Amid rebound in global oil prices, South Korea’s Samsung Heavy Industries Co. brought home the first offshore drilling project for Korean shippers in 18 months, winning an 1.5 trillion won ($1.25 billion) order to build a floating production unit (FPU) for British oil giant BP’s Mad Dog Phase 2 project.
The Korean shipbuilder on Thursday said it was consigned to install a floating production unit for Mad Dog Phase 2 project, the second stage of development of the Mad Dog offshore field located about 200 miles south of New Orleans, the U.S.
Discovered in 1998, the Mad Dog field began production in 2005 and now has a production capacity of 80,000 barrels of oil and 60 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The second development started in 2009 when the field had been estimated to hold more than 4 billion barrels of oil, twice more than the initial estimation.
The floating production unit weighing 58,000 tons or above that Samsung Heavy Industries will build is expected to produce 110,000 barrels of oil and 25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. The due date for payment is August 2020.
The company won the order thanks to its technological prowess proven by its experiences to construct large-sized floating production units weighing 110,000 tons and 70,000 tons.
The shipbuilder is also about to sign an order from Italian oil and gas company ENI to build a floating liquid natural gas (LNG) platform in Mozambique by establishing a consortium with France’s Technip and Japan’s JGC. Samsung Heavy’s share is estimated to be worth $2.5 billion
As of 2:28 p.m. on Thursday, shares of Samsung Heavy Industries rose 5.25 percent to 9,820 won in Seoul trading.
By Kim Jung-hwan
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