A West Africa Offshore Operator had made a small discovery and proceeded to monetize the asset as quickly as possible with an available FPSO where the field was planned to be developed and depleted in 3-5 years in a fast-track development (discovery to first oil in just under 14 months).  

 

During the delineation drilling and development, the field continued to grow larger and larger with the need for the FPSO to stay on location for multiple years, far beyond the original scope.  It became necessary to inspect and evaluate the FPSO hull and oil storage tanks since the longevity of being on station would now be long term vs short term.  

 

Innovative solutions and inspection expertise allowed the Operator to isolate the various storage compartments and identify areas of hull replacement that were needed to ensure structural integrity and safe operations for long term operations.  Several options were considered...