Santos awards Dorado FPSO FEED contract to Altera
Santos Ltd. let a front-end engineering and design contract for the floating production, storage, and offtake (FPSO) vessel for Dorado oil and gas field offshore Western Australia to Altera Infrastructure Production AS.
The contract is the development’s largest and involves engineering, procurement, construction, installation, commissioning and testing of the vessel.
The FPSO will be designed for storage capacity of 1 million bbl and production capacity of 75,000-100,000 b/d.
Altera (formerly Teekay Offshore) will begin a full definition engineering program to confirm technical requirements for the FPSO and its associated disconnectable mooring system.
The FPSO design will provide for the integrated development of both the liquids and the gas resource at Dorado and will retain flexibility to support future nearby exploration success, said Kevin Gallagher, managing director, chief executive officer, Santos.
Exploration of two nearby prospects—Pavo and Apus—is expected to begin “in a matter of months,” said Adrian Cook, managing director and chief executive officer of JV partner Carnarvon Petroleum.
Development of Dorado field, discovered in July 2018 in permit WA-437-P in the Bedout subbasin about 160 km north of Port Hedland, is planned in two phases. Phase 1 will involve production of oil and condensate through a wellhead platform and FPSO with gas reinjection into the reservoir to enhance liquids recovery.
A contract for the design, supply, and installation of the wellhead platform will be awarded shortly.
A final investment decision for the development is expected mid-2022 leading to a planned on-stream date for Phase 1 oil and condensate production in 2026.
Gas will be produced in Phase 2 to backfill Santos’ existing domestic gas infrastructure. The field contains a minor CO2 content of 1.5%.
Dorado development plans were submitted for public scrutiny and comment the week of Aug. 16 (OGJ Online, Aug. 20, 2021).
Santos is operator with 80% interest. Carnarvon holds the remaining 20%.
