Floating Storage and Offloading (FSO)

A Floating Storage and Offloading unit is a moored tanker-form vessel used to store crude oil produced at an offshore field and offload it to shuttle tankers, without the processing plant that an FPSO carries. Many are converted from trading tankers. The FSO sits where a pipeline to shore is uneconomic, taking stabilized crude from a nearby platform or FPSO. It is distinguished from the FPSO, which produces and processes, and the FSRU, which stores and regasifies LNG.