Page 38: of Offshore Engineer Magazine (Sep/Oct 2014)

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FPSO 8000m and 10,000m below sea level. The extreme depths result in pressures in excess of 1400bar (20,000psi) and very high temperatures that test the limit of what the industry is capable of operating in today.

Until recently, no technology has existed to overcome the inherent dif? culties that come with the ultra-deep ? elds, which range from 1500m to potentially as deep as 4300m.

New technology developed by SBM Offshore will enable

FPSOs to be widely used for the extremely challenging Lower

Tertiary ? elds. These solutions are applicable for both early production and full ? eld developments.

The FPSO Turritella for Shell’s Stones development marks

SBM Offshore’s ? rst move into the region. Due to start opera- tions in 2016, it will be the deepest production unit in the world at 2900m. For SBM Offshore, the list of industry ? rsts for

Turritella also includes the ? rst disconnectable turret with steel lazy-wave risers. As a consequence of the combination of water

SBM O