Offshore Floating Production: Legal and Commercial Risk Management

Edited by: Stuart Beadnall, Simon Moore, Max Lemanski

This is the first book to focus on the law and practice relating to offshore oil and gas floating production. It deals with all legal and commercial risk management issues from initial concept through design, construction, modification, installation, acceptance, production and offloading, including ancillary legal topics; JV/consortiums, financing, insurance, decommissioning and intellectual property.

Floating production projects are a popular method of achieving offshore oil and gas production, utilising vessels sitting over the offshore reservoir, receiving well fluids which are then processed, stored and offloaded to tankers. They operate in deep water, harsh conditions and marginal fields, and may be redeployed once the reservoir is depleted. There are numerous legal issues which arise in the context of floating production due to its specific characteristics, presenting a unique combination of challenges with the attendant risks and potential liabilities. This book analyses these risks and liabilities and considers how they may be allocated between the parties, how the consequences are avoided or mitigated and how disputes are in practice resolved. It illustrates these issues and competing legal arguments by focusing on each stage of the relationship between the oil and gas company and a specialist floating production contractor.

The book will be of special interest to project managers and in-house lawyers at oil companies, offshore contractors, design consultants, construction companies, suppliers, vessel operators, banks, insurers and investors. It will also be of particular use to private practice lawyers in all jurisdictions where these projects occur; because contracts used in this industry are often written under English law,and contracts which are governed by local law follow a similar pattern.

CONTENTS: 

TABLE OF CASES
TABLE OF LEGISLATION
ABOUT THE EDITORS
LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION TO FLOATING PRODUCTION
CHAPTER 2. FPSO DESIGN
CHAPTER 3. CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS
CHAPTER 4. CONVERSIONS, REFURBISHMENT AND MODIFICATION
CHAPTER 5. THE CHARTER PERIOD
CHAPTER 6. CONTRACTOR REMUNERATION
CHAPTER 7. OFFLOADING
CHAPTER 8. INDEMNITY AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY CLAUSES
CHAPTER 9. INSURANCE
CHAPTER 10. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
CHAPTER 11. TERMINATION
CHAPTER 12. DECOMMISSIONING
CHAPTER 13. DISPUTE RESOLUTION
APPENDIX A - FLOATING PRODUCTION UNITS – HISTORY, DESIGN, INSTALLATION AND OPERATION
APPENDIX B – Case Study
APPENDIX C – Legal Glossary