OTC 18950

The Design of an FPSO To Operate in Gulf of Mexico

Orlando Ribeiro, Cesar Palagi, Carlos Mastrangelo, and Antonio Corte, Petrobras America

Copyright 2007, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2007 Offshore Technology Conference held in
Houston, Texas, U.S.A., 30 April3 May 2007.
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Abstract
This paper addresses the design criteria for a Floating,
Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit with
disconnectable turret to be installed in ultra-deep waters of the
Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) of Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The
FPSO is designed as part of a phased development plan to
allow an early start of production and to gather data to design
the full development of offshore petroleum fields. FPSO are
applied widely around the world. However, this concept has
never been implemented in USA. The main features of the
project are as follows: liquid processing capacity of 80,000
barrels per day, gas processing capacity of 16 million standard
cubic feet per day, oil storage capacity of 500 million barrels,
gas export through pipeline, oil export through shuttle tankers
and mooring system in water depth of 8,000 feet with a
disconnectable turret.
This paper describes the major advantages and disadvantages
of the use of FPSO as the First Phase (Early Production)
during the development of ultra-deep water petroleum fields in
GoM. It also describes the main technical and operational
aspects required to fulfill the regulatory standards.
Currently, FPSO is the best concept to be applied as an early
production during the development of ultra-deep water
petroleum fields in GoM, where no oil transport infrastructure
is available.
The design of the first FPSO to be installed in USA is a major
step towards the early development and production of
petroleum fields in ultra-deep waters. The success of this
pioneering project depends on the cooperation and support
among oil companies, service and goods suppliers and
regulatory agencies.

Introduction
Since the first production from Campos Basin, in 1977 the use
of Early Production Systems has been a hallmark of Petrobras.
At that time the driving force behind Petrobras development
programs was the need for immediate production to offset the
adverse effect of high oil prices on Brazils balance of
payments.
In the late 80s and early 90s a new driving force emerged:
the discovery of the giant Albacora and Marlin fields. At the
time of these discoveries there was no proven technology to
develop these deep water fields. Only a few wells were
producing from water depths greater than 1,000 feet.
Infrastructure to work in these depths was extremely limited.
Drilling rigs, installation vessels and experienced personnel to
tackle the sheer size of these developments were very limited.
The development challenge was daunting.
Petrobras, again, used its Early Production and Phased
Developtment Approach to develop parts of these major
discoveries supplemented by carefully thought out strategies
for:

New technology development

Acquire reservoir performance data
Acquire operational experience
Optimize the use of critical resources while encouraging
the market to develop new ones
Early cash flow.

The strategy proved very successful and its been used ever
since in other large deepwater developments.
Here in the GoM there has never been the need for a similar
approach. GoM discoveries tended to be medium to small in
size and from the same plays that exist onshore and in shallow
water. Incremental infrastructure generally followed the
discoveries as they advanced into deeper waters.
Technological advancements were also incremental to meet
the demands of deeper water. There was close technical
cooperation between the developing companies the suppliers
of the GoM and new technologies developed in the North Sea
and in Brazil had to wait until the discoveries in the GoM
were at similar depths before being utilized.

The Cascade Play introduces a new set of challenges that push

the envelope in every aspect of deepwater field development.
Petrobras believes that better understanding is needed of this
new set of challenges in order to minimize the exposure from
a full field development. Reservoir and completion
performance data, optimization on the application new
technologies and operational experience are required prior to
committing to an optimized full field development scenario.
Therefore to better deal with the uncertainties, Petrobras is
developing the Cascade and Chinook fields in phases.
Project Overview Cascade and Chinook Phase 1
Cascade and Chinook fields are located 250 miles South of
New Orleans or approximately 165 miles from the Louisiana
coastline in ultra deepwater (~8,500 ft wd) in the Walker
Ridge area of the central GoM planning area. Devon is the
partner for the Cascade field and Total is the partner for the
Chinook field.
There are no production analogs on similar reservoirs in the
Gulf of Mexico for Cascade or Chinook. To date only the
WR758#1 well (Jack Prospect) test has been performed on an
analog reservoir in the Walker Ridge quadrant. Seismic
surveys and well data (logs, cores and fluid samples) provide
the present support for Cascade and Chinook reservoir
interpretation.
While the present data is insufficient to form the basis of a full
field development program for Cascade and Chinook, there is
sufficient data to implement a phased development plan with a
small number of initial wells. This initial phase of the
development will be used to gather well data in order to verify
reservoir assumptions and to optimize the design basis of a
full field development.
The initial development phase, Phase 1, consists of completing
two wells in Cascade and one well in Chinook and connecting
them to a common floating, production, storage and offloading
(FPSO) vessel (Fig 1).
Phase 1 infrastructure will be designed to gather produced
fluids from the wells and deliver the fluid to the floating,
production, storage and offloading facility (FPSO). The FPSO
separates, treats, and measures fluids, stores oil, offloads the
stored oil to a shuttle vessel, either a shuttle tanker or
ITB/ATB, and exports the associated gas via a gas export
pipeline.
The system concepts for Phase 1 contain many elements of a
full field development and are selected to enhance the system
flexibility and minimize incremental infrastructure
requirements in subsequent project phases. The flexibility
comes from utilizing standard modular equipment concepts
that can easily be expanded as well as having adequate
capacity in the production facility to handle the future
production potential.

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The goal of Phase 1 is to gather sufficient data and

information about the reservoir and well productivity to enable
the optimization of future phases. This will include the
optimization of:
Number and type of wells;
Completion design;
Production system capacity and type;
Subsea layout and boosting system;
Potential secondary recovery.
Subsea System. Cascade and Chinook will be developed
using clustered subsea production wells. The wells will be
connected to 4-slot subsea production manifolds or directly to
two flowlines via pipeline end termination sleds and jumpers.
Production from the wells will be commingled in the two
flowlines and allocation and test will be carried out based on
subsea multiphase meters installed on the wells.
The flowlines will be looped, to allow round trip pigging,
and connected to the FPSO via Free Standing Hybrid Risers
(FSHRs). Subsea boosting pumps will be installed on the
flowlines, downstream from each manifold, to boost
production from the subsea wells.
The major subsea system components will be:
Subsea Trees;
Tree Jumpers;
Subsea Manifolds;
Flowline Jumpers;
Subsea Boosting Pumps;
Flowlines;
Free Standing Hybrid Risers (FSHR);
Pipeline Inline and End Termination Sleds;
Power and Control Umbilicals;
Subsea Control Systems.
The control of individual wells through an electrohydraulic multiplex control system will be exercised from the
FPSO. Subject to further optimization, the current layout has
two dedicated umbilicals for Cascade and two dedicated
umbilicals for Chinook. One umbilical in each pair will be
dedicated to the power supply for the seabed boosting stations.
Studies are underway to evaluate power and control umbilical
integration. The control umbilicals also provide chemical
injection lines for chemical injection points at the trees and
downhole.
Production System. The FPSO will receive production from
the field through dual flowlines from both Cascade and
Chinook and free standing hybrid risers (FSHRs) (Fig 2). This
will be the first utilization of both FPSOs and FSHRs in the
Gulf of Mexico.
The FPSO will be able to separate, treat and measure
fluids, store oil, export gas via a gas export pipeline and
offload the stored oil to a shuttle vessel. The nominal
production capacity of the facility will be 80,000 bopd, and
gas compression capacity of 16 MM scfd. The minimum
storage capacity of the FPSO will be 500,000bbl of crude oil.

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There will be sufficient onboard power generation capability

to run the topside facility and to power the subsea pumping
stations located near the subsea manifolds in both Cascade and
Chinook.
The FPSO will be equipped with a disconnectable single
point mooring system with a conventional passive turret
providing full weathervaning capability. The mooring system
will be designed to easily disconnect from the FPSO. This
feature enables the vessel to separate from the mooring system
and sail away from impending hurricanes.
When
disconnected, the remaining infield infrastructure will be
located below sea level and thus will avoid severe surface
environmental loads.
Gas Export Pipeline. Produced gas will be exported via an
export FSRR to an export pipeline from the FPSO. Three
pipeline route options are being considered.
Technologies New to the US Gulf of Mexico
Petrobras is proposing technological concepts that are new to
the Gulf of Mexico and wants to ensure that the industry has a
clear understanding of those new concepts. The principal new
concepts proposed for the Cascade and Chinook developments
are:
Facilities.
Production is from subsea facilities and gathering systems
to a floating, production, storage and offloading vessel
(FPSO). The FPSO will be a turret buoy moored vessel
that can be disconnected from the buoy. The use of a
disconnectable turret buoy moored FPSO represents a
significant step toward an improved safety case for oilfield
operations during hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico
because the vessel will have the ability to sail away from
severe weather. A technical description of the FPSO can
be found later in the paper.
Crude transportation from the FPSO to shore via a shuttle
tanker or ITB/ATB. While this has been done in the Gulf
of Mexico since the damage caused by hurricanes Katrina
and Rita to the GOM oilfield infrastructure, to our
knowledge this is the first time shuttle vessel operations
have been a part of the base case production plan. See
Appendix C for a discussion of offloading operations and
vessel types.
Subsea.
The use of free Standing Hybrid Risers (FSHRs) to
transport production fluids from the seabed to the FPSO,
and gas from the FPSO to the export pipeline system. The
FSHRs reduce the loading on the vessel mooring system
and thus enables the improved hurricane safety case by
reducing the overall size of the disconnectable turret buoy
of the FPSO.
The use of boosting pumps or subsea electric driven
centrifugal pumps located on the seabeds near the well to
increase production.

The use of Torpedo Piles for attaching the vessel mooring

system to the seabed. The base case pile system remains
suction piles.
Note that all five of the above concepts (both facility and
subsea) are extensively utilized in other areas of the world and
have proven reliability and operability track records. To a
great degree Petrobras has led in the development of most of
these technologies and is very familiar and comfortable in
using these technologies in its deep water petroleum
developments around the world.
Subsea Boosting Pumps
Subsea boosting pumps will be utilized in the project to
maintain a drawdown in the reservoirs by adding energy to the
produced fluids to overcome the static head of the 8,200 ft
depth column in the FPSO location.
Currently two alternatives are being considered, one concept is
the use of an electrical submersible pump (ESP) and the other
concept is a subsea electric driven centrifugal pump. Both
pump concepts would be mounted on a pump manifold base
and suction pile on the seafloor. The pumps will operate with
gas volume fraction (GVF) in a range is still within the
capabilities of ESPs and centrifugal pumps.
Due to the fact that the pumps used are rotodynamic pumps
and not positive displacement pumps, they do not pose any
risk of overpressuring the flowlines.
In Phase 1, one 20,000 bopd pumping unit will be installed on
one flowline from Cascade and one 20,000 bopd pumping unit
will be installed on one flowline from Chinook. Each pump
unit will have a bypass feature in the pump manifold base that
will allow continued production while the pump is being
repaired and during pigging operations. Pump units are
installable and retrievable by cable.
The subsea boosting pump technology has come a long way
since the first subsea applications in the early 1990s and is
now being incorporated as a part of full field development
solutions in many recent projects.
Table 1 below summarizes the Petrobras experience with
subsea boosting systems from the installation of the first
Electric Submersible Pump (ESP) on a subsea well in 1994 to
the latest developments. Petrobras is currently developing its
Jubarte and Golfinho fields using subsea boosting technology
similar to the technology proposed for Cascade and Chinook.
Free Standing Hybrid Risers
Configuration and System Description. The FSHR is a
system consisting of a section of vertical line pipe tensioned at
the top by air filled buoyancy can and anchored to the seabed
by a suction pile or drilled base. The risers are connected to
the host FPSO by flexible jumpers allowing vessel motions to
be substantially decoupled from the FSHR (Figure 2).

OTC 18950

The wells will be tied back to the FPSO via production

flowlines and FSHRs. Unconsumed produced gas will be
exported from the field via a FSHR and gas export pipeline.

addition, according to the same souce, more than 60% of the

planned future Floating Production Units worldwide are based
on the FPSO concept.

During normal operations, the turret mooring system is

attached to the FPSO and production is received from
thesubsea flowlines via FSHRs and flexible jumpers to the
turret of the FPSO. During named storm conditions such as
hurricanes, the buoy of the turret disconnects from the FPSO.
The FPSO, which is a self propelled ship, will then seek
sheltered waters. The buoy and the jumpers submerge to a
predetermined depth to avoid the bulk of the environmental
loads of the storm. When conditions have improved, the
FPSO returns to the field, locates and retrieves the buoy, and
then re-attaches it to the turret.

The areas where these facilities are currently in use include

Southeast Asia, the South China Sea, the Indian Ocean off
Northwest Australia, the South Atlantic Ocean off West Africa
and Brazil, the Mediterranean Sea, the North Sea, and the East
Coast of Canada. Eighty-six percent of the 99 FPSOs that
were known to be operating in 2005 were located offshore of
just 11 countries. The company with the largest number of
FPSOs operating in the world is Petrobras, offshore Brazil
with 16 units (Table 2).

The advantages of a FSHR in this field configuration are:

Isolation from Vessel motions. Separation of the
hardpipe riser from the vessel via the flexible jumpers
effectively isolates the riser from the fatigue-inducing
motions of the FPSO.
Significant reduction in hang off loads. The host
facility hangoffs only need to support the flexible
jumper from the FSHR to the turret versus the entire
8,200 feet of vertical riser in a Steel Catenary Riser
(SCR) system.
Ease of installation. A FSHR can be installed by a
number of vessel types and this avoids the necessity to
tow-out and upend operations associated with multiple
pipe risers.
Retrievability. If required, a FSHR can be retrieved
after installation without necessarily affecting
production through the other risers.
FPSO Operations (Environmental and Regulatory)
Background. FPSOs are considered new technology in the
GoM, but these vessels have been used throughout the world
since at least the 1970s. They were first used by Shell and
Petrobras off the coasts of Spain and Brazil, respectively. As
of May 2006, 109 FPSOs were in service worldwide, a
number that has grown rapidly over the last ten years. In 1999
there were 71 FPSOs in service (the latest data presented in
the FPSO EIS base-case scenario), which shows the rapid
increase in the development of deepwater fields.
There are currently construction orders for 32 FPSOs and
it is estimated that over the next five years there will be an
additional 103 to 130 orders for floating production systems
(including FPSOs) that are expected to be put into service (Oil
and Gas Journal 2006).
According to the Quest Floating Production Database,
presently more than 50% of the World Floating Production
Systems worldwide are based on the FPSO concept. In

Safe Operating Record. The oil spill risks analyzed in the

FPSO Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for GoM, were
generic to the concept of using FPSOs in deepwater and more
detailed analysis would be needed for the evaluation of any
specific FPSO permit application (Minerals Management
Service 2001). The analysis conducted in the 2001 FPSO EIS
was the first known attempt to collect historical operational
data on FPSOs worldwide. The data was collected by
contacting individual operators, companies, and governments
and supplying them with a voluntary questionnaire (INTEC
Engineering, Inc. 1999). Not all parties contacted provided
feedback so the data was somewhat limited and at this time no
other known attempts have been made to track FPSO
operational data.
In general, the subsea and processing systems associated
with FPSOs are the same as those for other deepwater
production facilities that currently exist in the GoM. The
primary differences between existing deepwater facilities and
a FPSO system are storage of the produced oil, offloading
activities, and the shipment of product to shore. The base-case
scenario indicates that FPSO-unique spill risks comprise only
5% of the total risk. The remaining 95% of spills are not
unique to FPSO operations and would be equally likely and
have similar outcomes on a tension leg platform or other
deepwater production alternative. Of the total potential FPSOunique spills, approximately 94% of the volume would likely
be due to the transfer of oil from the FPSO to the shuttle
tanker and from the shuttle tanker transit to shore.
Approximately 54% of the volume of potential FPSO-unique
spills is likely to be from shuttle tankers near port and 39%
from shuttle tankers in transit to port (Minerals Management
Service 2001).
Advancing technology and increased environmental
standards required of the oil and gas industry have lead to an
overall decrease in accidental oil releases, particularly from
tankers (International Tankers Owners Pollution Federation
Limited [ITOPF] 2006). Interestingly, since oil releases have
been decreasing over the years, the funding to track such
events worldwide has also been decreasing. Data provided by
Petrobras on their FPSO developments in Brazil through
December 2005 show no oil spills and no production losses
have occurred due to offloading. Their overall record with
FPSOs includes 3,500 operations and 2.2 billion barrels (bbls)
oil offloaded by FPSOs. Another 150 operations using

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Dynamically Positioned (DP) FPSOs, with 47 million bbls

offloaded through December 2005, also resulted in no spills
causing environmental impacts.
International tanker data shows that the vast majority of
spills are small (less than 7 tonnes) and that the number and
quantity of spills have continued to decrease over the years
(ITOPF 2006). Tanker spills have decreased from 25.2 spills
per year between 1970 and 1979 and 9.3 spills between 1990
and 1999 to 3.7 spills per year between 2000 and 2005.
Withstanding Hurricanes. Significant damages to offshore
facilities from hurricanes occurred after the FPSO EIS was
published. Katrina and Rita were 1,000-year return period
storms with 83-foot waves, and Ivan (in 2004) was a 2,000year return period storm with 95-foot waves. The effects
included 120 destroyed platforms and 19 MODUs that floated
free from their moorings. In deeper water, the consequences
of drifting are much more problematic and MMS is assessing
conditions to ensure that offshore structure and pipeline
stability are maintained during hurricane conditions.

would be needed and a specific operational procedure for

Walker Ridge in the GoM. Tankers or ATBs will be specified
as dedicated shuttle vessels. The base case has the dedicated
shuttle vessel using a Bow Loading System (BLS), to receive
the connection of the offloading hose from the FPSO.
Equipement will be installed at the bow to allow the
connection of the FPSOs hawser.The vessels chosen for the
Cascade & Chinook project will be designed per USCG
requirements and be compliant with the Jones Act and OPA90. The shuttle vessel selected for the Cascade & Chinook
project will connect to the FPSO via a hawser mooring system
between the bow of the tanker and the stern of the FPSO in a
tandem offloading configuration, with the shuttle tanker
positioned downwind. Both the FPSO and tanker would
weathervane around the turret. This is similar to the
conditions analyzed in the FPSO EIS. In addition, a tug would
be available for support during offloading operations,
including retaining the shuttle heading.
Floating Production Storage and Offloading Vessel
(FPSO)

The FPSO EIS noted that the primary benefit of

abandoning a facility during a hurricane is the reduced
potential for loss of life in the event of a failure rather than any
reduction in oil spill risk. However, evacuating personnel by
helicopter is not a risk-free operation and helicopter accidents
are one of the major fatality risks of offshore operations
(Minerals Management Service 2001).

General. The design basis for the Cascade & Chinook

development is production to a FPSO. This technology has
been successfully used in many oil and gas developments
outside of U.S. coastal waters but this will be a first for the
GoM. The principal advantage of the type of vessel being
deployed is that it can disconnect from its mooring prior to a
hurricane and seek safety in a safe location.

The FPSO will operate in conditions up to a 100-year

winter storm, at which point it will disconnect and sail to a
safe location. Once the vessel has disconnected, the mooring
and riser system will be able to handle any sea state during
storm conditions. In a planned disconnection, the FPSO is
disconnected within 24 hours and there is no flow assurance or
restart issues associated with this type of shutdown. Petrobras
America does not anticipate any situations when a hard
shutdown due to weather will be necessary because there are
adequate forecasts ahead of any hurricane or named storm that
will be well within the time needed for a planned shutdown.

Offloading. Offloading will be to the bow of the shuttle

vessel. Petrobras will charter Jones Act compliant
conventional trading vessels. They will be fitted with OCIMF
standard bow and stern mooring equipment, but will be
modified to accept bow loading.
An OCIMF standard synthetic mooring hawser will be
used, having a length of 150 meters.
The field support vessel(s) provided by Petrobras will be
capable of transferring and handling the hawser and offloading
hose arrangement and maintaining the shuttle vessel in
tandem.

Offloading Vessels (Environmental and Regulatory

Considerations). The FPSO EIS outlined several advantages
of using FPSOs at offshore deepwater GoM oil production
sites. One of the advantages was using tankers to transport
product to shore in lieu of pipelines, allowing the companies
to choose the ports and making a better marketing of the
product. In developing the base-case scenario, the MMS, in
coordination with the USCG, determined that shuttle tankers
would be required to be double-hulled, have internal
propulsion systems, or use other propulsion system
configurations, such as an Articulated Tug Barge (ATB).
While shuttle tankers can vary in size, the base-case scenario
for the EIS considered a 500,000-bbl capacity shuttle tanker as
the likely means of transporting oil cargo in GoM FPSO
operations.

This FPSO will be classified by a Classification Society

(CS) that will follow and approve the entire project from the
basic design to the decommissioning of the FPSO.

Petrobras is currently conducting a study to determine

which offloading vessels would be needed, how often they

Oil Transfer System. The FPSO will be equipped to transfer

a minimum of 500,000 bbls of oil to the shuttle vessel in no

The hawser and hose will be retrievable at the FPSO.

Main Particular. The nominal production capacity of the
facility is 80,000 barrels of oil per day, and gas compression
capacity of 16 Million standard cubic feet per day. The
maximum production water capacity will be 20%. The
storage capacity of the FPSO will be similar to an AFRAMAX
size vessel, with a minimum of 500,000 barrels (bbls) of crude
oil.

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more than 24 hours. This does not include approach,

connecting, ramping-up, topping off and disconnecting. The
total discharge of 500,000 bbls of oil will be made considering
the FPSO at all operational draught variations.
The arrangement of the facilities allow for the offloading
system to be cleaned immediately after every cargo transfer
(offloading). Cleaning will be either by pumping seawater
through a hose from the FPSO to the shuttle, or from the
shuttle to the FPSO.
Single Point Mooring General
Design Requirements. The single point mooring will be
designed and supplied to meet the required operational
conditions. The turret mooring connection system will be
designed for the following operational requirements:
The connector mechanism will have the ability to release
the buoy during a black turret (ie, no electrical power)
situation.
The complete reconnection process, which will be
determined during detail design, is based on sea states up to
Hs = 2.5 meter. The duration will include all aspects from
identification of allowable weather criteria, up to and
including production systems re-start.
To demonstrate the systems ability to function, the
connection system will be able to cycle individual
components of the connector mechanism during sea states
below 2.0 meters, without having to release the mooring buoy.
Design of the turret mooring connection system will
ensure that no fluids will be discharged to the environment.
Design of the connection system (fluid, electrical and
optical) will allow for verification (e.g. testing or equivalent)
of the connection integrity after each re-connection before
exposure to service conditions.
The Disconnect/Reconnect sequence is shown on Fig. 3.
Swivel. Fluid transfer from the riser system to the piping on
the topsides of the FPSO will be through a fluid swivel.
Jumpers will only be used for temporary operations which will
be carried out under safe procedures. The swivel will allow for
continuous unrestricted 360 degree rotation. The swivel paths
will be stackable and comprised of independent toroidal paths,
with flow rates, maximum working pressures and
temperatures, according to the FPSOs piping design. All
swivel paths will operate under all flow rate, pressure and
temperature ranges defined in the process basis of design.
The number and arrangement of swivel paths will be
defined and reviewed during the detail design.
All swivel paths supplied will be of a PROVEN DESIGN,
this means that the swivel design will have been in continuous

offshore operation for a minimum of two years, in terms of the

type of fluid, flow rates, temperatures and pressures involved.
The swivels will be fitted with a means to transfer the
torque to the turret support structure.
Turret / Mooring Connection System
The system will, as a minimum, have these
components and/or capabilities:
Mooring buoy retrieval equipment (ropes, winch,
connecting devices, floats, etc.);
Turret / mooring buoy connection device(s) (including
those for risers and umbilicals);
Turret rotational means for aligning the mooring buoy
and turret;
Dedicated Retrieval hydraulic power unit (HPU)
(located on the turret);
Dedicated Connection Device HPU (located on the
turret);
Means for passively guiding the mooring buoy into a
receiving structure;
All necessary instrumentation to monitor and control
the system;
Means for determining mooring buoy connector device
is properly presented for connection. i.e. position
indicator;
Closed circuit television located as to be able to view
critical connection system devices when the turret is
flooded;
No release of hydrocarbons or control fluids to the
environment.
Mooring Buoy Retrieval Equipment. The equipment used
in the retrieval of the mooring buoy will have the same safety
factors as those associated with equipment in similar offshore
applications as specified by the CS. Equipment loads will
consider snatch or suddenly applied loads as a result of outof-phase motions between the FPSO and the mooring buoy.
The retrieval equipment will be designed to retrieve the
mooring buoy with one compartment flooded from its
damaged buoy depth.
Mooring Connection Device.
The connector will be
designed for the most onerous combinations of loads expected,
up to the disconnection criteria. This device will also include
the loads necessary to energize the turret / mooring buoy
sealing device if applicable. The connector design will have
reserve structural capacity considering both static and fatigue
strength.
The System will be able to test the functionality of the
connecting device and its mating components before or after
integration into their respective structures.

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Mooring System
General. The mooring system will be arranged and designed,
including fatigue analyses of all components, to comply with
API RP 2SK, API RP 2FPS and CS rules to keep the FPSO in
position at the design water depth.
The mooring system will provide a safe and suitable
mooring facility for the FPSO in the specified environmental
conditions. The system will be able to withstand the forces
induced by the specified shuttle vessel moored in tandem with
the FPSO.
The mooring system will be designed as a passive type
system. Thruster assistance or mooring line adjustments to
optimize tension distribution during operation will not be
taken into account in the mooring system design.
The mooring line capacity will be defined by the ultimate
strength of the weakest component in the system. For this
purpose, the system is defined as the anchoring device, chain,
wire and/or polyester rope and all connecting hardware
between them or at the ends.
Mooring System Components Characteristics
Anchoring Devices. The anchoring devices will be
suction piles designed for the maximum holding capacity
resulting from the mooring analyses, taking into consideration
the API RP 2SK safety factors. Torpedo Piles (Petrobras
patent) or drilled/cemented piles may also be considered as an
alternative to the suction pile. The holding power of the
anchoring devices will be presented in the mooring design
report.
Mooring Buoy. The mooring buoy will provide the
structural and mechanical interface between the mooring
system and the turret. The mooring system will terminate at
the mooring buoy and the risers and umbilicals will either
terminate at the buoy or be temporarily housed therein in the
disconnected state. The mooring buoy will be capable of
supporting the static weight and dynamic loads of the mooring
and riser systems while in the disconnected state.

One potential Phase 2 may consist of drilling, completion and

connection of additional wells to each 4-slot manifold of
Phase 1 as well as the installation of another manifold in
piggy-back from each field. Therefore, Phase 2 may consist
of connecting up to 8 production wells from each field to the
FPSO.
A potential Phase 3 may consist of drilling, completion and
connection of additional production and even water injection
wells, if required, and on the transferring of all existing wells
to a new Floating and Production Unit (FPU), which may
substitute the FPSO by the middle of next decade. The oil
export system may also be re-evaluated during this phase. A
representation of one possible configuration of Phase 3 is
depicted in Fig 4.
Acknowledgment
The authors wish to express their sincere gratitude to
PETROBRAS AMERICA and to our partners Devon and
Total for giving permission to publish this work and for their
continuos support.
The authors also wish to acknowledge the contribution of Mr.
Gus Cassity in the preparation of this paper.
The authors extend their thanks to the USCG and MMS for
their continued support, encouragement and guidance in the
project planning and early execution phases
References
1.

Mastrangelo, C.F.; Magill J.; Conner, G and Ganguly, P: Foreign Flag FPSO in OCS GoM A Regulatory
Approach, OTC 18815, 2007
Offshore Technology
Conference

2.

Mastrangelo, C. F. and Castro A.N.M: Field Experience

and Concepts to be Taken into Account in an FPSO
Design, SPE Annual Technical Conference and Exhibition
SPE 97

3.

Mastrangelo, C.F., SPE; Barusco, P.J.; Formigli, J.M.;

SPE; Dias, R.: From Early Production Systems to the
Development of Ultra Deepwater Fields Experience and
Critical Issues of Floating Production Units, OTC 15224,
2003, Offshore Technology Conference

4.

Ribeiro, O.J.S., "The Impact of Subsea Boosting on

Deepwater Field Development", OTC 8063, 1996, Offshore
Technology Conference

5.

Pereira, C.A.G.P; Pinto,, I.A.; Nicodemos, J.F.; Costa, R.S.

da; Vieira, R.A.B; Goulart, R.O: Jubarte Field
Development Architecture, DOT 2005, Deep Offshore
Technology Conference

6.

Vale, O.R. do; Mastrangelo, C.F.; Nicodemos, J.F.: Heavy

Oil Technology Developments Supported by Early
Production Systems, DOT 2005, Deep Offshore
Technology Conference

Potential Future Project Phases

The development concepts being used in Phase 1 of the
Cascade and Chinook development are highly flexible and
allow additional production wells up to the full processing
capacity of the FPSO of 80,000 bopd and 16 MM scfd of gas
without the requirement for significant additional
infrastructure. Subsequent development phases for Cascade
and Chinook will be completely dependent on the fields
performance during Phase 1, and will require more detailed
technical studies. Phase 1, infrastructure flexibility, allows the
future development of Cascade and Chinook to proceed in
many directions and the following descriptions of Phases 2
and 3 should only be seen as an illustration of potential future
activities.

OTC 18950

7.

Henriques, C.C: Roncador Field Early Production

System, OTC 11070, 1999, Offshore Technology
Conference

8.

Rodrigues, R.; Junior, R.S.; Matos, J.S. de; Pereira, C.A.G.;

Ribeiro, G.S.: A New Approach for Subsea Boosting
Punping Module on the Seabed, OTC 17398, 2005,
Offshore Technology Conference

Figure 1- Cascade and Chinook Phase 1.

OTC 18950

10

OTC 18950

Figure 2- FSHR Configuration

OTC 18950

11

Buoy connected
FPSO in production

FPSO evacuated
Buoy in submerged
condition

Close isolation valves

Ready for disconnect

Disconnect Buoy
Winch down and release
at equilibrium

FPSO Returns
Pull in Buoy

Figure 3- Disconnect/Reconnect Sequence

FPSO reconnected
Restart production

12

OTC 18950

Figure 4- Cascade and Chinook Phase 3

OTC 18950

13

Subsea Boosting & Processing

System

Water depth
(Meters)

Year of installation

Carapeba

90

1994

Albacora Leste

1109

1998

Vertical Annular Separation and Pumping

System (VASPS)

Bonito

200

2001

ESP on top of Christmas tree

Jubarte

1400

2004

1200 hp ESP on Horizontal Tree

Jubarte

1400

2005

ESP on dummy well

Jubarte

1400

June 2006

Subsea Multiphase Boosting System

(SMBS-500)

Marlim

600

To be Installed

Albacora

800

To Be Installed

Helico-axial Multiphase Pump

Barracuda

600

To Be Installed

Seabed Mounted ESP

Espadarte

1400

To Be Installed in 2007

Subsea Centrifugal Pumping System

(SCPS)

Roncador

1800

To Be Installed

Marlim

800

To Be Installed

First Subsea ESP

First deepwater subsea ESP with
horizontal tree

Raw Water Injection

Subsea 3 phase separation

Field

Construction

Operation

Table 1 - Petrobras Experience with Subsea Boosting

FPSO and FSO(*) Vessels
Petrobras
Chartered
P-31
P-38*
Seillean
P-32
P-43
Espadarte
P-33
P-47
Brasil
P-34
P-48
Marlin Sul
P-35
P-50
Golfinho 1
Rio de Janeiro
P-37

P-53
P-54

Golfinho 2
Cidade de Macae*
Opportunity 1
Opportunity 2
Siri

Table 2 - Petrobras FPSO and FSO Fleet

Year 2006 FPSO FSO* Total

Operation
16
1
17
Construction
6
1
7
Total
22
2
24

Jan. 2007