BP Awards Plutonio FPSO Class to Bureau Veritas

UK-based oil major BP has awarded the classification and verification services for its giant Plutonio FPSO to Paris-based Bureau Veritas. The Plutonio FPSO will have a 2 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.

Bernard Anne, managing director of Bureau Veritas Marine Division, says, "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." Following Sonangol's approval , BP will be putting the building contract for the Plutonio FPSO out to tender. When 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.

Anne says BP has chosen BV at this early stage of the project because of its proven competence with large floating structures, and successful experience with its family of VeriSTAR tools for hydrodynamics, structural analysis and fatigue.