Type:
Oil
Facility:
Production
Water Depth:
158
Installed:
2012
meters
Block:
205/21a
Design:
Floating steel
Sub Structure:
6000
Topsides Wgt:
9000
tonnes
tonnes
Intro
The Aoka Mizu FPSO is a floating production, storage and offloading vessel deployed on the Lancaster offshore field west of Shetland in the UK North Sea. Installed for early production in ~2019, it handles both crude oil and associated gas from the fractured basement reservoir, storing hydrocarbons and enabling export by shuttle tanker and through subsea pipelines.
Field
The Lancaster oilfield is located in Blocks 205/21a, 205/22a, 205/26b in the West of Shetland area, discovered in 2009 and developed with early production from 2019. It is a naturally fractured Precambrian granitic basement reservoir with moderate remaining oil volumes (~37.3 million barrels OOIP) targeted by Hurricane Energy’s EPS concept.
Facilities
The Aoka Mizu FPSO is moored with a turret system enabling weathervaning in ~150 m water depth. Subsea infrastructure includes wells drilled from jack-ups tied back via flowlines and umbilicals to the FPSO. The vessel integrates crude oil separation, slop handling, and basic gas processing for fuel and export conditioning. Oil is stored in internal tanks (~600,000 bbl capacity) and offloaded to shuttle tankers. Gas lift and fuel gas boosting ensure turbine and power generation continuity. Well test and subsea control systems link to topside control rooms. Infrastructure comprises subsea manifolds, risers, and emergency disconnect systems for North Sea weather conditions. Typical utilities include power generation via gas turbines, produced water handling, fire & gas systems, and accommodation modules for ~80 personnel. Export routes are shuttle tanker for oil and subsea pipeline for gas to shore or local hub systems.
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