Floating

Petroleo Brasilerio (Petrobras) was given a thumb’s up by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) last week to develop the first floating production storage offloading (FPSO) facility in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The FPSO, to be located in the Cascade-Chinook area in the Walker Ridge area of the Lower Tertiary trend, would be built about 165 miles offshore Louisiana in 8,200 feet of water.

Petroleo Brasilerio (Petrobras) Tuesday was given a thumb’s up by the Minerals Management Service (MMS) to develop the first floating production storage offloading (FPSO) facility in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The FPSO, to be located in the Cascade-Chinook area in the Walker Ridge area of the Lower Tertiary trend, would be built about 165 miles offshore Louisiana in 8,200 feet of water.

The Minerals Management Service (MMS) has granted preliminary approval to Petroleo Brasilerio (Petrobras), Brazil’s state-owned oil company, to build the first floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) facility in the Gulf of Mexico, a company executive said this week.

President Bush signaled Wednesday that he is open to some of the offshore drilling proposals floating around on Capitol Hill provided they do not allow drilling closer than 100 miles to shore.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX), chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is floating a discussion draft of a bill that would, among other things, give FERC the authority to regulate the rates for natural gas gathering service on the federal Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), said energy analyst Christine Tezak.

Leviathan Gas Pipeline Partners LP contracted with MODECInternational LLC for construction of the hull for a floatingplatform to be used as part of its Sunday Silence field developmentproject in Gulf of Mexico Ewing Bank Blocks 958, 959, 1002 and 1003in 1,500 feet of water. MODEC International, which is owned by FMCCorp. and Mitsui Engineering & Shipbuilding, was selected byLeviathan after reviewing four competitive bids.