FSO for Banyu Urip project to be completed in 2014
Monday, September 3 2012 - 01:37 AM WIB
The conversion of a very large crude carrier (VLCC) into a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel to support the Banyu Urip oil field project in the Cepu Block, Central Java, is scheduled to be completed in January of 2014.
The double hull Greece-flag VLCC, which has a capacity of 320,000 dwt and a storage capacity of 1.7 million barrels of oil, is still being converted at the Sembawang Shipyard in Singapore.
?The (FSO) vessel must be completed on time so that full production at the Banyu Urip project can be reached as targeted,? said Deputy for Operational Control at upstream authority BPMIGAS, Gde Pradnyana, on Friday during a ceremony in Singapore.
Gde said that the construction of the FSO vessel must ensure quality, cost efficiency, and high safety aspect.
He also said that the Banyu Urip project receives the special attention of BPMIGAS, which has set up a supervisory and control team for the project.
Meanwhile, Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mobil Cepu Limited, Kenneth C. Dowd said that the Banyu Urip project is expected to help increase Indonesia?s oil production.
With reserves of about 450 million barrels of oil, Banyu Urip is considered as the largest unexploited field in the country.
Production at the Banyu Urip field currently stands at around 24,000 bpd. This is expected to increase to 165,000 bpd when the facilities for full development have been completed. ?We?re working hard to meet the target,? Dowd said.
Editing by Reiner Simanjuntak