SBM Offshore has reached a milestone with its Fast4Ward program that aims to make deepwater projects more attractive with optimized design and standard specifications.

As explained by SBM, Fast4Ward allows for the use of a standard, multipurpose newbuild hull, a move the company said can speed up the delivery of an FPSO unit by up to a year. It also standardizes installations, releasing the benefits of a topsides catalogue.

“This topsides catalogue is now available to be used on existing tenders, including VLCC [very large crude carrier] conversions and increasingly incorporates processes that have traditionally been considered too difficult to standardize,” SBM said in the release.

The company said Aug. 9 that the contract for the first newbuild, multipurpose hull was signed with China Shipbuilding Trading Co. Ltd. and Shanghai Waigaoquio Shipbuilding, and the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) phase has started. The contract was awarded in June.

“Capital commitments are phased over time, with planned yard expenditure of [about] US$20 million in 2017 and [about] US$55 million in 2018, subject to delivery of agreed milestones,” the company said, noting it has identified additional development opportunities for Fast4Ward.

In other floater news, SBM said it expects to close the sale of the FPSO Turritella unit in early 2018. In July Shell E&P Offshore Services B.V. said it would exercise its contractual right to purchase the vessel from SBM. The major is currently using the vessel, which has a production capacity of about 60,000 bbl/d oil and 425 Mcm/d (15 MMcf/d) of natural gas, at its Stones deepwater development in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

“At the transaction date, SBM Offshore expects to receive [about] US $540 million cash, which will be used for unwinding of partner commitments, hedging instruments and repayment of the project loan,” SBM said in its second-quarter earnings report. “The transaction is expected to decrease directional net debt by [about] US$450 million.”

Meanwhile, work is progressing on work for the ExxonMobil-operated Liza development offshore Guyana. SBM scooped up the FEED and EPC work for the FPSO Liza unit in 2016. The company reported that the EPC phase has begun.

In Australian waters, SBM said its Prelude and Ichtys turret projects have entered the offshore commissioning phase. Both “continue to progress in accordance with clients' schedules and contractual planning.”

—Staff Reports

Offshore