Consortium begins FSO vessel conversion for Banyu Urip field

By Godang Sitompul

The consortium of Scorpa Pramedya and Singapore?s Sembawang on Monday began the engineering, procurement and construction of the Floating Storage Offshore (FSO) that will be used to support the oil production of Banyu Urip field, Cepu Block at the border of East Java and Central Java.

?The Scorpa Pramedya and Sembawang consortium had kicked off the EPC-4 stage of the Cepu Block project,? Vice Chairman of BPMIGAS Hardiono told Petromindo.com.

Deputy for Operation of BPMIGAS Rudi Rubiandini said the very large crude container (VLCC) MT Chios, an oil tanker built by Hyunday Heavy Industries, has been handed over to the consortium, which will later convert the vessel to an FSO.

The VLCC with a draft of 22.29 meters, a length of 327 meters and a width of 58 meters has been stationed at the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore for the modification works.

The vessel is being in the process of changing its status into Indonesian-flag vessel.

Profile of VLCC to be converted to FSO:
Name: MT Chios
Builtd: Mei 1993
Original: Greek
Capacity: 320,000 DWT
Storage capacity: 1.7 million barrels
Type: VLCC (Very Large Crude Container) / Double Hull
Length: 327 meters
Width: 58 meters
Height: 31 meters
Class: ABS (American Beaure of Shipping)
Mooring Type: Soft Yoke ? Mooring Tower

Mobil Cepu, as the operator of the Cepu block, began its early production activities in August, 2009, with a production level of about 20,000 barrels per day. The production is expected to reach the peak of 165,000 bpd in 2014.

Editing by Roffie Kurniawan