What do offshore oil and gas plants do?

An offshore oil and gas plant, or FPSO, is an offshore floating production, storage and offloading unit that integrates production, storage and offloading of oil.The FPSO receives a mixture of oil, gas and water from subsea wells through subsea pipelines, after which the mixture is processed and treated into qualified crude oil and natural gas, which is stored in the tanks of the vessel after reaching a certain volume and then transported to land by shuttle tankers. After that, the mixture is processed and treated into qualified crude oil and natural gas, which are stored in the ship's tanks, and then transported to the land through shuttle tankers after reaching a certain amount.

Structure and Function of FPSO
FPSO mainly consists of hull module, production module and living module. The hull is responsible for storing qualified crude oil, the production module accomplishes the processing of crude oil, and the living module provides personnel housing and production command system. In addition, FPSO can be divided into two types, multi-point mooring and single-point mooring, according to the mooring method.

Advantages and Application Scenarios of FPSO
FPSO has the following advantages:

Strong handling capacity: capable of handling large quantities of oil, gas and water mixtures.
Good maneuverability: can move quickly and adapt to different development needs.
Wide range of application: applicable to shallow and deep sea, strong resistance to wind and wave.
Flexible application: can be combined with production platform or underwater production system to form a complete development system.
Historical background and development trend
The concept of FPSO was first proposed by Shell in 1977 and applied to the development of Castellon oil field in the Mediterranean Sea. Since 1986, FPSOs have been widely used globally, with 187 FPSOs in operation worldwide as of 2011.