult struggle to viability in the U.S.

Gulf of Mexico is a fascinating journey through time and the oil industry itself.

saw the arrival of the second FPSO in vessels, began having serious discussions with the MMS about the US Gulf of Mexico. Despite the long the possibility of using FPSO systems in the Gulf of Mexico.” 2016 prominence of the US Gulf of Mexico It was the operators in US Gulf of Mexico (GoM) that took in pioneering in the offshore world, FPSOs have been curi- the initiative to open these discussions with the MMS which ously slow in arriving despite being the most used ? oating revealed that MMS would require an Environmental Impact production system in the rest of the world. Tracing what went Statement (EIS) before they would consider any application to on from securing regulatory approval in principle to be able use an FPSO for any speci? c ? eld development in GoM.

to use FPSOs in GoM, through the unexpected events in the An EIS had not been required for earlier facilities in deep wa- industry, changes in design criteria and the decision making ter, and MMS did not see why they should undertake that effort that lead to where we are today with one FPSO in operation for the industry at their cost. Potential operators wanted to be and a second about to start, both employing unique Jones Act able to have the FPSO in their “toolbox” for immediate action shuttle tankers, is not an easy task. The story begins in 1996. without that EIS delay. Discussion led to DeepStar, enlisting the support of 60+ stakeholder organizations, stepping forward to

H ?OW DID IT ALL START act on behalf of the industry to both fund and support the prepa-

The ? rst FPSO anywhere in the world is usually taken to be ration of an EIS. It ultimately took more than $3 million from

Shell’s Castellon FPSO offshore Spain that started operation the operators to get it done: $1 million of funding to MMS plus in 1977. It was not until 1995-1996 that Texaco’s Fuji prospect in excess of $2 million in expenditures incurred by operators.

drew attention to the possible use of an FPSO in GoM, this for The 793-page EIS was published by MMS in January 2001, an unusual requirement in 1,700 feet of water – deep water in followed by the US government’s formal Record of Decision these days – and at a relatively remote location from pipelines. on 13 December 2001. MMS then announced it was ready to

In late 2001 the MMS Record of Decision stated that: “In accept applications for the use of FPSOs in GOM in its press 1996, OCS operators, as well as builders and operators of FPSO release on January 2, 2002.

54 Maritime Professional 2Q 2016| | 50-63 Q2 MP2016.indd 54 5/19/2016 11:47:43 AM