Crown Minerals reports STOS as saying the FPSO, currently working in the Maui B field, will be sold to Norwegian company Bassoe FPSO AS, based in Oslo, with the new owner towing the Whakaaropai to an Asian shipyard for refurbishment before re-commissioning.
STOS said the FPSO would soon be surplus to requirements because of declining oil production, and that after the departure of the Whakaaropai the Maui B field oil wells would be converted to gas wells, enabling additional gas recovery from the southern B lobe of the field.
Before Maui B oil started in September 1996, the field had been producing less than 7 million barrels of condensate a year. But in 1997 total Maui crude and condensate output jumped to 16.6 million barrels.
However, since then production of oil, condensate, and naphtha has declined to the 2004 level of 5.1 million barrels.
