SBM Offshore will supply and lease a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) to Shell Offshore for its Stones development project in the Gulf of Mexico. The contracts include an initial period of 10 years with future extension options up to a total of 20 years. The Stones development is located in 2,896m (9500ft) of water approximately 320km (200 miles) offshore Louisiana in the Walker Ridge area. When installed, the Stones FPSO will be the deepest FPSO development in the world.
In March 2012, Shell and SBM Offshore signed an Enterprise Framework Agreement (EFA) for the supply of medium and small FPSOs on a lease and operate basis. The Stones FPSO is the first Shell project to award contracts utilizing the EFA. SBM Offshore and Shell have been engaged in front-end development work for the Stones FPSO solution for the past two years. Execution work has already commenced in SBM Offshore’s Houston Execution Center with early procurement and commitments underway.
The converted Suezmax FPSO will have a turret with a disconnectable buoy (Buoyant Turret Mooring or BTM) allowing it to weathervane in normal conditions and disconnect from the FPSO upon the approach of a hurricane. The BTM will be configured with Steel Lazy-Wave Risers (SLWR), which will be the first application for a disconnectable FPSO. The mooring system will also incorporate the ability to adjust line tension during operations by use of an In-Line Mooring Connector (ILMC). SBM Offshore’s 30 years of turret experience including the delivery of nearly 50 systems will be leveraged to supply this pioneering BTM system.
The total asset value of the FPSO is approximately USD 1B.