[REVIEW] World's largest FPSO - HYUNDAI HEAVY INDUSTRIES

  Technology becomes Masterpiece    

(photo from Hyundai Heavy Industries' TV advertisement)This 'GOLIAT FPSO' has a extraordinary shape which seems to come from the outer space planet. It is the facility to endure the extreme tides.

FPSO stands for Floating Production Storage and Offloading. It is special vessel which can refine a the crude oil pumped out from Offshore plant or drill ship, and store the refined products to transfer to shuttle tank or other place. It is essential facility for oil company to develop deep sea oilfield. 

In Feb 2010, Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) became the supplier of the world's largest FPSO plant which costs $1.1 billion, from the Norwegian oil company ENI Norge AS. This FPSO went into construction from Nov 2011, and is expected to be installed at Goliat Field which is at 85 km Northwest from Hammerfest, Norway by the end of 2013.

This 'GOLIAT FPSO' requires cutting-edge technology for highly difficult construction procedures to built cylinder-shaped vessel to endure cold weather and strong tides of Arctic Sea.

The diameter of this Goliat FPSO is 112 meter, and the height is 75 meter. The vessel weight reaches to 52,000 tons. The FPSO can produce and refine 100,000 barrels of crude oil, and 4,000,000 m³ of Liquid Natural Gas, as well as store 1,000,000 barrels of crude oil, which is the half amount of daily consumption of Korea.

HHI has supplied FPSO to Brazil Petrobras in 1996, France Total, US Exxon Mobile and BP of UK. And every year, FPSOs has been built and delivered to the world. HHI has 60% of share in Super-size FPSO which can store more than 2,000,000 barrel of crude oil.

I expect more advanced technology would be invented form Hyundai Heavy Industries, and would help the civilization to advance, saving the world with the innovative ideas and efforts to reach to resources in deep inside of earth. (photo from Hyundai Heavy Industries)