Azule Energy recently announced that the world’s first offshore post-combustion carbon capture and storage (CCS) system has officially commenced operations on the Agogo FPSO.
Originally an ultra-large crude carrier, the Agogo FPSO is provided, operated, and maintained by Yinson Production on behalf of Azule Energy. Following integration and retrofitting at COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry in Shanghai, the vessel departed from Shanghai in March 2025, arrived in Angola in May, completed mooring and hook-up in June, produced its first oil on July 29, and officially commenced a 15-year fixed-term charter in August.
It is reported that this “floating super oil refinery,” measuring 333 meters in length and 60 meters in width, is designed to produce 120,000 barrels of crude oil per day. Its most notable feature is the installation of the world’s first post-combustion carbon capture system on an FPSO.
During the refit, Shanghai COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry successfully completed the precise installation of 10 upper-deck modules weighing over 15,000 tons in total, laid more than 1 million meters of cables, and seamlessly integrated the carbon capture system into the production process—all while working within extremely limited space and dealing with complex existing systems. This technology captures carbon dioxide from the flue gas emitted by gas turbines after combustion. It is expected to reduce carbon emissions by approximately 230,000 tons annually—a reduction of about 27%—equivalent to the annual carbon sequestration capacity of 110,000 mu of forest, marking a crucial step toward achieving a zero-carbon FPSO.
In the Agogo project, Shanghai COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry also set a new world record for the shortest refit cycle for an FPSO of this type. Facing challenges such as numerous complex scheduling and stringent commissioning requirements, the project team ultimately delivered the vessel one month ahead of schedule with high quality, demonstrating first-class project management capabilities as well as the speed and strength of China’s offshore engineering refit industry.
As the seventh FPSO built by Shanghai COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry and the third retrofit project undertaken in collaboration with Yinson, the successful commissioning of the Agogo FPSO has further strengthened the strategic partnership between the two companies. The vessel serves Azule Energy, Angola’s largest independent oil and gas producer (a joint venture between Italy’s Eni Group and BP). The successful operation of the CCS system has demonstrated the feasibility of offshore carbon capture under extreme operating conditions and provides strong support for Yinson’s goals of achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2050.
From a conventional oil tanker to the world’s most environmentally friendly FPSO, the transformation of the Agogo FPSO showcases the evolution and upgrading of Shanghai COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry. Leveraging the locational advantages of the world-class marine equipment zone on Changxing Island in Shanghai, Shanghai COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry is accelerating its advancement into the field of high-end oil and gas platform conversion and manufacturing. The successful commissioning of the world’s first offshore post-combustion carbon capture system not only fills a technological gap but also puts the company’s vision—to “build a flagship facility for the repair and modification of green, low-carbon, and smart ships and offshore engineering structures”—into practice. Moving forward, Shanghai COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry will continue to be driven by technological innovation, promoting more “high-end Chinese manufacturing” to the world and contributing COSCO Shipping’s strength to the strategy of building a maritime power and the global green transformation of the offshore engineering industry.