Best Practices for Decommissioning of Floating Production Systems FPS

Abstract

Decommissioning of offshore floating structures is predicted to pose significant future challenges for the offshore Oil and Gas (O&G) industry, and will become increasingly relevant as the sector matures, and assets reach the end of their offshore design life. At the present time, the majority of operators are not prepared operationally or procedurally for this stage. Given the number of units due to reach the end of their design life in the next 10 years in Brazil alone, the need for experts in decommissioning or life extension is ever more important. The O&G industry and the Petroleum Regulatory Agencies are growing increasingly concerned with Decommissioning liabilities and this paper will bring awareness of key aspects relevant to this niche market for safe, sustainable decommissioning and green recycling activities. This paper aims to present the best practices and solutions related to the decommissioning of FPSO's, and the risks and challenges of sound project execution. The successful execution model consists of procedures related to required assessments to be performed during the planning phase, in order to prepare the decommissioning execution plan, cleaning, voyage / voyage preparation, disconnection and asset disposal.