(EnergyAsia, July 30, Thursday) --- Malaysia’s Bumi Armada Bhd, owner and operator of the country’s largest fleet of offshore vessels, said its second floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessel, the Armada Perdana, has set sail to operate in offshore Nigeria. 

The company held a sail-away ceremony for the 1988-converted vessel at the Keppel Shipyard in Singapore on July 18. The FPSO has a 45,000-b/d processing capacity and a one-million-barrel storage capacity for processed oil, with topside water and gas injection capabilities.

The FPSO has been contracted to Nigeria Agip Exploration Ltd (NAE), a subsidiary of Italian oil major Eni SpA, to operate in Nigeria’s Oyo field. The vessel forms part of Bumi Armada’s contract for a five-plus-five-year fixed time charter for the leasing and operation of a one-million barrel storage capacity FPSO.

Hassan Basma, Bumi Armada’s CEO, said: “The completion of this FPSO through turbulent times underscores the trust our clients have in our competence in the execution of large and fast track projects. Our teams did an incredible job contending with a global shortage of materials and resources which was quickly followed by the global financial crisis.”

An international company serving clients in South-East Asia, India, Mexico, the Congo, Angola and Nigeria, Bumi Armada said the Armada Perdana will be manned by 70 Nigerians while the company’s first FPSO, Armada Perkasa, has 80 Nigerians among its crew.

Eni and NAE are partners with Allied Resources Nigeria and Houston-based CAMAC International to develop Offshore Mining Lease 120 (OML 120) located approximately 70-75 km offshore Nigeria in water depths ranging 200 to 500 meters.

Kase Lawal, CAMAC chairman and CEO, said: “This FPSO will enable Allied Energy to begin production on Oyo Field in OML 120 which was discovered in 1995 with proven oil reserves of 50,000,000 barrels.

“With first oil targeted for the fourth quarter of 2009, we are confident that this FPSO will enable Allied Energy to continue our pioneering leadership as an independent oil and gas company, a stakeholder and contributor to the Nigerian and world economies, and a worldwide supplier of energy resources.”