MMS approves use of ship-shaped floating production and storage

by The Associated Press

Companies pumping oil from beneath the Gulf of Mexico may apply to use floating vessels to draw the oil from wells, store it and later unload it onto tankers, the Department of the Interior announced.

Use of such ship-like “floating production storage and offloading systems” is touted by the industry and shipbuilders as a cheaper alternative to building permanent platforms, allowing production on what would otherwise be marginal sites.

The Jan. 2 announcement was made in a news release by the Minerals Management Service of the Interior Department.

The review found environmental risks posed by the floating production storage and offloading systems to be comparable to other offshore production systems now allowed in the Gulf.

Companies wanting to use the system will have to apply with Minerals Management Service.

The system is already in use in other parts of the world and would be beneficial in some areas of the Gulf where oil and gas have been found, said Associate Director of Offshore Minerals Management Carolita Kallaur.

“Sometimes these discoveries are small and sometimes they are distant from existing infrastructure,” she said.

The new policy excludes a 471-block area just off the continental Shelf from Galveston to New Orleans where the Coast Guard now prohibits unloading of oil. That prohibition will continue for at least two more years while the Minerals Management Service and the Coast Guard study the issue.

The system won’t be appearing in the Gulf immediately. Caryl Fagot, an MMS spokeswoman said reviews of applications for use of system could take months.

A floating production storage and offloading system draws in oil from undersea oil wells through pipes. The oil is stored in the hull of the vessel until it is loaded onto tankers that shuttle it to shore.

The vessel’s single-point mooring system enables it to turn with the wind, like a weathervane, so that it always faces prevailing winds, thus cutting down on motion.