Construction of Shell's Penguins FPSO Completed in China
The construction of the Penguins FPSO for Shell's namesake field in the UK North Sea has reportedly been completed in China.
CGTN, the China Global Television Network website, on Thursday, shared a video of the completed Penguins FPSO, and said the 118-meter-tall cylindrical FPSO, constructed by the Chinese Offshore Oil Engineering Co., Ltd. company in Qingdao, had been delivered to "a British client."
In January 2018, Shell made a decision to redevelop the Penguins field in the northern North Sea, authorizing the start of the FPSO construction.
The company said at the time that the FPSO would have a peak production of around 45,000 boe/d.
The redevelopment of the field, connected to the Brent Charlie platform, is required as the Brent Charlie platform is planned to be decommissioned.
Shell said in 2018 that the Penguins redevelopment would see an additional eight wells drilled, which will be tied back to the new FPSO vessel, with a storage capacity of 400000 barrels.
Natural gas will be exported through the tie-in of existing subsea facilities and additional pipeline infrastructure.
The Penguins field is in 165 meters (541 feet) of water, approximately 150 miles northeast of the Shetland Islands. Discovered in 1974, the field was first developed in 2002.
Shell and its partner Exxon in 2018 opted for the cylindrical Sevan 400 FPSO design. Oil will be transported via tanker to refineries, and gas will be transported via the FLAGS pipeline to the St Fergus gas terminal in north-east Scotland.
The FPSO is designed to operate continuously for 20 years without dry docking.
