Contracts for floating, production, storage and offloading units are poised to continue a comeback run this year after surging to pre-pandemic levels in 2021, according to analysts at Rystad Energy.
It said in a report that 10 new FPSO awards are expected in 2022.
That's the same level of contracting seen last year, when the market for the floating assets neared levels seen before Covid-19 slammed the oil and gas market. There were just three FPSO leases in 2020, compared to 11 a year earlier.
The continuation of a floating production rebound is certain to be good news for shipyards, which saw rising orders in 2021.
Zhenying Wu, a senior analyst with Rystad Energy, said: "With around 30 FPSO units under construction or queued up for construction, and another 10 expected to be awarded over the next 12 months, the market is set to build on its recent success.
"However, as witnessed in many other facets of the global economy in recent months, supply chain concerns linger and will test the market's ability to take in new contracts without uncontrollable cost overruns and delays."
At the heart of the FPSO bounce-back is demand for oil and gas units in Brazil, which accounted for seven of last year's FPSO awards.
"The South American nation is expected to continue driving global awards in 2022, with an additional three FPSOs expected," Rystad said.
Among the Brazilian FPSOs, the P-80 unit sought by Petrobras is expected to have oil processing capacity of 225,000 barrels per day (bpd) and 12m cbm per day of gas processing capacity.
The unit is poised to enter operations in 2026.
Upstream, TradeWinds' sister publication covering oil and gas, reported in December that Petrobras is taking technical and commercial proposals for the smaller P-81 through February.
Also, in South America, Guyana is expected to contribute an FPSO to the awards count this year. Angola, Australia, China and Malaysia are also each expected to award one contract each.
