Woodside Energy has passed another important milestone for the Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 with the completion of the construction phase for the floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) facility which will be deployed at the field offshore Senegal.

Woodside awarded the contract for supply of the FPSO to MODEC, Inc in 2020. Hull and marine works, external turret and topsides module installation and conversion work on the vessel were completed by COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry (Dalian) Co., Ltd. The topsides modules were fabricated by both COSCO and by BOMESC Offshore Engineering Company Ltd. in Tianjin, and the external turret mooring system was fabricated by Penglai Jutal Offshore Engineering Heavy Industries Co., Ltd (PJOE).

Woodside Energy CEO Meg O’Neill acknowledged the achievements of MODEC, COSCO, BOMESC and PJOE in completing the fabrication and conversion works.

“The Chinese yards achieved excellent safety performance throughout this phase of construction, logging more than 16 million hours of complex construction work without a lost-time injury event.

“The construction teams also successfully navigated the challenges posed by pandemic-related travel and logistical restrictions throughout 2021 and 2022, ensuring the FPSO remained on schedule for start-up at the Sangomar field in late 2023,” she said.

The vessel is now being relocated to Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd.’s Tuas Shipyard in Singapore. Keppel will complete topsides integration and support pre-commissioning and commissioning activities for the FPSO.

The FPSO is a converted Very Large Crude Carrier and has been named after Senegal’s first president, Leopold Sédar Senghor. It will have a capacity to produce 100,000 barrels per day of oil.

The Sangomar Field Development Phase 1 is currently around 70% complete and will be Senegal’s first offshore oil project. The development includes the FPSO, 23 wells and supporting subsea infrastructure, designed to allow the tie-in of subsequent phases.