Norwegian floater specialist BW Offshore has secured a short-term contract extension for its floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel Petróleo Nautipa operating offshore Gabon.
operating offshore Gabon.The extension will see the 1975-built unit stay in production at the Vaalco Energy-operated field from September 20 until October 4 this year, ahead of demobilisation.
The Houston-based Vaalco will be replacing the Petróleo Nautipa after some 20 years with a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit. Last August, the operator booked the 2001-built crude tanker Cap Diamant from World Carrier Offshore Services to operate as an FSO for up to eight years, with additional option periods attached to the deal.
According to Vaalco, the FSO solution should reduce storage and offloading costs by almost 50%, lower total operating costs at Etame by around 17% to 20% through 2030, and increase effective capacity for storage by over 50%.
