Floating storage and offtake 101
A floating storage and offtake (FSO) unit is typically a converted or retired conventional oil tanker, moored to the seabed, which is used to store raw crude oil from deepwater offshore oil fields.
An FSO receives cargo from an offshore production facility via a dedicated loading system, often offloading to a shuttle tanker for transport to shore for refining.
FSO advantage
FSOs serve as floating oil storage facilities at offshore fields with limited or no storage capacity. Often, FSOs are used as ancilliary external storage for FPSO units (see Floating Production Storage and Offloading 101).
Conversion to an FSO provides an opportunity to employ older vessels that may be nearing the end of their operational life and, because these units generally do not require off-hire time for maintenance and repair, floating storage is a stable business.
About Teekay Offshore's FSO units
- Five FSO units
- Currently operating in Australia, North Sea, Qatar, Thailand
- All units operating under fixed-rate contracts
- Customers include: Apache, Chevron, Statoil