Under the contract, MODEC will handle the design of the hull and all associated topsides facilities for the Gato do Mato FPSO, which is expected to be moored by a SOFEC Spread Mooring system, nearly 250km off the Brazilian coast

Gato do Mato

MODEC to deliver FEED for FPSO Gato do Mato. (Credit: Sebastian from Pixabay)

MODEC has bagged the front-end engineering and design (FEED) contract for a floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) system related to Shell’s Gato do Mato project in Brazilian waters.

The award was given by Shell’s subsidiary Shell do Brasil.

Under the contract, MODEC will handle the design of the hull and all associated topsides facilities for the Gato do Mato FPSO. The production vessel is expected to be moored by a SOFEC Spread Mooring system.

It will be tied at a water depth of around 2,000m, nearly 250km off the Brazilian coast.

The stabilized crude produced from the Gato do Mato development will be stored in the tanks of the FPSO. The oil drawn from the field will be delivered to the market using shuttle tankers.

To date, MODEC has executed 16 FPSO projects intended for Brazilian waters. Currently, the company has two more vessels under construction.

The FPSO Gato do Mato represents the second unit to be directly delivered by MODEC to Shell for operation in Brazil. The first FPSO delivered by MODEC to Shell for FPSO Fluminense, which has been operating in the Bijupirá and Salema oil fields in the Campos Basin since 2003.

MODEC president and CEO Hirohiko Miyata said: “MODEC is proud to be working on its nineteenth (19th) FPSO for Brazil and our second for Shell in Brazil. This milestone indicates the strong relationship between the two companies which now spans more than 20 years.

“We are excited about performing this FEED study for Shell.”

Earlier this year, MODEC and Toyo Engineering had awarded a contract to ABB pertaining to an FPSO vessel in the Uaru oil field operated by ExxonMobil in Guyana.  The contract was awarded through their joint venture Offshore Frontier Solution.

As per the contract, ABB will be responsible for providing a complete electrical system and related digital solutions to the FPSO named Errea Wittu.