Offshore staff
LONDON -- A floating storage and offloading vessel will shortly leave the Yulian shipyard in China for the Afren-operated Ebok field development off southeast Nigeria.
The Virini Prem (ex-Prem Prachi) is a 267-m (876-ft) long, 174,917-ton vessel which now is refurbished to store and offload crude processed on Ebok’s Mobile Offshore Production Unit. It will be able to store up to 1.2 MMbbl of oil and will accommodate regular offtake by tankers up to VLCC size.
The overhaul program included steel replacement for sections of the hull; refurbishment of existing equipment such as the export pumps; and installation of a helideck and accommodation blocks for up to 50 personnel.
Afren adds that the fiscal metering equipment has achieved acceptance testing to DPR-approved standards.
All the vessel’s 12 mooring lines have been pre-installed at the field, and all flowlines transferring oil between the MOPU and the FSO have been fabricated. These will be stored on the FSO for transportation to the field.
Development entails drilling and completing of six horizontal producer wells and water injector ahead of the arrival of the main production facilities.
Afren, which operates Ebok in partnership with Oriental Energy Resources, plans to start appraisal drilling soon at the nearby Okwok discovery, to be followed by an exploration well on adjacent lease OML 115.
08/06/2010
