LM Handling, an Acteon company, has provided handling knowledge and equipment to support Acteon sister company, InterMoor, in the successful mooring installation of an FPSO unit for the China National Offshore Oil Corporation-operated (CNOOC-operated) Enping 24-2 oil field in the South China Sea, according to a press release.

A 12-pile anchor mooring system, consisting of three clusters of four mooring lines, was installed.

LM Handling provided its StabFrame-S in its extended configuration, preloaded with additional ballast to achieve a stable and safe install for the long mooring piles, and 84-in. and 60-in. internal lift tools. With a customized set of handling equipment, which enabled pile upending on the seabed, InterMoor was able to use a relatively lightweight construction vessel to install the piles quickly, efficiently and safely.

This mooring project represents LM Handling’s first project in Chinese waters and second project for the StabFrame-S, which was specifically designed for lightweight Southeast Asia vessels. It is the fourth successful FPSO mooring project for LM Handling.

Enping 24-2 oil field is in the Pearl River Mouth basin of the South China Sea, which has water depths between 86 m and 96 m (282 ft and 315 ft). The main production facilities include a drilling and production platform, an FPSO vessel and 17 producing wells. CNOOC has announced that two wells are producing about 8 Mbbl/d of crude oil. The project is expected to reach peak production of 40 Mbbl/d in 2017.