An offshore hydrocarbon production system in which gases are economically stored
for transport. After the produced hydrocarbons are separated into liquid (crude
oil) and gases, the gases are separated into heavy and light gases. The heavy gases,
which consist primarily of propane and butane, are stored as LPG (liquid petroleum
gas) in a refrigerated LPG tank. The light gases (methane and other light gases)
are hydrated and the ice crystals are stored in a refrigerated hydrate tank.