Floating production storage and offloading

A floating production storage and offloading (FPSO) unit is a floating vessel used by the <a href="/facts/Oil_platform/n1eKvqpy">offshore oil and gas industry</a> for the production and processing of <a href="/facts/Hydrocarbon/Dcg95Ju5">hydrocarbons</a>, and for the storage of oil. An FPSO vessel is designed to receive hydrocarbons produced by itself or from nearby <a href="/facts/Oil_platform/n1eKvqpy">platforms</a> or <a href="/facts/Subsea/Q5SRhJG0">subsea</a> template, process them, and store oil until it can be offloaded onto a <a href="/facts/Tanker_(ship)/lqAWBT3A">tanker</a> or, less frequently, transported through a <a href="/facts/Pipe_(material)/dgX5uQjj">pipeline</a>. FPSOs are preferred in frontier offshore regions as they are easy to install, and do not require a local pipeline infrastructure to export oil. FPSOs can be a conversion of an <a href="/facts/Oil_tanker/WHUhISVB">oil tanker</a> (like <a href="/facts/Seawise_Giant/4IC8tSAz">Seawise Giant</a>) or can be a vessel built specially for the application. A vessel used only to store oil (without processing it) is referred to as a floating storage and offloading (FSO) vessel.
The first of a related type, <a href="/facts/Floating_liquefied_natural_gas/jJLE0KyC">floating liquefied natural gas</a> vessels, went into service in 2016.

Floating production storage and offloading open-in-new

Floating production storage and offloading