Australian petroleum exploration and production company, Woodside Energy, has announced the completion of the construction of the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) unit for the Sangomar Phase 1 Field Development offshore Senegal, which is on track to begin production in late-2023.
With the capacity to produce 100,000 barrels of oil per day, the Leopold Sédar Senghor FPSO – named after Senegal’s first president – is currently en route from China to the Keppel Offshore & Marine Tuas Yard in Singapore where it will undergo topsides integration and commissioning work.
Having awarded the FPSO supply contract to global supplier and operator of offshore floating platforms, MODEC, in 2020, the unit’s hull and marine works, external turret, topsides module installation, and conversion work on the vessel were completed by Chinese offshore marine engineering company, COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, while the topsides modules were fabricated by botch COSCO and engineering, procurement, and construction company, BOMESC Offshore Engineering, in Tianjin, northern China, with the external turret mooring system having been fabricated by marine hydrocarbon equipment engineering services company, Penglai Jutal Offshore Engineering Heavy Industries.
“The Chinese yards achieved excellent safety performance throughout this phase of construction, logging more than 16 million hours of complex construction work without a lost-time injury event,” stated Woodside Energy CEO, Meg O’Neill, adding that, “The construction teams also successfully navigated the challenges posed by pandemic-related travel and logistical restrictions throughout 2021 and 2022, ensuring the FPSO remained on schedule for start-up at the Sangomar field in late 2023.”
Now approximately 70% complete, the Sangomar project represents Senegal’s first offshore oil development, with the Senegalese Government having approved the plan for the field development in 2020. Situated in water depths of roughly 1,100m and located approximately 100km south of Senegal’s capital of Dakar, the field – which has estimated recoverable resources of nearly 630 million barrels of oil – will include 23 wells and supporting subsea infrastructure with options for later expansion.
The Sangomar Field Development is operated by Woodside Energy, which holds an 82% interest, while the remaining interest is held by Senegal’s National Oil Company, Petrosen.
