14 December 2011, Sweetcrude, LUANDA – Italian firm, Eni, and SBM Offshore firmed up Wednesday a deal for SBM’s floating, production, storage and offloading vessel, Xikomba, to work at Eni’s block 15/06 development offshore Angola.
But, the vessel will undergo upgrading work at an Angolan shipyard before beginning its 12-year charter to Eni.
The FPSO is currently at Singapore’s Keppel shipyard undergoing the first part of a major upgrade before arriving Angola.
Eni and SBM signed a letter of intent earlier, in April, this year on the 12-year Xikomba deal.
The firmed up deal will include relocating the unit which had previously been working for ExxonMobil off Angola since 2003. After its stint at Keppel, the unit will head to Paenal shipyard in Angola for further work.
“The investment required for the upgrade and relocation of the FPSO Xikomba will be comparable to a large FPSO conversion project,” SBM wrote in a statement on Wednesday. First oil from the FPSO is projected for 2014.
