U.S. approves floating oil production and storage in Gulf
Date: 07-Jan-02
Country: USA
The decision, which follows a lengthy environmental and safety review by the MMS, opens the door for oil and gas companies to submit applications to use FPSOs in the Gulf of Mexico which provides about one quarter of U.S. oil production.
Floating production, storage and offloading systems consist of tankers that are moored out at sea and which store crude oil as it is produced. Smaller shuttle tankers carry the oil ashore where it is refined into products such as gasoline and jet fuel.
FPSOs can be used to develop oil discoveries that are too far from existing subsea pipelines or which are too small to justify investment in construction of new pipelines.
According to the MMS, the federal agency that regulates production of oil and natural gas in federal waters, there are currently more than 70 FPSOs in use around the world, though none have yet been deployed in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
Areas where they have been used include the North Sea, Brazil and West Africa.
Oil companies had been pressing for permission to use FPSOs in the Gulf of Mexico and the MMS decision now allows them to submit applications for approval on a case-by-case basis.
Environmental activists have argued that FPSOs pose a greater risk of marine pollution than traditional offshore oil platforms that stand on the ocean floor or are anchored to it.
Acting MMS Director Lucy Querques Denett said in a statement that the environmental risks of FPSOs were found to be comparable to other types of production system already in use in deepwater areas of the Gulf of Mexico.
