¡El FPSO brasileño acelera nuevamente, impulsando la expansión de la flota de OSV en un 28%!

With the commissioning and installation of the new generation of high-capacity ultra deepwater FPSOs, the demand for the next generation OSVs in the Brazilian offshore market will significantly increase, driving up daily rental prices.

According to a well-known ship brokerage company's prediction, Brazil will deploy larger capacity floating production storage and offloading units (FPSOs) in the future, which will drive the expansion of Brazil's OSV (offshore support vessel) fleet by about 28% by 2030. These advanced FPSOs will be installed in more distant and deeper salt basins, requiring a new generation of high endurance, high specification offshore support vessels to participate in operations.

Nicolas Garschagen, director of Arctic Offshore, stated that most of the new FPSOs will be deployed in Brazil's two core production areas: Campos and Santos basins. The daily oil production capacity of these large FPSOs will be about 25% higher than the average of active vessels, increasing from the current approximately 130000 barrels to 163000 barrels by 2030.

Nicolas Garschagen · Arctic Offshore

We need larger and more capable vessels to meet the needs of these FPSOs

Guilherme Cruvinel · Petrobras

We hope the fleet has greater flexibility

Currently, there are 19 FPSOs in the Campos Basin and 28 in the Santos Basin. He pointed out that the migration of new FPSOs to deeper waters and farther distances will generate demand for a new generation of PSV, ROV support vessels, and AHTS: "Most new FPSOs have a one day or one-and-a-half-day shore range, so larger and higher endurance vessels must be configured to meet operational needs. ”

In ultra deep water environments of 1.800-2.300 meters and supply ranges of 50-150 nautical miles, new OSVs are mostly DP2 or DP3 class vessels with underwater capabilities.

In the Santos Basin, the Buzios and Mero giant oil fields have a high FPSO density. Buzios currently has five FPSOs in operation and six more under construction (P78, P79, P80, P82, P83, and Buzios 12), which will become one of the world's largest ultra deepwater production clusters.

The FPSO projects from Petrobras, Karoon, and Brava Energia form a 'very solid pipeline for future projects'. Currently, 11 new FPSOs have been confirmed for construction, with 3 bids and 7 evaluations in progress. Petrobras alone is expected to add 15 FPSOs by 2030.

FPSO installation and production stages will drive a large demand for OSVs

Petrobras outsources the installation of FPSO to SURF contractors such as SubseA7, TechnipFMC, and Allseas, who rent support vessels to carry out the task.

·Mero 2 installation cycle is approximately 1.5 years

·The newly arrived Buzios 6 is expected to take 2 years to complete installation

At the Offshore Support Journal Conference, Garschagen further explained the vessel configuration during the FPSO installation phase:

1: FPSO was towed to the site by an ocean going tugboat

2: 4-5 AHTS perform positioning maintenance

3: Several AHTs are responsible for mooring anchor chain operations

4: 1-2 PSVs provide material support

5: Subsequently entering the mooring locking and riser connection stage

A typical installation operation requires 7-11 OSVs, depending on the strategy of each SURF contractor.

The new FPSO can produce 225000 barrels per day and store 1 million barrels of oil. It needs to be unloaded every 4-5 days and requires a dedicated AHTS and a total production period of approximately 4 OSVs.

According to Arctic Offshore's calculations, the new FPSO project pipeline will bring 28% of OSV incremental demand by 2030

·PSV: 137 → 169 vessels

·AHTS: 64 → 87 vessels

·RSV: 46 → 57 vessels

Another key point is that the daily rental price of PSV is strongly correlated with FPSO installation. The long-term lease of PSV during the FPSO installation period is $40000 per day, which is 69% higher than in 2008 and significantly higher than the global average.

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PSV： Platform Supply Vessel

Platform Supply Ship

Core function: Deliver goods to offshore platforms.

PSV is the "logistics fleet" in the offshore industry, responsible for transporting onshore materials to offshore installations (FPSOs, platforms, drilling vessels, etc.).

Typical carriers include:

Drilling mud, cementing materials, chemicals

Spare parts, food, and daily necessities

Pipe fittings, tools, emergency equipment

Return waste/liquid waste

Features:

The hull lines are square and the deck is large

High degree of automation

Common Dynamic Positioning Systems (DP2 or DP3)

Fast sailing speed and excellent fuel consumption control

High safety and environmental requirements (especially in deep water areas)

In deepwater markets such as Brazil, Mexico, and the North Sea, PSVs are a large number of OSV vessels with stable demand.

AHTS ：Anchor Handling

Tug Supply

Anchor tugboat

Anchor handling supply vessel

Core function: Dragging and anchoring, it is a powerful ship for marine engineering.

AHTS mainly undertakes:

Dragging large equipment such as FPSO and drilling platforms

Laying, recycling, tensioning anchor chains and mooring systems

Handling high tension anchor chains (hundreds or even thousands of tons)

Perform station maintenance in adverse sea conditions

Features:

High power (common for 20.000-40.000 BHP)

Strong towing force (bold pull of over 200 tons is not uncommon)

Wide stern deck, complex winches and mooring equipment

The hull is more resistant to wind and waves

The usage scenarios of AHTS are highly dependent on:

FPSO installation

Drilling activities

Mooring maintenance

The demand fluctuates greatly, but the project price is usually very high during the project period.

RSV：ROV Support Vessel

ROV supports ships/

Underwater operation vessel

Core function: Used for underwater inspection, maintenance (IMR), and equipment installation, it is the core ship type of the entire "deepwater era".

RSV is a high specification ship for DP2/DP3, typically carrying:

ROV (Remote Underwater Vehicle)

Underwater oil pipeline and umbilical cable detection equipment

Engineering deck and crane (50-150 tons)

IMR (Inspection, Maintenance, Repair) System

Main tasks:

Underwater infrastructure inspection (risers, flowlines, manifolds)

Installation/replacement of underwater equipment

Deepwater maintenance and troubleshooting

Long term support for SURF projects (Subsea Umbilicals, Risers, Flowlines)

In the mature stage of deepwater development (such as Brazil, Angola), the value of RSV is often higher than that of PSV and AHTS, as it is tied to the lifecycle of the entire underwater system.