Global FPSO Forum Panel Features ABS

Day three of the AtComedia Global FPSO Forum in Galveston opened on Thursday morning, 25 Septermber, with a panel discussion addressing the safety and reliability of floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel operations and the importance of regulatory compliance.

SNAME President Peter Noble chaired the event, which featured presenters from ABS, Berkley Offshore Underwriting Managers, ConocoPhillips, Petrobras and the US Coast Guard (USCG).

In his opening remarks, Noble explained the significance of classification societies in the wider realm of offshore operations. While it is impossible to “ensure” safety, Noble said, “class societies like ABS work to promote safety offshore.”

Executive Vice President of Offshore Energy Development, Ken Richardson, described the role ABS plays in improving industry safety as a critical stakeholder in the offshore safety network. “Classification societies establish and apply technical standards in relation to the design, construction and survey of offshore structures,” he said, explaining that the classification function is to address safety issues in the entire life cycle of an offshore unit – from design to decommissioning.

Richardson defined ABS’ role in industry as that of an “honest broker” and explained the value an independent third party brings to the table when validating design safety. He also clarified how ABS acts as a Recognized Organizations (RO), performing statutory inspections on behalf of flag States.

“ABS is the only class society that can approve things on behalf of the US Coast Guard,” USCG Captain John Nadeau said, noting that as FPSO operations expand in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), “there will be more and more reliance on third parties.”

Petrobras Marine Systems Engineer Paulo Biasotto told attendees about some of the challenges his company faced installing the BW Pioneer, the first FPSO in the GoM, which is currently producing 40,000 b/d of oil from the deepwater Cascade and Chinook fields. “Petrobras uses third parties like ABS for class or CVA (certified verification agent),” Biasotto said, “because it provides a completely independent look.”

For ConocoPhillips, which according to Engineering Fellow and Marine Engineering Manager George Gu is expanding its deepwater presence, safety is a primary objective as the active FPSO fleet ages and the operating environments change.

Not surprisingly, the safety of the assets working in those evolving environments is the primary objective for companies like Berkley Offshore Underwriting Managers, a firm that ensures offshore rigs and vessels. The company’s role, says VP Scott Bernard, is to “promote risk reduction for all parties.”

This goal is reached through a formal process that aims to determine the level of safety delivered by the asset. While it might not be apparent, Bernard said, the role of the underwriters is not to make life more difficult for asset owners. Instead, he explained, underwriters “must ensure that survey and assessment are reasonable, relevant, practical and useful.”

In the end, Noble said, safety permeates all of the activities associated with floating production, and it is through cooperation and communication with all parties involved that the industry will be able to move safely into frontier areas.