Development trends in marine production platform fleet in 2015–2021

Abstract

Object and purpose of research. This paper discusses marine oil and gas production platforms splitted into four types depending on their purpose. The study was intended to analyse the changes in global production platform fleet and outline the main trends in its development. Materials and methods. The study was based on the open-access data available with offshore field developers, oil and gas companies, shipyards and design offices. The methods in this study were acquisition, analysis and comparison of the data about the fleet of marine oil and gas production platforms. Main results. The paper presents the results of fleet composition analysis for floating oil and gas production platforms over the period of 2015–2021 characterized by the decline in global oil and gas prices. The study shows that the most common type of marine production platforms is FPSO (213 vessels). The strength of FPU and FPDSO fleets remains the same: 99 and 2 vessels respectively. Their geography has not changed either. The fleet of FLNGs has increased up to 7 ships since the commissioning of first FLNGs in 2014. Conclusion. FPSO platforms of various designs (mostly ship-type) offer high mobility and operational flexibility, i.e. greater project revenues and zero pipeline construction costs in case of remote field developments. It must be noted that water depths at FPSO locations have reached their record highs: 2900 m for production platforms and 3400 m for drilling ones. In future, floating platforms could be replaced by subsea production system but their massive introduction cannot be expected in at least 30–50 years to come.