Wison Clean Energy Commences Hull Construction for Côte d'Ivoire Baleine Phase 3 FPSO

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On August 30, the Phase 3 FPSO project for the Baleine oil and gas field in Côte d'Ivoire commenced shipyard construction activities, with EPCIC contractor Wison Clean Energy completing the first steel plate cutting for the FPSO hull. Under the current construction schedule, the next major manufacturing milestone will be the first steel plate cutting for the FPSO topside modules.

In July this year, Wison Clean Energy formally signed the Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation, and Commissioning (EPCIC) lump-sum contract with Eni and Altera Infrastructure for the Baleine Phase 3 FPSO, having previously participated in the front-end engineering design (FEED) for the facility. Altera Infrastructure serves as the FPSO owner and operator, while Eni is responsible for the development of the Baleine oil and gas field.

The new FPSO has an overall length of approximately 308 meters, a molded breadth of 57 meters, and a molded depth of 29.8 meters, with a design service life of at least 20 years, intended for operation in water depths of approximately 800 to 1,200 meters. The facility is designed to process 90,000 barrels of crude oil, 80,000 barrels of produced water, and 160 million standard cubic feet of natural gas per day, serving as the core facility of the new offshore production system for Phase 3 of the Baleine oil and gas field.

The final investment decision for Baleine Phase 3 was completed on May 25, with a total investment of $4 billion for the entire Phase 3 development. Upon project commissioning, the overall crude oil production capacity of the Baleine field is planned to increase from 60,000 barrels per day to 150,000 barrels per day, and natural gas production from 80 million cubic feet per day to 200 million cubic feet per day. Eni has confirmed that all natural gas produced from the project will be supplied to the domestic market of Côte d'Ivoire.

The Phase 3 subsea production system has already entered the execution stage. In July, SLB OneSubsea was awarded the EPC contract for the subsea production system covering 13 wells, with the scope of supply including subsea Christmas trees, manifolds, multiphase flow meters, control systems, and associated installation and commissioning services.

During the same period, Saipem was awarded the Baleine Phase 3 subsea engineering contract, covering the design, fabrication, transportation, and installation of approximately 50 kilometers of rigid pipelines and associated subsea structures, as well as the transportation and installation of flexible risers, flexible jumpers, the subsea production system, approximately 3 kilometers of flexible gas export pipelines, and 22 kilometers of subsea umbilical cables. The related works are scheduled to be executed over approximately three years.

In July, Saipem also secured an offshore drilling contract with Eni Côte d'Ivoire valued at approximately $260 million, with the Santorini drillship planned to commence long-term development drilling operations in Ivorian waters from early 2027. With the start of FPSO hull construction, Baleine Phase 3 has simultaneously entered multiple engineering execution phases, including the floating production facility, subsea production system, subsea pipelines, and development drilling.