Smart FPSO boosts digital energy

The first smart floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility finished construction and was delivered in Nantong, Jiangsu province on Friday, further accelerating the country's digital energy transformation, said industry experts.

Haiyangshiyou 123, the offshore oil and gas processing plant with a storage capacity of 100,000 metric tons, is the first FPSO in the country that applies digital technologies such as cloud computing, big data, the internet of things, artificial intelligence and edge computing, said its operator CNOOC Energy Technology & Services Ltd, a subsidiary of China National Offshore Oil Corp.

The project will lay a solid foundation for intelligent oil and gas production and operation after its commissioning, said the company, also known as CenerTech.

The FPSO integrates the functions of crude oil production, storage and export. It is similar to an offshore oil and gas processing plant, making it a mainstream production facility for global offshore oil and gas development, said Wang Wei, deputy general manager of CenerTech.

"With the application of digital technologies, the smart FPSO paves the way for the establishment of a smart operation and maintenance solutions service in the country," he said.

According to Wang, compared with the traditional FPSO, which requires engineers to travel from onshore to offshore in case of critical equipment failure, the smart FPSO can achieve remote access, which not only significantly reduces the time it takes to repair equipment failures and raises work performance efficiency by 10 percent, but it also detects offshore production hazards earlier and reduces production and operating costs by more than 10 percent.

According to CenerTech, the project will be applied to the Lufeng 12-3 oilfield development project in the South China Sea, which includes 13 wells. Crude output in the oilfield is expected to peak at 29,500 barrels per day after production in the second half of this year, becoming a new growth level in China's offshore oil and gas production.

CNOOC said China has become one of the largest FPSO manufacturing and application countries in the world, with the number and gross tonnage of FPSO at the forefront of the world.

China has seen continuous upstream investment and production commitment in recent years. The offshore oil and gas processing plant has the highest level of automation, the most complete intellectualized data and the most advanced design concept in China, said Li Ziyue, an analyst with BloombergNEF.

It is proof that China has the capacity to build and assemble world-class advanced super-large FPSO units, Li said.

Wang of CenerTech said CNOOC will focus on the new trend of digital green and low-carbon transformation in the oil and gas industry, further stepping up the construction of smart oilfields to ensure sufficient energy and green transition in the country.