Mohammed Shosanya
About 50 floaters would likely be awarded before the end of this decade, a report by Rystad Energy has claimed.
The Norwegian consultancy noted that the development signifies that global floating production storage and offloading vessel market is poised for a huge uptick in the coming years.
It also said increased spending on oil and gas projects will provide a solid springboard for offshore activity and supplier opportunities. which could lead to a higher number of FPSO awards until 2030.
“From 2023 to 2030, Rystad Energy forecasts 48 FPSOs will be awarded for new greenfield developments. The majority of these, 19 units, will be destined for South America with Brazil and Guyana with 12 and six units respectively,” it added.
It also said,Europe will also see a large number of units, nine in total, with new countries added to the list such as Cyprus and Ireland.
“In Africa, Angola and Nigeria will see three and two units respectively. In Namibia, we expect recent exploration success will lead to two new FPSOs in this emerging basin,” the report added.
In addition to greenfield awards, Rystad expects “dozens of lifetime extension projects and redeployments to materialise in the brownfield market as energy prices stay high”.
It noted that eight FPSOs were awarded in 2022 with another 12 awards expected this year, as FPSOs lead the charge in deep-water developments.
It said that offshore spending is on the rise, with offshore fields sanctioned this year and next likely to represent “total greenfield capex of $214 billion, the first back-to-back years in which over $100 billion in offshore capex will be sanctioned since 2012-2013”.
“We anticipate that the offshore investments cycle will last for several years as oil demand grows until the end of this decade,” it stated.
Rystad added that offshore activity this year is comparable to levels between the peak of the ‘golden era’ from 2010-2014 and the lows of the post-pandemic slump of 2020.
“We forecast that offshore projects sanctioned in 2023 and 2024 will amount to 68%, or 24 billion barrels, of committed conventional resources, up from just 40% for projects sanctioned between 2015 and 2018,” it said.
