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AMOCO LETS FPSO CONTACT FOP OIL FIELD OFF CHINA

Nov. 14, 1994

Amoco Orient Petroleum Co. and partners have passed another milestone in a 5630 million development program for deepwater Liuhua 11-1 oil field in the South China Sea off China. With horizontal drilling under way on a 20 well program, Luihua 11-1 partners -through general contractors Modec Inc. and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.-let a $20 million contract for the project's floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO). The agreement calls for juron Shipyard Ltd.,

Amoco Orient Petroleum Co. and partners have passed another milestone in a 5630 million development program for deepwater Liuhua 11-1 oil field in the South China Sea off China.

With horizontal drilling under way on a 20 well program, Luihua 11-1 partners -through general contractors Modec Inc. and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding Co. Ltd.-let a $20 million contract for the project's floating production, storage, and offloading vessel (FPSO).

The agreement calls for juron Shipyard Ltd., Singapore, to convert the 140,000 dwt Nan Hai Sheng Li tanker to a 720,000 bbl FPSO and maintain it.

Liuhua 11-1's development plan is based on a floating production system (FPS) that will produce oil to the surface through a subsea gathering system from subsea wells outfitted with electric submersible pumps (OGJ, Apr. 26, 1993, p. 30). Processing and well test equipment is to be capable of handling as much as 300,000 b/d of fluids, including 65,000 b/d of oil.

In addition to storing Liuhua 11-1 oil and offloading the cargo into tandem moored shuttle tankers, the FPSO will provide power to and perform maintenance on subsea systems and the FPS.

The vessels' mooring systems will enable them to remain on station in major typhoon conditions.

CONTRACT REQUIREMENT

Detailed engineering plans completed recently for the FPSO call for Jurong to:

Replace some steel to extend the life of the vessel.
Repair and overhaul existing ship equipment.
Install, hook up, and mechanically complete six process modules, three pipe rack modules, and the vessel's turret mooring system.
Precommission the vessel and related systems.

Delivery of the FPSO is scheduled for fourth quarter 1995. Liuhua 11-1's first oil is expected to be produced in spring 1996.

Billed as the largest accumulation of oil found in the South China Sea, Liuhua 11-1 was discovered by Amoco in 1987 in 1,000 ft of water about 120 miles southeast of Hong Kong. The field is on 791,214 acre Contract Area 29/04, one of three offshore tracts acquired by Amoco in 1985-86.

Operator Amoco Orient and KerrMcGee Liuhua Ltd. each hold a 24.5% interest in the development project and China Offshore Oil Nanhai East Corp. 51%. China Offshore Oil is a unit of state owned China National Offshore Oil Corp.