Crude oil transshipment using floating, storage, and offloading platforms (FSOPs)

Abstract

Floating Storage and Offloading Platforms (FSOPs) have beenund for forty years now and are attracting attention due to increasing offshore fields and facilities for oil and gas. Although in a conceptual stage, this technology can enable more efficient crude delivery to various demand centers onshore. The concept of FSOP has been prevalent for some time now in terms of its design and sustenance offshore. Although, the use of FSOPs for crude transshipment has been existential in the logistics industry, yet no work has so far addressed the management of such units for crude oil handling and transportation. To address this research gap, we combine a mix of techniques used by Cheng and Karimi (2006) as well as Reddy and Karimi (2004) specifically aiming at building continuous time models. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.