Drydocks World in Dubai is preparing to send two newly upgraded vessels to the deepwater Baleine Field offshore Côte d’Ivoire.
These vessels will be integral to the Baleine Phase 2 project, managed by Eni in collaboration with Petroci.
Petrojarl Kong, a circular FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Offloading) unit, previously operated under the name Voyageur Spirit on the Huntington Field in the UK North Sea until 2020. The second vessel, FSO Yamoussoukro, was converted from the Altera shuttle tanker Nordic Brasilia and will offer additional oil storage and export capabilities at the field. Both vessels are owned and operated by Altera under a 15-year firm contract.
Arne H. Tørnkvist, Executive Vice President of Projects at Altera Infrastructure, announced that the FPSO and FSO are close to completion, about 14 months after their arrival at the shipyard. The comprehensive project required more than 10 million manhours.
Altera emphasised their fast-track execution approach, which involved simultaneous activities in engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning. The project’s scope included extensive demolition, repairs, life extension, and conversion work for both vessels.
This deployment marks Altera’s first foray into oil and gas operations in offshore West Africa. The company has established a new operational base in Abidjan to manage the FPSO and FSO activities.
Chris Brett, President of Altera Infrastructure Production, stated that this initiative proves “redeployments are among the quickest, most cost-effective, and environmentally friendly solutions for project development in today’s market.” This venture is Altera’s 13th redeployment project.
The vessels will be stationed approximately 50 km from the coast, alongside the FPSO Baleine, which began operations last August. Once Phase 2 starts in December, production from the Baleine Field is projected to rise to 60,000 barrels of oil per day and 70 million cubic feet of associated gas per day.
Eni has highlighted that this development is Africa’s first net-zero emission upstream project (Scope 1 and 2).
