ABL Group has been appointed by Oil Search (PNG) to provide marine warranty survey services (MWS) for Papua New Guinea’s (PNG) first offshore floating storage and offloading (FSO) facility.
Oil Search (PNG) is a subsidiary of Santos and the operator of the PNG Oilfields Projects.
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ABL’s services are expected to support the supply, transportation, installation, pre-commissioning and commissioning of critical equipment. Its MWS cover locations offshore PNG as well as operations in India, Indonesia and the UK, according to the UK-based energy and marine consultancy.
The FSO unit will be located at the Kumul Marine Terminal and integrated into the Kutubu Pipeline System. It will receive, store and offload liquid hydrocarbons such as crude oil and condensate produced from several oilfields in the area.
Gas produced alongside these liquids will be directed to the PNG LNG (liquefied natural gas) Project.
ABL’s scope includes overseeing pipe load-out operations in India, load-out of coated pipe, spools and pipeline-end manifolds (PLEMs) at Batam in Indonesia and monitoring flexible riser load-out in Newcastle, UK.
Within PNG, ABL will be responsible for approving pipe-laying, supervising PLEM installations, managing FSO mooring deployment, FSO hook-up to the mooring and the flexible riser pull-in process. Yard attendance will also be provided by the company in Indonesia.
ABL’s Australian operation principal marine engineer Tim Field Dodgson said: “Our MWS role is essential to ensure that marine operations are carried out safely, in accordance with applicable regulations and industry standards, and with the appropriate level of risk mitigation measures in place.
“This is particularly important for high-value or complex marine operations such as this project offshore Papua New Guinea.”
The project will be led by ABL’s Australia office, with assistance from teams in India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the UK. The work programme is expected to continue through to 2028.
ABL Australia engineering manager Sujith Mathew said: “This is a landmark project for Papua New Guinea that we are proud to support. We will apply decades of specialised MWS experience to oversee the safe transportation and installation of the FSO mooring, pipelines and other vital subsea infrastructure.”
