The Tantawan Explorer is a floating production offloading vessel recently installed in the Gulf of Thailand.
Alleviating potential vibration problems from seven 2,000-hp reciprocating gas compressors was critical in the design of a floating production offloading vessel (FPSO) for the Tantawan field, offshore Thailand. According to Alliance Engineering Inc., which developed the design basis for the project, early recognition of the problem allowed the project team to design the facility to prevent any such problems from occurring once the FPSO began operating in about 400 ft of water.
Tantawan Service LLC, an affiliate of Pogo Producing Co., owns the FPSO. Thaipo Ltd., another unit of Pogo Producing Co., operates the Tantawan field, which is in Block B8/32 of the Gulf of Thailand, 250 miles south of Bangkok.
The conversion of the 1 million bbl oil tanker into the FPSO, Tantawan Explorer, was part of a project that also included four drilling/production platforms and associated subsea pipelines. The tanker was converted at the Sembawang shipyard in Singapore.
Alliance says the project commenced in May 1995 and was completed in March 1997, ahead of schedule. Alliance worked as a subcontractor for Intec Engineering Inc.
The facilities are designed for a production rate of 200 MMscfd and 50,000 bo/d.
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