The Plutonio FPSO will have a two million barrel storage capacity and is intended to handle 220 mbd per day over a 25 year life span. It will service five fields in Block 18 offshore Angola, operating in very deep water.
"This prestigious contract from BP confirms Bureau Veritas' leading position in classing giant FPSOs, and builds on our successful experience with numerous FPSOs world-wide," Bureau Veritas Marine division managing director Bernard Anne said.
BP has chosen BV because of its proven competence with large floating structures, and successful experience with its family of VeriSTAR tools for hydrodynamics, structural analysis and fatigue, said Anne.
When the Plutonio FPSO comes on stream in 2007 it will be anchored in deep waters in the South Atlantic ocean with subsea tie backs to the five fields it will serve.