New FPSO: for the Adriatic Sea
Saipem lands $1.5bn Aquila FPSO gig
Italian contractor Saipem said today it has been awarded a contract from parent company Eni for the supply and operation of a floating production storage and offloading vessel worth around €1 billion ($1.5 billion).
The work involves the conversion of an oil tanker into an FPSO vessel, for which Saipem will provide the installation and the operation management.
The FPSO vessel will have a storage capacity of 700,000 barrels and a production capacity of 12,000 barrels of oil per day.
The contract is for 20 years with production activities due to start in the fourth quarter of 2011.
"The dayrate on the contract works out to be around €140,000, over 20 years this makes sense," said an industry source to Upstreamonline.
The contract is divided into two phases, said Saipem. For the first 8 years, the unit will be employed for work on the Aquila field off the Italian coast in the Adriatic Sea.
Work plans for the remainder of the contract remain open.
The new FPSO will replace the FPSO Firenze which operated on the Aquila field from 1998 to 2007.