Two newly converted/upgraded vessels are close to departing Drydocks World in Dubai for the deepwater Baleine Field offshore Côte d’Ivoire. They will serve the Baleine Phase 2 development, operated by Eni, in partnership with Petroci.
Petrojarl Kong is a circular FPSO that previously operated under the name Voyageur Spirit on the Huntington Field in the central UK North Sea until 2020. The FSO Yamoussoukro, converted from the Altera shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia, will provide added oil storage capacity and export facilities at the field. Altera owns and will operate both vessels on the Baleine Field under a 15-year firm contract.
Altera Infrastructure’s executive vice president of projects, Arne H. Tørnkvist, said the FPSO and the FSO were close to completion about 14 months after arriving at the yard, under a program involving more than 10 million manhours.
The fast-track execution model, Altera added, demanded parallel activities concerning engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning. The scope of work has included substantial demolition, repair and life extension, and conversion work for both vessels.
Baleine is Altera’s first experience of oil and gas operations offshore West Africa. The company’s new base in Abidjan will be the operational center for the FPSO and FSO.
The program had demonstrated that “redeployments are some of the fastest, most cost-effective and emissions-friendly ways for our customers to develop their projects in the current market," according to Chris Brett, president of Altera Infrastructure Production. "This is Altera’s 13th redeployment project.”
The two vessels will be anchored roughly 50 km from the coast, alongside the FPSO Baleine that began operating last August.
Following startup of Phase 2 this December, total production from the Baleine Field will rise to 60,000 bbl/d of oil and 70 MMcf/d of associated gas.
This is also Africa’s first net zero-emission upstream (Scope 1 and 2) development, Eni said.
