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Houston London Paris Stavanger Aberdeen Singapore Moscow Baku Perth Rio de Janeiro Lagos Luanda

For continuous news & analysis

www.offshore-mag.com

March 2010

World Trends and Technology for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations

Seismic work
streams ahead

Caspian Sea set

for offshore
Deepwater port exhibits resurgence
growth, optimism
Click here
to access
Fall Energy 2009 E : ng/
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BJ’s Ice-Chek™
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𰁂𰁔𰀁𰁂𰀁𰀘𰀑𰀆𰀁𰁓𰁆𰁅𰁖𰁄𰁕𰁊𰁐𰁏𰀁𰁊𰁏𰀁𰁕𰁓𰁆𰁂𰁕𰁊𰁏𰁈𰀁𰁗𰁐𰁍𰁖𰁎𰁆𰀁𰁄𰁐𰁎𰁑𰁂𰁓𰁆𰁅𰀁𰁕𰁐𰀁
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𰁊𰁎𰁑𰁓𰁐𰁗𰁆𰀁𰁚𰁐𰁖𰁓𰀁𰁉𰁚𰁅𰁓𰁂𰁕𰁆𰀁𰁎𰁂𰁏𰁂𰁈𰁆𰁎𰁆𰁏𰁕𰀁𰁑𰁓𰁐𰁈𰁓𰁂𰁎𰀏𰀁

𰀳𰁆𰁂𰁍𰀁𰁘𰁐𰁓𰁍𰁅𰀏𰀁𰀸𰁐𰁓𰁍𰁅𰀁𰁄𰁍𰁂𰁔𰁔𰀏𰀁𰀸𰁐𰁓𰁍𰁅𰁘𰁊𰁅𰁆𰀏

𰁘𰁘𰁘𰀏𰁃𰁋𰁔𰁆𰁓𰁗𰁊𰁄𰁆𰁔𰀏𰁄𰁐𰁎
_____________

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International Edition
Volume 70, Number 3
March 2010

CONTENTS
Celebrating Over 50 Years of Trends, Tools, and Technology

32 51
SPECIAL REPORT: ENGINEERING, CONSTRUCTION, & INSTALLATION
CASPIAN SEA Installation of the world’s deepest spar .................................................................... 48
Caspian Sea set Shell’s Perdido development is a record-setting venture. The list of world firsts includes an inte-
for offshore resurgence...................... 28 grated topsides installation that set a new record for lift weight in the US Gulf of Mexico (GoM)
The Caspian offshore is one of the world’s at 8,866 metric tons (9,773 tons).
most important sources of oil and gas produc-
tion growth. In 2010, offshore production is PRODUCTION OPERATIONS
expected to top 1.5 MMboe/d, with plans in
place to reach 3 MMboe/d by 2020. Downhole monitoring, control using digital distributed sensing ............................ 52
Real-time, accurate downhole monitoring data is crucial to understanding and controlling well-
bore and reservoir performance while maximizing oil and gas extraction. An increasingly used
GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS method to get this data is permanently installed downhole monitoring sensors in production and
Seismic vessel count down, injection wells.
but work is picking up ....................... 32
The business side of offshore geology and Capitalizing on real-time drilling data in reservoir management ............................ 54
geophysics in 2009 remained in tune with The industry is looking for fast, easy-to-use, powerful reservoir management solutions to
the generally weak year for the entire E&P improve performance and production, and reservoir modeling is moving into this crucial phase
industry. The survey which follows shows that of drilling developments in well correlation, well planning, local model updates, and the ability to
the vessel count was 156, down by 17 from last incorporate real-time drilling data into the model.
year’s report.
Polymer seal tests reveal elastomer needs for future EOR programs...................... 56
Worldwide seismic vessel survey ...... 34 With a 1% improvement in world oil production efficiency estimated to be worth an additional 20-
30 Bbbl, the ability to extend the operational life of seals and other polymer-based components
DRILLING & COMPLETION would provide significant financial benefits.

Ultra high pressure risers

for deepwater drilling ......................... 40 SUBSEA
As the development of offshore hydrocarbon Subsea separation, boosting reach record depths ................................................... 58
reserves extends into greater water and Recent awards and start-ups indicate several new projects in the developmental stages plus new
well depths, riser system design and supply world records for installed systems. Subsea separation and boosting technology is now opera-
becomes a critical industry challenge. One tional in 2,438 m (7,999 ft) water depth in Shell’s Perdido field.
such example is the drilling of pre-salt wells in
water depths approaching 3,000 m (10,000 ft).

Offshore (ISSN 0030-0608) is published monthly by PennWell, 1421 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK 74112. Periodicals class postage paid at Tulsa, OK, and additional offices. Copyright 2009 by
PennWell. (Registered in U.S. Patent Trademark Office.) All rights reserved. Permission, however, is granted for libraries and others registered with the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC),
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upon request. POSTMASTER send form 3579 to Offshore, P.O. Box 3200, Northbrook, IL 60065-3200. To receive this magazine in digital format, go to www.omeda.com/os. Standard
Mail A enclosed, versions P3 and P4.

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We’ve earned
our sea legs.

Think about ITT.

Offshore, the challenges are always tougher. And the need for reliability in
equipment couldn’t be more critical. ITT is up to the task, every day. Providing
pumps, agitators, valves, desalination equipment, electrical feedthru systems,
composite piping, switches, vibration isolation systems and more. The truth
is, offshore oil and gas simply couldn’t be produced without us. For more
information, and to receive our Oil and Gas catalog, visit ResourceITT.com.
Doing more with the world’s most precious resources.

BIW | Conoflow | C’treat | Enidine | Fabri-Valve | Fiberbond | Flygt | Goulds | ITT Standard | Midland-ACS | Neo-Dyn

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International Edition Volume 70, Number 3 March 2010

COVER: Falcon Explorer carries

Tactical Technology™ out a 2D GeoStreamer survey for
in action: Cairn Energy at Disko Island off
Greenland. PGS has spent two sea-
sons in the area pitting GeoStreamer
Our Revolution® rotary- technology against the operational,
steerable service (RSS) environmental, and geological chal-
and other advanced drilling lenges of this frontier zone. For high-
lights of recent seismic projects and
technologies take drilling to view Offshore’s annual seismic
productivity to new highs. vessel survey, turn to page 32.

FLOWLINES & PIPELINES

Technip lowering threshold for flexible pipes, risers ................................................ 60
Technip is shifting its subsea R&D focus increasingly towards the coming generation of ultra
deepwater projects. Management outlined some of the solutions and associated investments at a
recent presentation at the company’s flexible risers/flowlines plant in Le Trait, northern France.

Challenges to manufacture of pipe for deepwater, corrosive hydrocarbons ........... 62

To meet the demand for gas transportation through more onerous environments, there are
factors the pipe and plate makers need to consider to ensure the finished product meets the
standards required especially for sour service and deepwater applications.

PORT FOURCHON
Yes, they have no bananas ......................................................................................... 67
New lock keeps bayou cargo flowing; LA 1 again seeks funding ............................ 74
Storms, deepwater combine to make inspections
healthy business in Port Fourchon ............................................................................ 76
HOS Centerline gives new meaning to multi-purpose vessel ................................... 77
Report shows enormity of GoM decommissioning market....................................... 78

SWEDEN
Glass-syntactic foam insulates IRM divers ............................................................... 81
H-shackles to connect Usan mooring chain.............................................................. 81
SKF helping Total to limit unplanned shutdowns ...................................................... 82

D E P A R T M E N T S

Tactical Technology can improve Comment ............................................... 8 Vessels, Rigs, & Surface Systems ...... 22
productivity for the life of your well.
Visit weatherford.com, or speak with Data ..................................................... 10 Drilling & Production .......................... 24
a Weatherford representative near you. Global E&P .......................................... 12 Geosciences ........................................ 26
Offshore Europe .................................. 16 Business Briefs ................................... 85
The change will do you good
SM
Gulf of Mexico ..................................... 18 Advertisers’ Index............................... 87
Subsea Systems ................................. 20 Beyond the Horizon ............................ 88
weatherford.com
© 2010 Weatherford International Ltd. All rights reserved.
Incorporates proprietary and patented Weatherford technology.

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Change Extreme
to Routine
Weatherford’s Revolution® rotary-steerable service (RSS)
takes extremes of temperature, pressure and reach in stride
© 2010 Weatherford International Ltd. All rights reserved. Incorporates proprietary and patented Weatherford technology.

From deep, hot holes to extended-reach, underbalanced wells,

our Revolution RSS is helping clients develop reservoirs never
before accessible. And our point-the-bit technology delivers
smoother boreholes even at high build rates.

These performance gains result from our Revolution Evolution

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PennWell
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Tel: (01) 713 621-9720 • Fax: (01) 713 963-6296

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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS • Field development selection
Nick Terdre (Norway)
Peter Howard Wertheim (Brazil) Richard D’Souza, VP, Granherne Global Operations, KBR, will address the
Gurdip Singh (Singapore) challenge of choosing the floating platform that best matches reservoir and site
characteristics while optimally satisfying an operator’s commercial and strategic
drivers. The live webcast kicks off at 9:00 a.m. CST on March 31, 2010.
SALES
WORLDWIDE SALES MANAGER ➤ Available on demand
HOUSTON AREA SALES • Innovations in mooring technology
David Davis [email protected] Tel: (713) 963-6206
Bailey Simpson [email protected] InterMoor President Tom Fulton and Technical Development Lead Kent Lon-
CUSTOM PUBLISHING gridge discuss recent innovations in mooring technology. Topics include innova-
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Tel: (918) 832-9252 • Fax: (918) 831-9415 ➤ Other recent topics
AUDIENCE DEVELOPMENT MANAGER • Offshore’s Top 5 projects of 2009
Tommie Grigg [email protected] • An Overview of the Thunder Hawk semisubmersible floating production unit
Tel: (918) 832-9207 • Fax: (918) 831-9482
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SUBSCRIBER SERVICES • Recent developments in ultra deepwater HP/HT risers
Contact subscriber services for address changes
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Eldon Ball (Houston) [email protected]
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Maps, posters, & surveys
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➤ Subsea boosting/processing poster
The 2010 Worldwide Survey of Subsea Processing: Separation, Compression,
CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS
PennWell; 1421 S. Sheridan Rd., Tulsa, OK 74112 and Pumping Systems, includes a number of improvements and additions to last
Member year’s inaugural poster. The primary aim of this poster is to chronicle the devel-
All Rights reserved
Offshore ISSN-0030-0608
opment and developers of subsea processing systems and to introduce the new
Printed in the U.S.A. GST No. 126813153 products, services, and systems that have arisen since last year at this time.
CHAIRMAN: http://www.offshore-mag.com/index/maps-posters.html
Frank T. Lauinger
PRESIDENT/CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER:
Robert F. Biolchini ➤ Seismic vessel survey
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER: This year’s seismic vessel survey shows that the vessel count is 156, down
Mark C. Wilmoth
by 17 from last year’s report. Two company names are missing from this year’ss
list, one new company has been added for the first time, and new vessels are
hitting the market in 2010.
http://www.offshore-mag.com/index/surveys.html

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t chnology, companies, personnel moves, and products.
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___________

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COMMENT Eldon Ball • Houston

SUBSURFACE MAPS
DE -MYSTIFIED
Seismic vessel count down
NOW AVAILABLE! but work is picking up
The business side of offshore geology and geophysics in 2009 remained in tune with
the generally weak year for the entire E&P industry. As the global survey of seismic
vessel activity in this month’s issue shows, the vessel count was 156, down by 17 from
last year’s report.
New vessels are hitting the market in 2010. Fairfield has the Carolyn Chouest, Fugro
Services Ltd. adds the Fugro Searcher, PGS adds the PGS Apollo, and Polarcus expects
the Nalia, Samur, Selma, Asima, and Alima.
More details and the complete listing by Gene Kliewer, Technology Editor, Seismic
& Subsea, begin on page 32.

Subsea separation, boosting reach record depths

As the offshore oil industry reaches deeper and more challenging waters, the ben-
efits of subsea processing technology are proving technically and economically viable.
Recent awards and start-ups indicate several new projects in the developmental stages
plus new world records for installed systems.
Subsea separation and boosting technology is now operational in 2,438 m (7,999 ft)
water depth in Shell’s Perdido field. Perdido’s use of multiple subsea separation and
boosting stations highlights one option for the future of offshore oil production.
In this month’s issue, Michael Padilla and Matt Reznicek of INTECSEA take a look
at the growing importance and viability of subsea processing in developing offshore
fields. Their analysis begins on page 58. And don’t miss the wall-size subsea process-
Introduction to Well Logs ing poster included in this issue.
& Subsurface Maps Port Fourchon thrives on deepwater activity
By Jonathan C. Evenick, PhD. With the deepwater Gulf of Mexico
as its backyard, Port Fourchon, Louisi-
ISBN: 978-1-59370-138-3 ana, is the nucleus for nearly all of the
Price: $59.00 US flourishing drilling and production busi-
ness in the outer fringes of the US conti-
nental shelf. Port Fourchon also serves
as the base for the Louisiana Offshore
Know what you are investigating Oil Port (LOOP) that offloads from
and exactly what type of map is some of the world’s largest tankers as
most appropriate! much as 1.2 MMb/d, or 10-15% of all US
oil imports.
The core of Port Fourchon remains the deepwater. The US Minerals Management
WHAT YOU’LL FIND Service (MMS) said that as of Jan. 25, 43 new projects in 1,030 ft to 8,850 ft (314 to 2,697
• Introduction to basic well logs m) of water were undergoing either drilling or workover operations. Factoring in the
and subsurface maps. 135 deepwater fields already developed, there are nearly 230 deep and ultra deepwater
projects in need of products and services, not including the projects under way this year.
Read this issue’s special report beginning on page 67.
• Applied projects that allow
users to critique computer- Caspian Sea set for offshore resurgence
generated maps and data. The Caspian offshore is one of the world’s most important sources of oil and gas
production growth. In 2010, offshore production is expected to top 1.5 MMboe/d, with
plans in place to reach 3 MMboe/d by 2020, according to estimates by energy analysts
• Hands-on exercises showing Wood Mackenzie.
how each map type is generated Three giant offshore fields – Azeri-Chirag-Guneshli (ACG), Shah Deniz, and Kasha-
and what applications they have. gan – account for the majority of oil and gas investment, and about two-thirds of remain-
ing reserves. New pipelines will unlock reserves in the giant fields while acting as a
catalyst for myriad smaller projects that will be ready for development over the next
two decades.
Order online at Ian Thom of Wood Mackenzie gives a full report beginning on page 28.
www.PennWellBooks.com

To respond to articles in Offshore, or to offer articles for publication,

contact the editor by email ([email protected]).

8 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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G L O B A L D ATA

Worldwide day rates

Active rig fleet, February 2010
Year/Month Minimum Average Maximum
Floaters Drillship
Jackups 2009 Feb $120,000 $351,874 $594,000
2009 March $125,000 $361,520 $594,000
Far East
4 (-1) 2009 April $125,000 $363,478 $594,000
28 (-2) 2009 May $120,000 $359,875 $594,000
2009 June $125,000 $369,903 $594,000
North Sea
38 (0) 2009 July $125,000 $367,335 $594,000
33 (0) 2009 Aug $125,000 $376,325 $600,000
East 2009 Sept $125,000 $379,294 $600,000
Atlantic 2009 Oct $125,000 $379,750 $600,000
3 (0)
1 (0)
2009 Nov $125,000 $384,193 $600,000
US GoM 2009 Dec $125,000 $385,621 $600,000
36 (+2) L. America SE Asia 2010 Jan $125,000 $386,468 $630,000
50 (+3) 59 (0)
19 (+4) Jackup
13 (0)
51 (+1)
2009 Feb $41,440 $149,023 $330,000
Mex GoM 2009 March $40,000 $149,374 $330,000
5 (0) M. East 2009 April $35,000 $148,930 $330,000
29 (-1) 1 (0)
S. Asia 2009 May $35,000 $147,111 $330,000
113 (0)
W. Africa 11 (0)
27 (-1) 34 (0) 2009 June $27,000 $146,710 $330,000
22 (0) 2009 July $27,000 $145,000 $330,000
Source: Rigzone.com 2009 Aug $27,000 $140,443 $330,000
2009 Sept $28,000 $139,203 $330,000
2009 Oct $28,000 $136,304 $360,000
GoM drilling permits issued 2009 Nov $28,000 $133,836 $360,000
2009 Dec $28,000 $132,059 $375,000
100 2010 Jan $28,000 $129,428 $375,000
90 Semi
2009 Feb $80,000 $324,451 $647,000
80
2009 March $38,400 $332,334 $647,000
Drilling permits

70 2009 April $38,400 $339,188 $647,000

60 2009 May $38,400 $339,455 $647,000
50 2009 June $38,400 $343,370 $647,000
37 2009 July $80,000 $349,058 $650,000
40 33 31 30 2009 Aug $80,000 $352,107 $650,000
30 2009 Sept $80,000 $352,911 $650,000
20 20
20 2009 Oct $80,000 $352,119 $647,000
13
10 2009 Nov $80,000 $358,727 $647,000
0 2009 Dec $80,000 $363,955 $647,000
July Aug. Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. 2010 Jan $83,000 $370,079 $647,000
Source: Rigzone.com
Source: US Minerals Management Service

Caspian rig utilization Worldwide rig utilization

100
60
90
50
80
40
Percent

70
Percent

30 60

20 50 Drillships
Semisubs Semisubs
10 Jackups 40 Jackups

30
0
09

09

Ap 9

M 9
09

09

Au 9
09

09

N 9

D 9
09

10
09

09

Ap 9

M 9
09

09

Au 9
09

09

N 9

D 9
09

10

0
r0

l0

0
0
r0

l0

n
n

ar

ay

ct

ov

ec
n
n

ar

ay

ct

ov

ec

Ju
Ju

Ja
Ja

Fe

Ju

Se
Ja
Ja

Fe

Ju

Se

O
M
O
M

Source: Rigzone.com Source: Rigzone.com

10 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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GLOBAL E&P Jeremy Beckman • London

Americas
Petrobras and Chevron have awarded a series of contracts for the
Papa Terra heavy oil field development in the Campos basin, 68 mi
(110 km) offshore Rio de Janeiro, in water depths of up to 3,940 ft
(1,200 m).
FloaTEC Singapore, the joint venture between Keppel FELS and
J. Ray McDermott, will handle design, engineering, and construc-
tion of the P61 tension leg wellhead platform. This will be built by
the BrasFELS yard in Angra dos Reis, Brazil, while Floatec LLC will
perform global engineering and basic design. J. Ray will fabricate
the associated tendons, temporary buoyancy modules, and piles at
its yard in Morgan City, Louisiana, and will install the platform using
its deepwater construction vessel Derrick Barge 50.
BW Offshore and Brazilian partners QUIP and QGOG will supply
the associated FPSO P-63. BW is responsible for the marine scope
of the FPSO conversion while AMEC in Houston will provide ba-
sic engineering for the topsides. Topsides will comprise around 16
Spool overboarding for the Girassol pipeline repair program.
modules with a total weight of over 14,000 metric tons (15,432 tons).
The facility will be able to process around 140,000 b/d of crude, 35 on the previously installed spool piece. A pipeline leak test from the
MMcf/d of gas, and 325,000 b/d of produced water, with 340,000 Girassol FPSO confirmed the operation was successful.
b/d seawater injection capacity. The Papa Terra project is due for •••
completion by mid-2013. Tullow Oil has proved further reserves in its Tweneboa find in the
••• Deepwater Tano block offshore Ghana. An appraisal well drilled by
OGX has entered a cooperation agreement with OSX Brazil for the the semisub Atwood Hunter 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of Tweneboa-1
charter of exploration and production units for its licenses offshore in 1,321 m (4,334 ft) water depth intersected 32 m (105 ft) of net hy-
Brazil. The first of these charters, spanning 20 years, involves use drocarbon pay. It also established the existence of a highly prospec-
of the FPSO OSX1, which has a storage capacity of 950,000 bbl and tive and extensive turbidite fan system in the area which warrants
processing capacity of 80,000 b/d. OGX continues to discover oil in further exploration drilling, Tullow claims.
its shallow water blocks BM-C-42 and BM-C-43 in the Campos basin. •••
••• Afren is teaming up with Oriental Energy Resources and Energy
Statoil is taking a 25% working interest in 50 leases in the Chukchi Equity Resources to develop the shallow water OML 115 concession
Sea off Alaska acquired by ConocoPhillips in 2008. Statoil already off southeast Nigeria. The permit is adjacent to the Ebok and Okwok
held interests in 16 leases in the region. ConocoPhillips currently development area, where Afren/Oriental are already in partnership.
plans to start drilling in 2012. The southern part of the Okwok structure extends into OML 115,
••• and any further discoveries here could be tied into the emerging
Keppel AmFELS has delivered its second newbuild jackup to Ebok/Okwok infrastructure.
Mexican drilling contractor Perforadora Central. The Tuxpan is a
LeTourneau Super 116E design equipped to drill wells up to 30,000 Northern Europe
ft (9,144 m) subsurface in water depths to 375 ft (114 m). Perfora- Heerema Fabrication Group is close to completing the 11,000-met-
dora provides services mainly for Pemex on the Mexico shelf. ric ton (12,125-ton) deck for BP Norge’s Valhall re-development in the
••• Norwegian North Sea. After reaching maximum fabrication height,
Offshore Peru, BPZ Resources has completed its second devel- the deck was moved outside the covered construction hall at Heere-
opment well on the Albacora field, discovered by Tenneco in 1972. ma’s yard in Zwijndrecht for further completion. The structure, which
BPZ has modified its original program, which was based around an the company claims is the largest deck ever built in the Netherlands,
FPSO, and now plans to develop Albacora via a platform with pro- measures 100 m (328 ft) long, 47 m (154 ft) wide, and 50 m (164 ft)
cessing facilities and an FSO. high. Sailaway, along with the associated weather deck module, flare
••• boom, and connecting bridges, is scheduled for May-June.
BHP Billiton has contracted Wood Group subsidiary DSI for com-
missioning services at the Angostura brownfield gas export expan-
sion project off Trinidad. This involves adding a gas export plat-
form, under construction in Morgan City, which will be linked to the
fields’ oil production facilities. DSI will manage pre-commissioning
and commissioning work at the yard, and also final functional and
dynamic testing offshore prior to and during start-up in 2011.

West Africa
Subsea 7 has completed work on Total’s Girassol Pipeline Repair
Project in Angolan deepwater block 17. This was a diver-less repair
in 1,350 m (4,429 ft) of water which employed a new ROV-deployed
technique to fix a damaged 12-in. (30.5-cm) water injection line. The
program involved lifting the damaged ends of the pipeline, and pre-
paring and aligning them prior to installation of two mechanical pipe-
line connectors, which were then set and checked with annulus tests The Valhall deck outside the main fabrication hall at Heerema Zwijndrecht.

12 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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To d a y ’s B a ke r H u g h e s

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GLOBAL E&P

••• (122-cm) pipe for a pipeline crossing Baydar- ner Mediterranean Oil & Gas, two develop-
Bredero Shaw has agreed to form a joint atskaya Bay from the Yamal peninsula. ment wells should be drilled in the first half
venture with OOO ArkhTekhnoProm, an af- of next year, leading to first gas by end-June
filiate of Russian offshore pipeline contractor Mediterranean Sea 2011. At peak, the facilities should deliver 20
OAO Mezhregiontrubprovodstroi, to estab- Italy’s Ministry of Economic Develop- MMcf/d. Guendalina, in 20 m (65.6 ft) water
lish a concrete coating services facility in the ment has awarded ENI a production conces- depth, 25 km (15.5 mi) offshore, will be con-
Arkhangelsk area. Bredero Shaw will operate sion (AC 35 AG) for the Guendalina gas field nected to ENI’s Amelia production platform.
the venture for an initial four years, using in the Adriatic Sea. Development should •••
one of its mobile concrete coating plants on be under way, with construction and instal- Aegean Energy has completed the EA-H1
a leased basis. The venture’s first contract lation of the production platform due to be well on the Epsilon field in Greece’s Kava-
involves concrete weight coating of 48-in. completed later this year. According to part- la-Prinos basin. This is the first new field
brought into production offshore Greece in
the past 14 years, the company claims, and
the well, drilled by the jackup Ensco 85, was
also the country’s longest to date, with a total
length of 5,500 m (18,044 ft). Total reserves

CLOVER TOOL COMPANY

at Epsilon are estimated at 30 MMbbl, with
further drilling planned.
•••
Cairn Energy has contracted the jackup
Hydrostatic Test Units and Specialty Bolting Equipment
Ensco 85 to drill the company’s first explor-
atory well on its Louza block offshore Tuni-
DRILLING RISER TOOLS sia. The permit is operated by Cairn subsid-
WE CAN HANDLE THE     
       
iary Capricorn, which may also drill acreage
offshore Albania next year following promis-

PRESSURE!
     
       ! 
ing results from a recent 3D seismic survey.
•••
TORQUE WRENCHES The Modiin group of companies has signed
Clover BOP Test Unit Features: "     !  a farm-in financing agreement relating to
 !    
‡'XDOXQLWFRPSOHWHUHGXQGDQF\      Adira Energy’s shallow water Gabriella li-
#     cense offshore Israel. The 390-sq km (151 sq
‡4XLFN$FFXUDWH5HOLDEOH
  ! !   mi) permit, 10 km (6 mi) from the coast, was
‡9HU\ORZPDLQWHQDQFH    $   
‡$OOHOHFWULFFRPSOHWHO\H[SORVLRQSURRI   %    awarded to Adira last July and includes a mini-
‡6WDLQOHVVVWHHOFRUURVLRQSURWHFWHG & !!     mum work program comprising 3D seismic
  %!    acquisition and drilling of one well.
‡6PDOOIRRWSULQW   %  
‡([FHHGVDOOLQGXVWU\UHTXLUHPHQWV
BOLT AND NUT RUNNERS Black Sea/Caspian Sea
‡5HGXFHV%23ILOOWHVWWLPH
 %       Gazprom expects construction of the
‡'XDODQGVLQJOHPRGHOVDYDLODEOH        ! Dzhubga-Lazarevskoye-Sochi gas pipeline
        
        to be completed this spring. Around 159 km
'     $ (  (98.8 mi) of the pipeline runs beneath the
eastern section of the Russian sector of the
HYDRAULIC FLUID FILTER CART
#)*()+,"-! 
Black Sea, 4.5 km (2.8 mi) from the shore.
  .   !  The 53-cm (20.8-in.) pipeline is designed
 !   /  to deliver 3.8 bcm/yr (134 bcf) of gas, and
    !  !  will supply energy to the Winter Olympics
0  .    
    . 1    scheduled for Sochi in 2014.
  !   •••
ExxonMobil and Petrobras jointly will
SOCKETS AND ACCESSORIES
&    2 explore the Simop, Ayancik, and Carsam-
     $   ba sub-blocks of Turkey’s deepwater AR/
   )34 %   TPO/3922 license, in partnership with the
 ! !*54 %  
,   
Turkish national oil company, TPAO. Early
this year, the semisub Leiv Eiriksson arrived
LUBRICANTS/THREAD COMPOUNDS in Turkish waters in preparation for drilling
&   $!   the Sinop-1 deepwater well for the Petro-
 !    !!!
    (  ! bras/TPAO partnership, 145 km (90 mi)
2YHUXQLWVLQWKH¿HOG=(52)DLOXUHV      !  /   offshore the city of Sinop.
   •••
"      6778&
Lundin Petroleum plans to start building
    __________
  [email protected] a new self-elevating platform later this year
to drill wells on its Lagansky block in the
Russian sector of the Caspian Sea. In the

14 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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GLOBAL E&P

Turkmen sector, Dragon Oil has contracted block in the Cauvery basin. Output had been •••
a consortium comprising Yantai Raffles Off- suspended pending repairs to the loading Woodside Energy has contracted Tech-
shore, TSC Offshore China, and Momen- hose on the FSO Endeavor, which has since nip and Subsea 7 for subsea services for
tum Engineering to build, lease, and oper- been re-engaged for a further year on the its Cossack Wanaea Lambert Hermes re-
ate a new Friede & Goldman-design Super field. development off Western Australia. The
M2 jackup. The rig should be delivered to project involves replacing the FPSO Cossack
Dragon in late 2011, for use on the Cheleken Asia-Pacific Pioneer and refurbishing subsea infrastruc-
Contract Area fields. ExxonNeftegas has drilled the first two ture. Technip/Subsea 7’s remit includes
extended reach development wells at the recovering three risers and installing three
Middle East Odoptu field offshore Sakhalin Island, on replacements; installing 20 km (12.4 mi) of
Wintershall expects to start acquiring behalf of the Sakhalin-1 consortium. The flowlines; riser base rectification duties; and
3D seismic this year over its shallow water wells were drilled horizontally under the assisting with pre-commissioning.
block 4N offshore Qatar. The company was Sea of Okhotsk by the land-rig Yastreb from •••
awarded the license, which extends over an onshore location to the target area over New Zealand’s Energy and Resources
544 sq km (210 sq mi) in 70 m (229 ft) water 9 km (5.6 mi) offshore in the Odoptu reser- Ministry has invited bids for six new ex-
depth, in 2008. Two exploratory wells are voir. Production should start in the second ploration blocks in the Reinga basin off the
planned during 2011-12. half of this year. country’s northwest coast. The 105,230 sq
Maersk Oil Qatar seeks to cancel a servic- km (40,269 sq mi) on offer is said to be geo-
es contract for the FSO Africa due to persis- Australasia logically similar to the Taranaki basin, and
tent delivery delays. This is one of two float- Bluewater Energy Services has a Letter of has not previously been opened to explora-
ing storage and offloading vessels Maersk Award from ENI for an FPSO for the Kitan tion. The government acquired 2D seismic
commissioned from TI Africa for use on its field in the Timor Sea, in the East Timor/ over the blocks last year in anticipation of
Al Shaheen oil field development. TI part- Australian Joint Petroleum Development this round.
ners Euronav and OSG planned to contest Area. Subject to partner and East Timor New Zealand Oil & Gas (NZOG) has been
the decision, and also pledged to continue government approvals, ENI will use the Glas awarded a new offshore permit in the north-
with their conversion of the FSO Africa. Dowr on Kitan for an initial minimum period ern part of the Taranaki basin, PEP 51988.
of five years. Kitan is in JPDA permit 06-105, The 1,138-sq km (439-sq mi) concession is
India around 500 km (311 mi) north of the Aus- just north of PEP 38491, where NZOG and
Hardy Oil and Gas has re-started produc- tralian mainland, in a water depth of 344 m its partners recently drilled a dry well on the
tion from the PY-3 field in the CY-OS 90/1 (1,128 ft). Albacore prospect. 

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OFFSHORE EUROPE Jeremy Beckman • London

Norway hands out license awards The northern North Sea suffered the worst slump in 2009, down
Norway has issued 38 new production licenses under its lat- 65% compared with activity in 2008, followed by the southern gas
est Awards in Pre-Defined Areas (APA) round. The permits were basin (down 60%), and the central North Sea (47% lower). The one
spread between the North Sea (25), the Norwegian Sea (10), and bright spot was West of Shetland and the Atlantic margin, where
the Barents Sea (three). there was a 23% surge in drilling. Deloitte’s Managing Director
Out of the 44 companies that submitted applications, 39 gained Graham Sadler attributes the general downturn to a combination of
participating interests, with 19 securing operatorships. These in- macroeconomic conditions, oil price volatility, rig availability during
cluded Spain’s Repsol and US independent Bridge Energy, both the first part of 2009, and cost control pressures.
first-time operators on the Norwegian shelf. Wood Mackenzie’s review found that just 140 MMboe of new re-
Among the domestic players, Statoil and Det norske oljeselskap serves were brought onstream from UK offshore fields last year, the
each picked up six new operatorships; Lundin Petroleum, Marathon, lowest in the shelf’s history, and the number of new fields entering
and Wintershall, three of the more active foreign-owned contingent, production was eight – a nine-year low. Furthermore, only six new
will operate a total of 10 new licenses. However, with much of the fields gained development approval, down from 12 in 2008.
acreage on offer close to mature North Sea fields, interest among The analysts also claim that the number of companies operating
the super-majors was mixed, with neither Shell nor Total featuring wells was down from 43 in 2008 to 24 in 2009, reflecting the paucity
even in the partnership awards. of operators willing – or able – to finance UK E&A programs. De-
Three of the North Sea permits, operated by Statoil, Noreco, and spite the tail-off in drilling, 315 MMboe was discovered last year, an
Lundin, carry firm well commitments, while 16 of the licenses incor- increase of 70 MMboe over the previous year’s total.
porate three-year “drill or drop” terms.
Having completed APA 2009, the Ministry of Petroleum and Ener- Maersk hits target in Luke
gy immediately announced that 43 companies had nominated blocks Danish sector exploration also has fallen back, although there
for inclusion in Norway’s 21st offshore licensing round. The list com- have been a couple of new discoveries. The latest was Maersk’s
prised 307 blocks or part-blocks, with 138 blocks proposed by two Luke 1-X well on the western edge of the Danish North Sea, in li-
or more companies. The Ministry expects to announce the areas on cense 8/06, which proved gas-condensate in Mid-Jurassic Bryne
offer before this summer, with awards set to be issued in spring 2011. formation sandstones. The well was drilled in 40 m (131 ft) of water
by the jackup Maersk Resolve, a short distance east of Elly, another
UK introduces WoS gas incentive gas-condensate find in Maersk’s locker. The partners plan to evalu-
Britain also has launched its latest licensing round. For the first time ate Luke to judge whether the reserves warrant development.
since 1998, blocks in the 26th round are on offer from all parts of the DONG Energy and its partners Bayerngas and the Danish North
UK shelf, including some previously not explored. Also available are Sea Fund have opted to resume appraisal drilling on Svane, one of
the majority of areas licensed under the UK’s 1st Round in 1964 which Denmark’s largest untapped gas resources. DONG inherited the
have not been granted extensions; and 14 blocks relinquished under high-pressure/high-temperature field on acquiring ConocoPhillips’
the UK’s Fallow Initiative, designed to stimulate activity on concessions Danish sector interests in 2007.
where there has been no significant work for the past three years. Svane is located at a greater sub-surface depth – 6,000 m (19,685
Additionally, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) ft) – than any other field on the Danish shelf. The demanding res-
introduced a new Frontier license with an extended nine-year exploration ervoir conditions caused problems during the original drilling pro-
term for the West of Shetland area. Simultaneously, the government an- gram. To address these challenges, the partners will first formulate
nounced it would extend its new field tax allow- a strategy for the appraisal program before
ance to West of Shetland gas fields. The aim is committing to a timetable for drilling, which
to encourage investment in gas infrastructure is expected to cost DKK0.6-0.9 billion ($110-
in this hostile frontier region, where there have 165 million). If the next well is successful, it
been discoveries in the past few months. opens up the possibility of developing other
Industry association Oil & Gas UK re- fields of this type on the shelf, according to
sponded favorably to the news. Potentially, executive VP Soren Gath Hansen.
according to Chief Executive Malcolm Webb, Elsewhere in the sector, DONG has brought
the new allowance could trigger investment the Siri field back onstream five months after
in facilities totaling over $22 billion over the an enforced shutdown following the discov-
next eight years, helping to bring 2 Bboe of ery of cracks in a water buffer structure con-
new reserves into production. Establishing nected to the oil storage tank beneath the Siri
new infrastructure also would encourage platform.
further exploration in the area, he added. The temporary solution in place involves
supporting the subsea structure with a metal
Drilling slips back, frame to ensure stability. DONG expects
surveys claim to implement a permanent repair later this
Incentives are sorely needed, with two year. In the meantime, production through
reports painting a bleak picture of UK up- the platform has been climbing rapidly, with
stream activity. According to a survey by De- new wells being brought on line from the
loitte in Aberdeen, only 78 new exploration Nini, Nini East, and Cecilie satellite fields. 
and appraisal (E&A) wells were spudded
on the UK shelf last year, down from 121 in
2008. This has pushed drilling back to levels
last seen in 2004. In the final quarter of the Maersk’s Luke discovery is
year there were only 13 new well starts, the on the western fringes of
the Danish North Sea.
lowest total for a quarter since 2Q 2003.

16 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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GULF OF MEXICO David Paganie • Houston

Lucius sidetrack confirms significant covered 55 ft (17 m) of Miocene-age oil-bearing reservoirs and the
resource potential sidetrack logged 73 ft (22 m) of Miocene oil in similar reservoirs.
A sidetrack appraisal well on the Lucius discovery in the Gulf of Both the original Criollo well and the sidetrack encountered struc-
Mexico Keathley Canyon block 875, encountered about 600 net ft (183 tural complexities associated with salt, which prevented testing the
m) of oil and gas pay in subsalt Pliocene and Miocene sands, operator entire interval, the company says.
Anadarko reports. Cobalt plans to review the well data and to reprocess existing 3D
The Lucius appraisal well was drilled as an up-dip sidetrack, ap- pre-stack depth migration seismic data to determine its next steps.
proximately 3,200 ft (975 m) due south of the discovery well. Semisub The next exploratory well in Cobalt’s 2010 drilling program,
Ensco 8500 drilled the well to 20,600 ft (6,279 m) TD in 7,100 ft (2,164 Firefox No. 1, is scheduled to spud in the first quarter. Firefox is in
m) of water. The Lucius discovery, announced last December, was Green Canyon blocks 773 and 817, where BHP Billiton Petroleum
drilled to 20,000 ft (6,096 m) TD and encountered more than 200 net (GOM) Inc. is the operator and Cobalt owns a 30% working interest.
ft (61 m) of pay. This prospect lies within the Tahiti basin, northeast of the Heidel-
Anadarko says it will continue appraisal activity in the area this berg discovery.
year as it evaluates development options. The company previously Cobalt’s operated North Platte No. 1 well is scheduled to spud
said it was considering a tieback to the Red Hawk cell spar as one sce- in the second quarter. It targets Lower Tertiary horizons and is in
nario. However, given the results of the initial appraisal well, it would Garden Banks blocks 915, 916, 958, 959, and 960. At press time, the
seem likely that a standalone development would be considered as company was working to secure a rig to drill the well.
well. Wood Mackenzie’s initial estimate for recoverable reserves is Cobalt operates North Platte with a 60% working interest. Total
about 150-200 MMbbl of liquids/oil and about 1 tcf of natural gas. E&P USA Inc. holds the remaining 40% working interest.
Last year, Cobalt established long-term alliances
with Sonangol and Total in the GoM. Cobalt as-
signed 25% of its working interest in 11 GoM deep-
water leases to Sonangol. The agreement with Total
was for a 60/40 working-interest split across 214
deepwater leases. In both cases, Cobalt is the desig-
nated operator for all shared leases.
Meanwhile, the company has signed FMC to a
multi-year frame agreement to provide subsea sys-
tems, including production trees, manifold hard-
ware, and distribution systems.

Petrobras gains
100% interest in Cascade
Petrobras has acquired Devon Energy’s 50%
participation interest in the Cascade field. Follow-
ing settlement of the acquisition, Petrobras will
hold 100% participation in the field.
Petrobras is developing the Cascade field in
conjunction with the Chinook field using the
FPSO BW Pioneer, the first FPSO platform to oper-
The Lucius discovery is about 7.5 mi (12 km) east of Chevron’s ate in the US Gulf of Mexico. It is expected to begin production in
2009 discovery on Buckskin in Keathley Canyon block 872. There, the middle of this year.
Buckskin No. 1 was drilled in 6,920 ft (2,109 m) of water to 29,404 ft Meanwhile, Devon has closed on the sale of its 25% working inter-
(8,962 m) deep and encountered more than 300 ft (91 m) of net pay. est in the Jack field to Maersk Oil. In December of last year, Devon
Commercial viability of the field has not been determined. announced an agreement with Maersk Oil to purchase Devon’s in-
Anadarko operates the Lucius well with a 50% working interest. Part- terests in three Lower Tertiary projects.
ners are Plains E&P Co. (33.33%) and Mariner Energy Inc. (16.67%). Devon says the aggregate purchase price of its interests in the
Following work on Lucius, Anadarko will use Ensco 8500 to ap- Jack, St. Malo, and Cascade Lower Tertiary projects remains $1.3
praise its Heidelberg discovery. The company plans to drill five to billion. The company estimates its after-tax proceeds from the com-
seven exploration wells and three appraisal wells this year in the bined transactions at approximately $1.1 billion. Closings of the St.
GoM deepwater. Malo and Cascade transactions are expected by the end of March.

Cobalt outlines drilling plans Superior takes

Cobalt International Energy has outlined its Gulf of Mexico drill- ownership of Bullwinkle
ing program for this year, which is being funded, in part, through its Superior Energy Services now owns Shell’s Bullwinkle platform
listing on the New York Stock Exchange. The company launched its and related assets. The company will plug and abandon the 29 wells
initial public offering in December of last year. associated with Bullwinkle, the deepest fixed-leg production plat-
Cobalt’s drilling plan calls for three company-operated explora- form on the outer continental shelf. Installed in 1988, Bullwinkle
tion wells (North Platte, Aegean, and Ligurian), three partner-oper- produces 4,000 boe/d and serves as a processing hub for third par-
ated exploration wells (including Firefox), and one partner-operated ties. Superior also has sold a 49% interest in the assets to Dynamic
appraisal well (Heidelberg No. 2). It expects results from four of the Offshore Resources, which will operate the field.
prospects this year. The Bullwinkle platform will be decommissioned at the end of its
The company’s Criollo prospect exploration sidetrack well has economic life, and Shell has agreed to pay Superior an undisclosed
reached a planned TVD of 31,145 ft (9,493 m). The original well dis- amount once decommissioning is complete. 

18 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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Wellhead to Market
Anywhere in the World INTECSEA is the largest assembly of
deepwater expertise in an independent
engineering and project management
company. INTECSEA offers global full
service solutions in the subsea, pipeline
and floating production arenas.

100,000+
km of pipeline

600+
subsea trees

100+
floating systems

intecsea.com

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SUBSEA SYSTEMS Gene Kliewer • Houston

Subsea well intervention

records set
ATP Oil & Gas Corp. and Blue Ocean Tech-
nologies set multiple new industry records in
subsea well intervention while working over
two gas production wells in 2,950 ft (900 m)
of water and approximately 9,000 ft (2,743 m)
downhole without a riser.
Blue Ocean’s Interchangeable Riserless
Intervention System (IRIS) completed sever-
al riserless wireline runs to deploy interven-
tion tools including a wireline tractor, gauges,
milling tools, perforating guns, and a logging
tool. Each run set a record for riserless inter-
vention. This is the first successful wireline
run in open water at that depth.
The final intervention operation was to
deploy perforating guns to enable the com-
mingling of the B & C Sands in Mississippi
Canyon block 711 well No. 4ST1. After com-
mingling the reservoirs located between
11,400 ft MD and 11,900 ft MD, production
increased to 9 MMcf/d of gas and 4,900 b/d
of oil with a flowing tubing pressure exceed-
ing 3,100 psi (21.37 MPa). The MC 711 well
No. 4ST1 is part of the Gomez Hub in the
Gulf of Mexico.
This dynamically positioned HOS Iron
Horse was the platform for IRIS.

More subsea work goes onto

schedule in Brazil Blue Ocean’s IRIS on its way to installation in Mississippi Canyon block 711.
It has been difficult lately to look at events
in the subsea E&P business without a long Oliva fields. tion. The total scope of supply from MARS-
look at Brazil, and this month is no excep- In a continuing story, FMC Technologies PS includes the deployment and chemical
tion. has signed a subsea services contract with handling interfaces in addition to the MARS
First, Chevron Corp. says its Brazilian Petrobras which is expected to add $81 mil- hardware.
subsidiary will go forward to develop the lion to its work off Brazil. The scope of work Chevron says it has plans to extend the
Papa Terra project as its second deepwater calls for additional storage, maintenance, MARS depth capability to 1,500 m (4,921 ft).
development offshore Brazil. commissioning, and offshore services for
Situated 70 mi (110 km) offshore in water subsea and topside control systems and First VetcoGray SVXT S
depths of approximately 3,900 ft (1,190 m), drilling risers. subsea trees go to Shell
Papa Terra is a heavy oil subsea develop- Aker Solutions also is looking at more GE Oil & Gas continues to make noise in
ment in block BC-20 of the southern Cam- work off Brazil. Aker says it is the low bid- the upstream E&P business. Shell UK Ltd.
pos basin. Project plans call for the first ten- der on a four-year frame agreement to sup- placed the first-ever order for VetcoGray’s
sion leg wellhead platform offshore Brazil, ply 61 subsea trees to Petrobras. Aker says it SVXT S-series of subsea trees. GE says de-
which will be connected to an FPSO. The expects the final contract to be signed in the livery is scheduled for 4Q 2010 with installa-
completed facility will be capable of produc- second quarter of this year following com- tion early in 2011.
ing up to 140,000 b/d of crude, according to mercial negotiations and technical clarifica- The SVXT merges horizontal and vertical
Chevron. tions with Petrobras. Aker says it bid €195 tree technology and is intended for harsh,
First production from the Papa Terra proj- million ($267.75 million). shallow water fields such as many of those
ect is expected in 2013. found in the North Sea, says GE. The SVXT
Chevron holds a 37.5% interest in the Cameron reports design reduces tree weight by over 20%, de-
Petrobras-operated Papa Terra, which is first deepwater scale creases height, and delivers essential func-
estimated to cost $5.2 billion to recover 380 squeeze using MARS tionality in a pre-engineered, pre-configured
MMbbl of oil. In another worldwide first, Cameron re- “modular” systems approach, according to
In addition to the Papa Terra and Frade ports completing its first deepwater scale GE. Less expensive installation is possible
projects in the Campos basin, Chevron also squeeze using MARS for Chevron in Lobito because of a design that can be handled by
holds a 30% non-operated interest in Ma- Tomboco field, Angola. MARS is Cameron’s standard jackups without major modifica-
romba field where work continues to select Multiple Application Re-injection System. tions.
a development scheme. In Brazil’s Santos Lobito Tomboco is in 600 m (1,968 ft) water Additional SVXT design features, says
basin, Chevron holds a 20% non-operated depth. Chevron says it plans to use this sys- GE, include a fisher-friendly wellhead pro-
interest in block BS-4 where it continues to tem on 13 specially modified wells within the tection structures and a barrier that elimi-
evaluate plans to commercialize Atlanta and same area to maximize life of field produc- nates the need for a separate tree cap. 

20 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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VESSELS, RIGS, & SURFACE SYSTEMS David Paganie • Houston

DOT presents new floating the CCW spar generates additional buoyancy
platform designs while retaining the functionality of the center-
PennWell’s Deep Offshore Technology In- well. This increased buoyancy supports great-
ternational Conference & Exhibition (DOT) is er topside, riser, and mooring payloads for a
an event where operators, equipment manu- given hull diameter and length. Significant
facturers, contactors, and service-providers in- hull weight savings can be achieved relative to
troduce new deepwater technology. This past a conventional truss spar.
February in Houston, the tradition continued. The smaller CCW spar hull is more flexi-
INTECSEA/Worley Parsons Group used bile in terms of fabricating and transporting
DOT to launch a new semisubmersible deep- the hull in one piece using existing fabrica-
water platform concept, the Damper Chamber 3D illustration of tion facilities and transport vessels. Similarly,
Platform Semi (DCC Semi), for wet or dry tree the DCC Semi hull. the reduction in CCW spar hull diameter fa-
applications. cilitates lifting heavier topsides in one piece
The platform design is similar to a con- 20 seconds, which is typical for GoM semisub- or larger modules, by allowing the heavy-lift
ventional semisubmersible with a ring pon- mersibles. However, the DCC Semi’s displace- vessel to be positioned closer to the center-
toon and four columns supporting a topsides ment is around 30% less than that needed by line of the hull. The reduction in the size also
load, the company explained. But with the the conventional semi to support the same reduces environmental loads on the hull per-
DCC Semi, the columns are configured with payload. Also, the estimated steel requirement mitting smaller mooring considerations. The
free-flooding inner chambers. for the DCC Semi’s hull is 33% lower. The skirt CCW spar benefits further from incorpora-
During quayside integration and the sub- appears to provide increased heave damping tion of an improved compressed air ballasting
sequent wet-tow to the installation location, to reduce resonant responses, important in system with higher variable ballast capacity
the configurations of the columns and their extreme sea states. from additional ballast tanks that can better
large-diameter bottom sections provide sub- As for the dry tree version, the presenta- accommodate the platform variable payloads
stantial displacement and water plane area tion illustrated the results of a DCC Semi in that accompany retrofitting of risers and pro-
for stability. Unlike conventional semis, the 2,438 m (8,000 ft) water depth supporting a duction equipment upgrades.
volume of the pontoons and the column spac- total payload of 29,030 metric tons (32,000 The presentation included a description
ing is not determined by the pre-service con- tons). This is divided into 12,700 metric tons of the truss spar closed centerwell concept
ditions, and can be optimized to improve the (14,000 tons) for the topsides, 4,536 met- and compared it to the existing open center-
platform’s response for in-service operations. ric tons (5,000 tons) for the drilling rig, 15 well designs. Model test results were com-
This arrangement, the company said, avoids top-tensioned risers with a payload of 7,258 pared to those from an existing, equivalent
unnecessary displacement in the column sim- metric tons (8,000 tons), and 16 SCRs with open centerwell design. The comparisons
ply to control the column-pontoon ratio, a nor- a payload of 4,536 metric tons (5,000 tons). showed that the CCW truss spar design re-
mal requirement under pre-service conditions. The design assumes a nominal tensioner tains the desired low motion characteristics
Consequently, displacement with the DCC stiffness of 219 kn/m (15 kips/ft). of the existing truss spars, while presenting
Semi can be reduced compared with conven- The favorable features of the DCC Semi competitive advantages associated with its
tional semi designs. Also, the column spacing in this application, the company concluded, reduced hull diameter, weight, and cost.
based on in-service conditions helps reduces are a fairly small wave frequency motion re-
deck steel requirements. sponse, especially in the heave direction in New rig orders
The inner chambers are flooded naturally at a harsh environment, and a high payload/ Dragon Oil has contracted Yantai Raffles
a draft deeper than both the quayside and wet- hull steel efficiency. The design stroke ap- Offshore for lease and management of a new-
tow drafts. Once flooded, water inside the inner pears to be within the existing stroke limit of build Super M2 jackup. The rig will be used on
chambers provides “free” added mass that sup- the RAM-type tensioner, rendering the DCC Dragon’s fields in the Cheleken Contract Area
presses the semi’s motions, especially heave, Semi suitable for dry tree applications. of the Turkmen sector of the Caspian Sea.
by increasing the heave natural period at the The rig will be constructed as a self-elevating
in-place draft. It also helps optimize the column- Closed centerwell drilling unit in compliance with international
pontoon volumetric ratio, an important factor in truss spar explained marine construction standards. It should be
reducing the platform heave response. Technip’s Anil Sablok and Wade Mallard mobilized to the Cheleken Contract Area late-
The columns are constructed using a group gave the attendees at DOT a pre- 2011.
of small-diameter cylinders. A skirt fitted at sentation on a new truss spar con- The lease and management con-
the lower end of the columns increases vis- figuration called the “closed cen- tract will then take effect, initially
cous damping through the vortex shedding at terwell (CCW) spar.” for five years, with an optional ex-
the skirt’s edge. The truss spar has been devel- tension of a further two years.
In a presentation prepared for DOT, the au- oped to reduce hull diameter and Saudi Aramco subsidiary Ar-
thors compared a DCC Semi with a conven- weight over the conventional open amco Overseas Co. has contracted
tional semi for a deepwater (1,830 m, or 6,003 centerwell (OCW) truss spar for the Keppel FELS for a newbuild jack-
ft) wet-tree application in the Gulf of Mexico. same payload, without sacrificing the up for use in the Middle East.
The DCC Semi in this case has been designed exceptional motion characteristics of Keppel will build the rig, due
to support a total payload of 17,000 metric tons the spar, the presenters explained. for delivery in the second half of
(18,739 tons), comprising 10,200 metric tons The key to these enhancements, 2012, as a customized version of
(11,243 tons) for the topsides and 6,800 metric they said, is that, by closing in the its KFELS Super B class design.
tons (7,495 tons) for the 24 steel catenary ris- hard tank section of the centerwell, The company claims this will also
ers (SCRs) and eight umbilical lines. be Aramco’s first purpose-built,
According to the comparisons, both de- General configuration “next-generation” mobile off-
signs provide a heave natural period of around of the CCW truss spar. shore drilling rig. 

22 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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DRILLING & PRODUCTION John Waggoner • Houston

Shell, Delft University team

for EOR technologies
Shell International E&P and Delft University of Technology have
launched a new joint research project that seeks to develop new
techniques for enhancing oil production by combining new tech-
nologies with traditional methods.
The so-called “Recovery Factory” program has two key com-
ponents: the application of measurement and control techniques
(“smart” technology), and the injection of chemicals such as poly-
mers or gasses to enhance recovery.
While neither of these concepts is new, the program meets a criti-
cal industry need by seeking to deepen the understanding of sub-
surface processes to achieve smart enhanced oil recovery (EOR)
technology. The melding of the two disciplines already has produced
promising results. For example, researchers are developing tech-
niques to use “sniffing” sensors to detect the chemical components
of wells combined with sophisticated computer models to control
and optimize oil and gas extraction.
Another example is the combination of measurement data from
several sources, such as fiber optic sensors in the well, seismic sen-
sors below the surface on the seabed, and even satellite measure-
ments of geophysical processes to provide more insight into the
complexities of reservoir behavior.
The program already has drawn some of the top minds from the
industry, with staff from both Shell and TU Delft, including three Shown here is Brazil’s first offshore oil operation, located in the Dom
different faculties and eight new PhD students. The program will João Mar field in extremely shallow water off the coast of Bahia state.
initially run for a period of six years. Petroleum was found nearby in 1947, and by 1954, Brazil’s first offshore
venture got under way as part of a massive modernization plan by the
According to Shell, the average recovery factor of reservoirs pro- federal government. From these modest beginnings, Brazil has risen
duced to date is only around 35% of the hydrocarbon in situ, with the to one of the world’s top regions for offshore E&P. Photo courtesy of
remainder still trapped in rock. The new program seeks to make it Petrobras.
economical and practical to get the most out of every well, with an
eye toward meeting rising global energy demand. panded without issues. Once the cement cured, the shoe was drilled
out and 10 ft (3 m) of new formation was drilled to test leakoff.
BJ Services performs Due to the success of the job, no remedial intervention was re-
record-setting cement job quired and the operator was free to continue the exploration work.
If you read January’s issue of Offshore, you probably noticed an
article on the use of expandable tubular technology at record depths GustoMSC shrugs off downturn
in the Gulf of Mexico. with new drilling workhorse
Our coverage of this intriguing new approach to expandable tubu- A new high performance drillship design from GustoMSC proves
lars as a mainstay of project strategy would not be complete without that innovation within the demanding deepwater segment hasn’t
a profile on BJ Services, which had the difficult challenge of cement- skipped a beat.
ing the liner in place. One of the top challenges for vessel designers today is to come
The operator had drilled a 9 7/8 in. hole to 21,165 ft (6,450 m), and up with equipment to supply the deep and ultra deepwater market
decided to run a 6,217 ft (1,895 m) solid expandable tubular liner where the action is, while at the same time keeping costs from spi-
from the prior casing shoe. While the length of the liner alone was raling out of control. The new P10,000 drillship design from Gus-
a challenge, the project also had to contend with a bottomhole static toMSC meets that challenge with a smile.
temperature of 368 ºF (187 ºC). Characterized by its designers as a “drilling workhorse,” the
BJ Services also had to consider that the slurry would need to P10,000 design embodies all the functionalities required for top per-
remain fluid for 15 hours at this high temperature while the liner formance in deepwater, but relies on clever integration of equipment
was expanded. Not only that, the liner would be set across a 1,700-ft into the hull to operate efficiently at modest displacement – making
(518-m) section of salt, requiring special planning to ensure compat- it cheaper to build and operate.
ibility with the salt during cementing. The design features triple activity, dual BOP storage, maximized
The approach decided upon was to begin with BJ’s XtremeSet ce- tree area, optimal ER layout for a smoke-free workplace, DP-3 com-
ment system with select additives determined by lab testing, circu- pliance, plenty of accommodation, and safe working environments
lating temperature determination, and simulation data. for personnel. The vessel was designed to have a large multifunc-
With mud weight of 18.0 ppg (2.16 g/cu m), the cement for the tional setback area while maintaining a narrow beam for its class,
liner was designed at 19.3 ppg (2.31 g/cu m) to perform at bottom- providing better motion characteristics in deepwater.
hole circulating temperature of 354 ºF (179 ºC) with zero free water, Hyundai Heavy Industries is building three units based on the
fluid loss less than 50 cu m per half hour, compatibility with the salt P10,000 Basic Design. The first of these, Transocean’s Deepwater
zone, and adequate time to expand the liner. Champion, will be outfitted and finished quayside for delivery in
To ensure proper bonding with the liner and the formation, an en- the third quarter of this year. The two other units are for MetroStar
gineered spacer was deployed before the cement. The pumping job Odfjell, scheduled for delivery sometime in 2011.
was performed as projected with full returns and good density con- Probable end markets for the new design are development proj-
trol, and the cement maintained its fluidity while the liner was ex- ects in the Gulf of Mexico, West Africa, and Brazil. 

24 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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To d a y ’s B a ke r H u g h e s

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____________________ ciency

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GEOSCIENCES Gene Kliewer • Houston

TGS expands multi-client

2D Indonesian coverage
TGS is conducting a 2D seismic acquisition program offshore
West Papua in East Indonesia to add 2,240 km (1,392 mi) of new 2D
data to help evaluate the potential south of Salawati basin. Salawati is
recognized as one of the largest oil basins in eastern Indonesia. Data
acquisition is expected to end by the second quarter of this year.
“We are committed to continued expansion of the Indonesia multi-
client data library in areas with high exploration potential,” says Rod
Starr, TGS general manager - Asia Pacific. “This program represents
a solid start for 2010 and TGS expects that it will be the first of a
series of 2D projects this year, contingent on further industry sup-
port.”
The program has industry pre-funding and supports the Indone-
sian government’s overall objective to attract exploration and raise
declining production levels.
TGS says it has the largest multi-client Indonesia data library in
the industry. Upon the completion of this program, TGS’ Indonesia TGS continues acquisition of the next phase of 3D projects off-
library will exceed 100,000 km (62,137 mi) of 2D seismic; 400,000 shore Liberia. This project covers Liberia blocks 8 and 9 and totals
km (248,548 mi) of multi-beam bathymetric data; and 1,200 core 5,000 sq km (1,931 sq mi). The MV Polarcus Nadia is on the project
samples covering over 1 million sq km (386,102 sq mi) of Indone- and TGS will apply advanced pre-stack time and pre-stack depth
sia’s deepwater basins. imaging techniques to create the final subsurface image. TGS says
its African data library includes a series of 2D and 3D seismic
projects covering the Africa Transform Margin. Recent petroleum
Reinga basin opens off New Zealand discoveries in the Gulf of Guinea and offshore Sierra Leone have
Bidding is open on six blocks of the Reinga basin off the north- attracted attention to this region. Upon completion of this project,
west coast of New Zealand. This will be the first time blocks have TGS says it will have more than 30,000 km (18,641 mi) of 2D and
been offered in the area. 18,000 sq km (6,950 sq mi) of 3D seismic covering West Africa.
The blocks cover 105,230 sq km (40,630 sq mi) next to the North- The acquisition of the survey is scheduled to be complete in the
land basin which also is open for bidding. The area is geologically second quarter of this year.
contiguous with the hydrocarbon producing Taranaki basin, accord-
ing to New Zealand’s Crown Minerals.
“The immediate focus must be on increasing exploration activity
and improving the knowledge of our petroleum basins,” says Gerry
Brownlee, Energy and Resources minister. “To support exploration
of this virgin frontier basin area, the government acquired 2,026 km
(1,259 mi) of 2D seismic data over the Reinga basin in early 2009, as
part of its Data Acquisition Program.”
A further 3,886 km (2,415 mi) of 2D seismic data is available from
CGGVeritas SA, according to the ministry.

Technical advances reported

TerraSpark Geosciences and foster Findlay Associates have
agreed to explore parallel research and development programs to
define rapid, accurate, and robust methods to build geologically con-
sistent 3D representations of the subsurface to gain new levels of
interpretation productivity.
Paradigm has signed a multi-year global access agreement with
CPC Corp. The contract will provide CPC with full access to the
Paradigm seismic interpretation suite, including products such as Chariot Oil & Gas Ltd. has completed a 3D seismic program over
SeisEarth, VoxelGeo, Stratimagic, and Geolog. its northern blocks 1811 A & B offshore Namibia. The acquisition
covers 600 sq km (232 sq mi) over the Zamba prospect. Chariot
“After conducting a rigorous technical evaluation, we chose Para-
says processing and interpretation should be done by mid-year.
digm software for its competitive value,” says Bishop Hsu, CPC head
of exploration. “At CPC, we place strong emphasis on using the most
sophisticated technology to generate the best results. We believe “The West African Transform Margin play is in its infancy; rel-
that this investment will prove instrumental as we expand our opera- atively few wells have been drilled and there is still much to be
tions.” learned about developing the most effective strategy for exploitation
and production,” says Kenny Goh, Kosmos senior VP. “When con-
Ghana to get reservoir study fronted with a slope channel complex such as that encountered in
Kosmos Energy has awarded OHM Rock Solid Images a contract the Campanian-aged Odum discovery, an advanced reservoir char-
to do a seismic reservoir characterization study of the West Cape acterization study based on seismic and well data is an effective tool
Three Points block offshore Ghana. for reservoir delineation and appraisal. The experience Rock Solid
The 3D project is to cover 500 sq km (193 sq mi) and will be in- Images has gained in the region over the past two years, including
verted and calibrated against the Odum-1 and Odum-2 discoveries the work completed on the Jubilee field, will play a key role in the
18 km (11 mi) east of Kosmos’ Mahogany-1 exploration well. successful outcome of this project.” 

26 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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S P E C I A L R E P O R T: C A S P I A N S E A

Caspian Sea set for offshore resurgence

T
he Caspian Sea is the setting for some Ian Thom ment drilling will employ land rigs. This
of the world’s oldest offshore oil devel- Wood Mackenzie novel, but expensive, approach was neces-
opments. These date to the late 1940s sitated by the fact that the northern Caspian
in Azerbaijan, when the Pirallahi, Gur- freezes over in the winter and conventional
gany Deniz, and Chilov Adasy fields platforms would be at risk from shifting ice.
were brought onstream. Azerbaijan remained significant discoveries (or drilling, for that The Diyarbekir field on the Livanov block
a prominent offshore producer through the matter) to date in the Iranian Caspian. in Turkmenistan already produces oil from a
1950s and, for a while, the Neft Dashlary field Total capital expenditure over the past mobile production unit, although fixed plat-
took on the mantle of the world’s biggest off- five years was $38 billion, and this is set to forms will be required for full-field develop-
shore project. increase to $55 billion for the next five. Over ment. New fields, such as Tsentralnaya in
Despite this early success, over the next 40 the whole period, Kashagan, ACG, and Shah 500 m (1,640 ft) of water, will require more
years Azeri exploration and production failed Deniz will account for 47%, 23%, and 15% of bespoke subsea solutions, given the difficulty
to extend much beyond the shallow water Ab- expenditure, respectively. in bringing pre-assembled equipment into
sheron Peninsula area. The priorities of the The majority of offshore fields have been the Caspian and constraints on yard capacity.
Soviet state shifted onshore to reserves in developed using fixed platforms, in water
the West Siberian basin, and the indigenous depths up to 175 m (574 ft). Subsea mani- ACG
industry lacked the technology, experience, folds were first used in 2008 for water injec- The giant ACG field contributes over 1% of
and inclination to invest in the known giant tion at the deepwater Guneshli field, while global oil supply. It was discovered in 1979,
reserves of the deeper water Caspian. subsea technology will likely feature also in although the production sharing agreement
Fast-forward to the collapse of the Soviet the first two phases of the Shah Deniz gas (PSA) was only signed in 1994, with first
Union in the early 1990s, when the Caspian field development. production three years later. The develop-
was restored to its place of prominence in In Kazakhstan, artificial islands are being ment comprises five fixed platforms, a large
the international offshore industry. The built at Kashagan field, which lies in water processing facility onshore with oil exported
newly independent states of Azerbaijan, depths of 1-5 m (3.3-16.4 ft), and develop- through the 1 MMb/d, Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
Kazakhstan, and Turkmenistan sought part-
nerships with international oil companies to
develop their natural resources and to pro-
vide much-needed revenue for the bankrupt,
fledgling states. Now, less than 20 years lat-
er, the Caspian offshore is one of the world’s
most important sources of oil and gas pro-
duction growth. In 2010, offshore produc-
tion is expected to top 1.5 MMboe/d, with
plans in place to reach 3 MMboe/d by 2020.
Three giant offshore fields – Azeri-
Chirag-Guneshli (ACG), Shah Deniz, and
Kashagan – account for the majority of oil
and gas investment, and about two-thirds of
remaining reserves. ACG and Shah Deniz
are providing steadily increasing revenues
to the Azeri state and its international part-
ners, while critical new regional infrastruc-
ture has been installed in the form of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan and South Caucasus
pipelines. In Kazakhstan, the Kashagan field
is expected to export its first oil in 2013, with
construction of a major new export pipeline
anticipated for full field development. These
new pipelines will unlock reserves in the gi-
ant fields while acting as a catalyst for myr-
iad smaller projects which will be ready for
development over the next two decades.
There are currently 10 major Caspian
offshore oil and gas developments. In addi-
tion, there are two recent discoveries in the
Russian sector – Morskaya and Tsentral-
naya – that should progress to development
over the next 10 years. There have been no

28 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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S P E C I A L R E P O R T: C A S P I A N S E A

The project partners are BP (25.5%), Statoil

Key Caspian Sea development projects (25.5%), LUKoil (10%), National Iranian Oil
Peak
Co. (10%), SOCAR (10%), Total (10%), and
Reserves Start-up production Peak Development TPAO (9%). The project is jointly operated by
Project (mmboe) date (‘000 boe/d) date Operator type BP and Statoil. BP is responsibile for the op-
Kashagan 10,285 2013 1,500 2023 NCOC artificial island
erations while Statoil manages the commer-
ACG 4,367 1997 1,030 2011 BP fixed platform
cial aspects of Phase 1 contracts.
Shah Deniz 2,930 2006 510 2018 BP fixed platform
The field has commercial reserves of over
Severnyi 2,608 2010 370 2024 LUKoil fixed platform
22 tcf of gas, although only 6.6 tcf is contract-
Livanov 1,664 2006 250 2021 Petronas FPSO / fixed platform
ed under the first development phase. The
SOCAR assets 1,190 1949 410 1981 SOCAR fixed platform
operator plans a second phase, which is yet
Khvalynskoye 898 2016 90 2018 LUKoil fixed platform
to be sanctioned, to involve construction of
Cheleken 833 1972 125 2015 Dragon Oil fixed platform
an additional platform and subsea facilities
Kalamkas More 720 2018 160 2021 NCOC fixed platform
to recover of another 10-15 tcf. Gas from the
Pearls 463 2018 100 2023 CMOC fixed platform
second phase is hotly sought after by a num-
Source: Wood Mackenzie
ber of competing pipeline projects vying to
supply the European market.

pipeline. Production has increased steadily within the contract period. A further billion Kashagan
since 2005, and is approaching its plateau barrels of reserves could be added with devel- The super-giant Kashagan field, largest
level of around 1 MMb/d. Subsea tiebacks opment of the Balakhany reservoirs, and by in the Caspian, is huge even in global terms,
are installed in the deeper water parts of the enhanced recovery from existing pay zones. with an estimated 13 Bbbl of oil reserves.
Guneshli field, and are the first examples of Its development is proving to be one of the
this technology in the Caspian Sea. Shah Deniz world’s largest and most complex engineer-
The project partners are BP (34.14% and op- Gas from the giant Shah Deniz gas-con- ing projects. It was discovered in 2000 and is
erator), Chevron (10.28%), INPEX (10%), SO- densate field is exported to Georgia and Tur- part of the North Caspian Sea PSA. The first
CAR (10%), Statoil (8.56%), ExxonMobil (8%), key, and ultimately could reach the European development phase is under way, and produc-
TPAO (6.75%), Devon Energy (5.63%), Itochu market. The field was discovered in 1999 and tion is expected to begin in 2013. The field is
(3.92%), and Hess Corp. (2.72%). Reserves of began production in 2006 from a jackup plat- expected to produce 1.5 MMb/d at plateau,
around 5.4 Bbbl of oil should be produced form. Well output has averaged 175 MMcf/d. around 10 years after first oil, although these

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S P E C I A L R E P O R T: C A S P I A N S E A

later phases have to be sanctioned by the restricted equipment access via the Volga- the ACG field, while Kashagan will come to
partners and government, and are subject to Don canal (iced over during winter months), prominence in the medium to long term. The
huge uncertainties over timing and cost. distance to export markets, and strict envi- two fields are at very different stages of devel-
The partners are Eni (16.81%), Exxon- ronmental regulations. In addition, disputed opment, with ACG currently approaching peak
Mobil (16.81%), KazMunaiGas (16.81%), maritime borders prevent exploration in production, and Kashagan due to start up in
Shell (16.81%), Total (16.81%), ConocoPhil- parts of the southern Caspian Sea. Projects 2013. The performance of these two fields will
lips (8.4%), and INPEX (7.56%). The project in each littoral state compete for available have a large impact on the overall Caspian total.
operator is North Caspian Operating Co. rigs, yard space, and pipeline capacity.
(NCOC). It is responsible for general man- Given these issues, many of the projects Upstream rankings
agement but some of the individual partners are characterized by long lead times and As of Jan. 1, 2010, BP has the most valuable
have specific roles. Eni is responsible for have increased costs relative to similar in- upstream portfolio (amongst international com-
Phase 1 development until first oil. Thereaf- ternational projects. Despite this, the sheer panies) in the Caspian offshore sector due to its
ter, Shell will have the offshore operations size of the resource means that the sector stakes in ACG and Shah Deniz. ExxonMobil and
role for Phase 1 and the offshore develop- has substantial medium- and long-term po- Total occupy second and third position, although
ment role in further phases. tential, although the commercial challenges neither has a major operated project, while the
means that the Caspian offshore is generally main Kashagan partners occupy positions two
Other current/future projects a large company play – at least while major through six. For comparison, the cumulative re-
Other significant offshore projects are at infrastructure is being developed. maining value (NPV10) to the four littoral states
various stages of development. The Cheleken, The Caspian offshore is a key global amounts to $280 billion – a factor of 20 greater
Livanov, Shah Deniz, and SOCAR assets are source of oil and gas production growth. Liq- than BP.
onstream, while the Severnyi area should be- uids production has increased from 300,000 LUKoil ranks highest in terms of remain-
gin production this year. Thereafter, there is a b/d in 2004 to 1 MMb/d in 2009, and is ex- ing reserves, due to its stakes in Severnyi
gap to Kalamkas More and Pearls, which could pected to reach 2.6 MMb/d by 2022. Gas block, Khvalynskoye, and Shah Deniz. This
start-up in 2018. The Morskaya and Tsentral- production has increased from 465 MMcf/d contrasts to its eighth place in value terms – a
naya fields remain under appraisal, with uncer- in 2004 to 1.67 bcf/d in 2009, and could in- contrast which reflects the early stage of the
tainty over their production schedule. crease to 6.3 bcf/d in 2024, as several proj- Severnyi development (with major expendi-
The Caspian Sea has several unique chal- ects reach their plateau output. The Shah tures still to come), its liability for Russian oil
lenges which constrain the pace of oil and Deniz, Livanov, and Severnyi areas will be export duty, and the large proportion of gas
gas development. These include limited ac- the main sources of gas. reserves. The main Kashagan partners also
cess to rigs, overstretched fabrication yards, Short-term oil production is dominated by rank highly, along with BP and SOCAR. 

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Seismic vessel count down, Gene Kliewer

but work is picking up

Technology Editor, Subsea & Seismic

T
he business side of offshore geology (Top) PGS vessel in the process of
and geophysics in 2009 remained in surveying.
(Bottom) CGGVeritas’ Alize at work.
tune with the generally weak year for
the entire E&P industry. The survey
which follows shows that the vessel 2D market, says SeaBird, but mo-
count was 156, down by 17 from last year’s bilization and production rates still
report. Two company names are missing are lower than 2008. Globally, Sea-
from this year’s survey – Scan Geophysical Bird says volume of work outstand-
and Wavefield. Scan closed its operation in ing is high and contracts awarded
mid-2009. Wavefield and CGGVeritas were are starting to catch up.
in the process of merging at this time last SeaBird’s 2D/3D vessels have a
year and that is complete. The vessels list backlog at the start of this year, with
for each also merged, as you might expect. one vessel on time charter to Septem-
One new company, NAUTIC Offshore out of ber 2011, four on contract or commit-
Oslo, Norway, joins the list for the first time. ted to May-June this year, and two
New vessels are hitting the market in 2010, vessels on contracts ending by March.
too. Fairfield has the Carolyn Chouest, Fugro SeaBird is pursuing ocean bottom
Services Ltd. adds the Fugro Searcher, PGS node contracts with Hugin Explorer
adds the PGS Apollo, and Polarcus expects and Kondor Explorer to follow com-
the Nalia, Samur, Selma, Asima, and Alima. pletion in the second quarter of this
Taking a look at some of the seismic year of current surveys under way in
survey participants gives a view of how the West Africa and the Gulf of Mexico.
last year has been and how 2010 looks to be With the completion of the CG-
shaping up. GVeritas/Wavefield merger, the
China Oilfield Services Ltd. (COSL) has vessel count for CGGVeritas did
the largest fleet of offshore oilfield service not change by much. The merger
vessels in China. Pertinent to this survey, provided an opportunity to drop
eight of them are seismic vessels and four vessels from the survey list.
are survey vessels of other types. During CGGVeritas reports vessel
the first half of 2009, the changes in the op- utilization for 4Q 2009 did not consider the ing acquired with a 10 streamer seismic array,
erating volume of geophysical services were decommissioning that quarter of the Search each streamer being 7,200 m (4.5 mi) long
as follows: mid-capacity 3D vessel. In 2009 total, CG- and with 100 m (328 ft) separation between
GVeritas took four mid-capacity 3D vessels streamers. Polarcus Naila was scheduled to un-
out of service. In addition to the Search, it dertake its first contract, of approximately two
Services 2009 2008 took down Harmattan, Føhn, and Orion. months duration offshore West Africa as well.
2D Collection (km) 21,597 26,854 During the fourth quarter of 2009, CG- Polarcus says its vessels are constructed
2D Processing (km) 4,743 3,277 GVeritas reports its 3D vessels were allo- to DNV Clean Design standards to help
3D Collection (km2) 5,060 6,735 cated 90% to contract and 10% to multi-client control and limit operational emissions and
3D Processing (km2) 2,599 5,011 programs, particularly offshore Brazil and discharges.
in the GoM. “Operations in extremely sensitive areas,
such as the arctic, set the bar for Polarcus’
Surveying operations in the first half of New vessels join list global fleet,” says Polarcus co-founder Peter
2009 were down from the same period in Polarcus Ltd. held a double naming cere- Zickerman.
2008 mainly because of a decrease in devel- mony on Nov. 24, 2009, for Polarcus Nadia and “Efficiency is maximized by ensuring all
opment projects in Bohai Bay, COSL says. Polarcus Naila at Drydocks World – Dubai. vessels stay ahead of any environmental leg-
SeaBird shows indications that action is Both are purpose-built 3D/4D seismic ves- islation, avoiding the need to swap vessels
picking up from the last quarter of 2009 and sels incorporating the ULSTEIN X-BOW hull for different areas.
into this year. Following an increase in the along with features and maritime technolo- “The green agenda is very important to all
number of 2D/3D contracts and mobiliza- gies to minimize the vessels’ environmental employees and crew, making Polarcus’ val-
tion of all vessels back to work during the footprints, including the risk of accidental ues more than just corporate statements. Ul-
4Q 2009, utilization of the 2D/3D vessels pollution. timately, green business is good business: it
rebounded from 51% to 75% from 3Q to 4Q Polarcus Nadia is at working for TGS on a increases efficiency and profitability, creates
2009. The fourth quarter of 2009 showed an 2,000 sq km (772 sq mi) long-offset 3D survey an exciting working environment, and meets
improvement in employment prospects in the offshore West Africa where the survey is be- customer requests for sustainability.” 

32 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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* Polarcus Nadia, the world’s most environmentally sound seismic vessel in operation.

PASSIONATE ABOUT SEISMIC

All Polarcus vessels are equipped with the latest high-end seis- The most expensive seismic survey is the one that provides
mic acquisition, navigation and positioning technologies. Taken little or no value in meeting a project’s geophysical and geolog-
together, the vessels and the data acquisition systems provide ic objectives. At Polarcus we apply our significant experience
complete flexibility for Polarcus to meet the entire range of pos- and know-how in survey design and seismic data processing
sible seismic survey objectives using marine towed streamer to propose technology solutions that balance quality, cost, and
techniques. However, technology alone will not solve today’s safety to best meet our clients’ survey objectives.
complex imaging problems.
Find out more, visit www.polarcus.com

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Worldwide Seismic Vessel Survey

length (m) x width (m))

footprint (# cables x
Exclusive contract)
Vessel availability

Maximum towable
rigged (# arrays x
configuration as
Total length (m)

Total beam (m)

Primary region
(# streamers x
Year rigged or

configuration

Source array
(Yes, No, or
# channels)
converted

Streamer

capacity)
Vessel
name

BGP, 5th Floor, Building E5C West, 3rd Street; TEDA, Tainjin 300457, P.R.China
BGP Challenger 2007 55 13.8 1 x 1,200 Yes AF, MID E, FAR E 1 x 9,000
BGP Pioneer 2006 83.7 19.5 6 x 640 Yes AF, MID E, FAR E 2 x 3,400 6 x 8,000
BGP Researcher 2007 68.5 13.8 1 x 1,200 Yes AF, MID E, FAR E 1 x 3,000 n/a
BGP Surveyor 2007 68.5 13.8 2 x 480 Yes AF, MID E, FAR E 2 x 3,400 2 x 6,000
Caspian Geophysical, T. Aliyarbekov St. 9, 370005, Baku, Azerbaijan
Caspian Kyra 1970 36 7 Caspian Sea
CGGVeritas, 1 Rue Leon, BP 32, 91301 Massy Cedex, France
Alize 1999 100 29 14 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,840 14 x 6,000 x 75
Amadeus 1999 84 19 8 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,960 8 x 6,000 x 100
Challenger 2006 90 24 12 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,740 12 x 7,200 x 100
Pacific Sword 2000 58 12 2 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 3,200 2 x 5,000 x 100
Pacific Titan 1998 65 19 4 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 3,840 2 x 6,000 x 100
Princess 2001 76 14 3 x 320 Yes Worldwide 2 x 3,080 3 x 4,000 x 100
Symphony 2000 121 23 12 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,740 12 x 6,000 x 100
Venturer 2007 90 15 4 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 3,840 4 x 6,000 x 100
Viking 2006 93 22 10 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 5,260 10 x 8,100 x 100
Viking II 1999 93 22 8 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 5,260 8 x 8,100 x 100
Viking Vanquish 2007 93 22 12 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 5,260 12 x 8,100 x 100
Viking Vantage 2002 93 22 8 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 5,260 8 x 8,100 x 100
Viking Vision 2007 105 26 12 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 5,260 12 x 8,100 x 100
Voyager 2006 68 16 4 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 5,260 4 x 6,000 x 100
Bergen Surveyor 1997/ 2006 67 14.6 2 x 480, 1 x 960 Yes Worldwide 4,400, 2 x 2 sub-arrays 2 x 6,000 x100
Geowave Champion 2007 106.3 22.4 12 x 720 Yes Worldwide dual 3,500, 2 x 3 sub-arrays 12 x 9,000 x 825
10 x 9,000 x 900
Geowave Commander 2006 98 16.5 6 x 720, 8 x 480 Yes Worldwide dual 3,500, 2 x 3 sub-arrays 8 x 6,000 x 700
Geowave Endeavour 2008 106.6 26.6 16 x 720 Yes Worldwide dual 3,500, 2 x 3 sub-arrays 16 x 9,000 x 1,125
Geowave Master 2007 113 22.5 12 x 720 Yes Worldwide dual 3,500, 2 x 3 sub-arrays 12 x 9,000 x 825
10 x 9,000 x 900
Geowave Voyager 2008 92.7 22 12 x 720 Yes Worldwide dual 3,500 2 x 3 sub-arrays 12 x 9,000 x 825
10 x 9,000 x 900
Malene Østervold 2007 70 15 2 x 480, 1 x 960 Yes Worldwide dual 3,500, 2 x 3 sub-arrays 2 x 6,000 x100
China Oilfield Services, Ltd., No.6 Dongzhimenwai Xiaojie Beijing 100027 P.R.C
Bin Hai 511 1979 81 13.4 3 x 360 Yes China, Asia, CIS 2 x 3,000
Bin Hai 512 1979 79 13.4 4 x 360 Yes China, Asia, CIS 2 x 3,000
Bin Hai 517 1997 60 15 2 x 480 Yes China, Asia, CIS 4,075
Bin Hai 518 1995 50 12.5 2 x 240 Yes China, Asia, CIS 2,040
COSL 718 2005 78 6 streamers Yes China, Asia, CIS
Nan Hai 502 1980 66 11 2 x 360 Yes China, Asia, CIS 3,660
Orient Pearl 1994 77 16 4 x 480 Yes China, Asia, CIS 2 x 3,660
Dalmorneftegeophysica (DMNG), 426, Mira Ave., Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, 693004, Russia
Akademik Fersman 2006-2007 81.5 14.8 SEAL 1 x 960 Contact SE Asia / Worldwide 5,000 cu in 4 strings 1 x 1,100
Orient Explorer 1995 81.8 14.8 4 x 1,440 Contact SE Asia / Worldwide 6 x 2,920 4 x 6,000 x 100
Zephyr-I 2002 81.8 14.8 SEAL 1 x 960 Contact SE Asia / Worldwide 4 strings 2,940 higher on request 1 x 11,100
Fairfield Industries, 14100 Southwest Freeway, Sugar Land, Texas 77478, USA
Fairfield Endeavor 2001 65 13.5 Shooting Vessel Yes GoM 4,330 dual
Fairfield New Venture 2004 76 18 Shooting Vessel Yes GoM 4,330 dual
Fairfield Challenger 2005 67 14 Shooting Vessel Yes GoM 4,330 dual
Carolyn Chouest 2010 73 16 Node Handling Vessel Yes GoM Node Vessel 920 - Nodes
Fugro GeoServices, 200 Dulles Blvd., Lafayette, Louisiana USA
Geodetic Surveyor 1981 37 9 1 x 48 Yes GoM 90-300 GI Guns
Seis Surveyor 1976/ 1985 45.7 11.6 1 x 48, 1 x 96, 2 x 48, 4 x 8, 6 x 6 Yes GoM 90-300 GI Guns
Universal Surveyor 1980 37 9 1 x 48, 1 x 96 Yes GoM 90-300 GI Guns
Albuquerque 1982 40 10 1 x 48 Yes GoM 90-300 GI Guns
Fugro Enterprise Jun-05 52 12 1 x 48, 1 x 96 Yes GoM 90-300 GI Guns
Fugro-Geoteam AS, Hoffsveien 1 C, P.O. Box 490 Skøyen, N-0213, Oslo, Norway
Geo Arctic 1988/1997/2005 82 15 1 x 12,000 Yes Worldwide 5,860 single source
Geo Atlantic 2000/2006 121 26 10 x 8,000 Yes Worldwide 4,300 dual source 7.2 sq km
Geo Baltic 1998/2002/2006 75 16 6 x 4,000 Yes Worldwide 2,620 dual source 3 sq km
Geo Barents 2007 77 17 6 x 9,000 Long-term charter Worldwide 4,300 dual source 6.75 sq km
Geo Caribbean 2008 100 28 14 x 6,000 Yes Worldwide 4,500 dual source 10.4 sq km
Geo Celtic 2007 100 28 12 x 8,000 Yes Worldwide 4,500 dual source 8.8 sq km
Geo Natuna 2006/2008 70 17 6 x 4,000 Yes Worldwide 4,300 dual source 3 sq km

34 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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F

GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Technical capability Onboard processing

to shore (company used

Seismic

Satellite transmission
Acquisition

(type or cartridge #)
capability

and transmission
recording media
transition zone

speed (baud ))
Ocean bottom

Vertical cable

Final primary
High density
Deepwater

Nav data

Full data
Shallow

QC data
cable
2D

3D
4C

x x 3592 VSAT
x x x 3592 VSAT
x x 3592 VSAT
x x 3592 VSAT

3590E

x x x x x x x x 3590 E VSAT ≥ 256k

x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 256k
x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 256k
x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT ≥ 128k
x x x x x x 3590 VSAT Telenor 256k
x x x x x x x x 3590, 3592 VSAT Telenor 256k

x x x x x x x x 3590 E, 3592 VSAT Telenor 256k

x x x x x x x x 3590, 3592 VSAT Telenor 256k
x x x x x x x x 3590, 3592 VSAT Telenor 256k

x x x x x x x x 3590, 3592 VSAT Telenor 256k

x x x x x x 3590, 3592 VSAT Telenor 256k

x x >10 m x x x x x 3590
x x >10 m x x x x x 3590
x x >8 m x x x x 3590
x x >6 m x x x x x 3590
x x
x x >10 m x x x x x 3590
x x >10 m x x x x x 3590

x x x x x x 3590
x x x x x x x x 3590 NorSat
x x x x x x 3590 NorSat

x x x x x x x x 3590

x x x x x x DLT M-Sat 4800

x x x x x x x DLT M-Sat 4800
x x x x x x DLT M-Sat 4800
x x x x x x DLT M-Sat 4800
x x x x x x DLT M-Sat 4800

x x x x x 3590/RAID Norsat
x x x x x x x 3590/RAID Norsat
x x x x x x x x 3590/RAID Norsat
x x x x x x x 3590 / RAID Norsat
x x x x x x x Norsat
x x x x x x x 3590/RAID Norsat
x x x x x x x x Norsat

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 35

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Worldwide Seismic Vessel Survey

length (m) x width (m))

footprint (# cables x
Exclusive contract)
Vessel availability

Maximum towable
rigged (# arrays x
configuration as
Total length (m)

Total beam (m)

Primary region
(# streamers x
Year rigged or

configuration

Source array
(Yes, No, or
# channels)
converted

Streamer

capacity)
Vessel
name

Geo Pacific 1998/2003/2006 82 20 8 x 6,000 Yes Worldwide 3,460 dual source 4.5 sq km
Hawk Explorer (chartered from Seabird. See Seabird Exploration below). Yes Worldwide
Seisquest 1991/2001/2007 92 19 8 x 6,000 m Yes Worldwide 4,000 dual source 4.5 sq km
Fugro Survey Ltd., Denmore Rd, Bridge of Don, Aberdeen AB23 8JW, UK
Fugro Mercator 1979/1996 73 11.6 1 x 120 Yes NWECS 140
Fugro Meridian 1982/1997 72.5 13.8 1 x 240 Yes NWECS 140/1,000
Geo Prospector 1970/1997 72.6 11.8 1 x 120 Yes EAME 140
Fugro Discovery 1997/2007 70 12.6 1 x 120 Yes NWECS 140
Fugro Searcher 2010 65.2 14 1 x 240 2010 140/1,000
Fugro Survey Pte Ltd, 32 Tuas West Road, Singapore 638387
Geo Surveyor 1981 58 10.5 1 x 120 Yes Far East, Worldwide 1 x 40, 1 x 80, 1 x 160
Gardline, Endeavour House, Admiralty Rd., Great Yarmouth, Norfolk NR30 3NG UK
Sea Explorer 1993/1994/2004 58.8 11 1 x 120 Yes Worldwide 2 x 160
Ocean Endeavour 2004 64.4 11.4 1 x 120 Yes Worldwide
Sea Proflier 1992 65.7 11 1 x 120 Yes Worldwide 2 x 160
Sea Surveyor 1998/1999 64.4 11.4 1 x 480 Yes Worldwide 1 x 160 up to 1,950
Sea Trident 1984/1991/2006 57.9 10.2 1 x 120 Yes Worldwide 2 x 160
Ocean Seeker 1970/2000 80.7 13 1 x 120 Yes Worldwide 1 x 160
L’Espoir 1971/1996 67.5 10.6 1 x 120 Yes Worldwide 1 x 160
Tridens 1 1984/1991 57.9 10.2 1 x 120 Yes Worldwide 1 x 160
Global Geophysical Serevices, 3535 Briarpark Dr., Houston TX, USA
DIB 1 2007 12.5 4.25 Yes International OBC Cable
DIB 2 2007 12.5 4.25 Yes International OBC Cable
Global Longhorn 2007 28.5 8 3,000 channels Yes GoM, International OBC Cable
(recording vessel)
Global Quest 2007 20 5.5 Yes India, International OBC Cable
Global Vision 2007 20 6.5 Yes India, International OBC Cable
James H. Scott 2005 21 10.7 Yes GoM, International 4 x 750 OBC Cable
Lori B 2007 14.6 6 Yes GoM OBC Cable
Miss Ginger 2006 54.8 11.5 Yes GoM OBC Cable
Ms. Cordelia 2007 41.5 11.5 Yes GoM, International OBC Cable
Sea Diamond VIII 2007 55 12 Yes India, International 2 x 750 OBC Cable
Seapol One 2007 16.75 9 3,000 channels Yes India, International OBC Cable
(recording vessel)
Soha Folk 2007 55 12 Yes India, International OBC Cable
Super Transporter 2006 33.5 8.5 Yes GoM OBC Cable
Te Wera 2007 16.5 4.9 Yes India, International OBC Cable
Tiny Tune 2005 11.5 3.7 Yes USA 1 x 640 OBC Cable
Tuhawiki 2007 15 4.2 Yes India, International OBC Cable
GSI 400, 400 5th Ave. SW Calgary, Alberta, T2P 0L6, Canada
GSI Admiral 1998 89.6 19 4 x 640 Spec Americas 2 x 3,930 4 x 8,000 x 300
GSI Pacific 2005 56.3 12 1 x 800 Spec Americas 1 x 4,410 1 x 10,000
Marine Arctic Geological Expedition (MAGE)
Geolog Dmitriy Nalivkin 1991 71.7 12.8 1 x 648 Contract Arctic, Northern seas 1 x 3,410 1 x 8,100
Professor Kurentsov 1995 68.9 12.4 1 x 648 Contract Arctic, Northern seas 1 x 8,100
NAUTIC Offshore AS, Dronningen 1, 0211 Oslo, Norway
Neptune NAIAD 2008 66.3 14.2 4 x 2,560 Yes Worldwide 2x 4,000 4 x 6,000 x 100
Offshore Seismic Surveys, OSS, 13430 NW Freeway, Suite 800, Houston TX 77040
OSS Gulf Supplier 56.4 11.6 3 x 240 Yes South America 2 x 1,500 3 x 3,000 x 200
OGS Italy, Borgo Grotta Gigante 42c, P.O. Box 2011, 34016 Trieste, Italy
OGS Explora 1997 71.9 12.8 1 x 96 Worlwide inc. Antarctic 2 x 355
PGS Marine, Strandveien 4, 1326 Lysaker Norway
Atlantic Explorer 1994 91.5 18 6 x 960* Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 3.6 sq km
Falcon Explorer 1997 81.2 16.3 1 x 1296* Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 N/A
Beaufort Explorer 2005 84 17 1 x 1296* Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 N/A
Nordic Explorer 1993 82 16.5 1 x 1296* Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 N/A
Pacific Explorer 1994 91.5 22 6 x 528 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 4.0 sq km
Ramform Challenger 1996 86.6 39.6 12 x 960* Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 6.6 sq km
Ramform Explorer 1995 82 39.6 10 x 960* Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 5.4 sq km
Ramform Valiant 1998 86.6 39.6 18 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 6.6 sq km
Ramform Vanguard 1999 86.6 39.6 18 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 6.6 sq km
Ramform Viking 1998 86.6 39.6 18 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 6.6 sq km
Ramform Sovereign 2008 102 40 22 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 10.4 sq km

36 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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EMaGS F
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F

GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Technical capability Onboard processing

to shore (company used

Seismic

Satellite transmission
Acquisition

(type or cartridge #)
capability

and transmission
recording media
transition zone

speed (baud ))
Ocean bottom

Vertical cable

Final primary
High density
Deepwater

Nav data

Full data
Shallow

QC data
cable
2D

3D
4C

x x x x x x x 3590/RAID Norsat

x x x x x x x 3590/RAID Norsat

x x x x x x Telenor 7
x x x x x x x Telenor 7
x x x x x x Telenor 7
x x x x x x Telenor 7
x x x x x x Telenor 7

x x x x x x x 3490E

x x >10m x x x x x 3490E VSAT (256)

x x
x >10m x x x x x 3490E VSAT (256)
x x >10m x x x x x 3490E VSAT (256)
x >10m x x x x x 3490E VSAT (128)
x >10m x x x x x 3490E VSAT (256)
x >10m x x x x x 3490E VSAT (128)
x >10m x x x x x 3490E Gardline 64k

x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x 3590
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x
x x x x x x x x

x x x x x x x 3590 V-SAT
x x x x x 3590 V-SAT

x x x x x x 3590, 3592 NorSat

x x x 3590

x x x x x x x x 3590, EHD, USB VSAT

x x x x 3590 V-SAT

x x x x x x 3490E 64k

x x ? x x x x x x 3590 56k
x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x x x 56k
x x ? x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x x 3590 56k

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 37

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Worldwide Seismic Vessel Survey

length (m) x width (m))

footprint (# cables x
Exclusive contract)
Vessel availability

Maximum towable
rigged (# arrays x
Total length (m)

configuration as
Total beam (m)

Primary region
(# streamers x
Year rigged or

configuration

Source array
(Yes, No, or
# channels)
converted

Streamer

capacity)
Vessel
name

Ramform Sterling 2009 102 40 22 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 10.4 sq km

PGS Apollo 2010 106.8 19.2 10 x 480 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4,130 8.1 sqkm
Polarcus, PO Box 283373, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Polarcus Nadia 2009 88.8 19 2009 Worldwide 2 x 4,240 12 x 8,000 x 75
Polarcus Naila 2010 88.8 19 2010 Worldwide 2 x 4,240 12 x 8,000 x 75
Polarcus Samur 2010 84.2 17 2010 Worldwide 2 x 4,240 6 x 8,000 x 160
Polarcus Selma 2010 84.2 17 2010 Worldwide 2 x 4,240 6 x 8,000 x 160
Polarcus Asima 2010 92 21 2010 Worldwide 2 x 4,240 12 x 8,000 x 100
Polarcus Alima 2010 92 21 2010 Worldwide 2 x 4,240 12 x 8,000 x 100
RXT Reservoir Exploration Technologies Lysaker Torg 5 A, PO Box 104, 1325 Lysaker, Norway
Ark Phil 2007 70 16.8 cable vessel
Beulah Chouest 1982/1996 60 14 980 channels Yes Worldwide 3 x 1,340 6 x 6,000
Bourbon 2004 64 17 cable vessel Yes Worldwide 6 x 6,000
Ocean Pearl 2001 108.6 18 Yes Worldwide 2 x 3,990 12 x 6,000
Sanco Star 2008 (combined source/cable vessel) Yes Worldwide
Ramco Express 2003 58 12.5 2 x 6,000
Sara Maatje IX 1994 Yes Worldwide 8 6-km VSO cables
Sea Bird Exploration Nedre Vollgate 3, P.O. Box 1302, Vika 0112 Oslo, Norway
Aquila Explorer 2007 71 17.5 1 x 960 PGS Worldwide 2 x 5,000
Geo Mariner 2001/2004 38.2 12.8 2 x 320 Yes Worldwide 2 X 1,700; 3 X 1,995 2 x 3,600 x 100
Harrier Explorer 2007 81 18.3 Source PGS Worldwide
Hawk Explorer 2006 66 14.5 1 x 960 Fugro Geoteam Worldwide 1 x 4400
Hugin Explorer 2007/2008 86 20 Yes Worldwide 2 x 4400
Kondor Explorer 1984/1997 63.5 13.6 Source Yes Worldwide 2 X 5,260 (client selectable)
(source only)
Munen Explorer 2007 60 14 1 x 960 Yes Worldwide 2 x 5,000
Northern Explorer 1987/1998/2004 76 14 1 x 960 Yes Worldwide X 5,000 Bolt
Osprey Explorer 2006 81 16 Source Yes Worldwide 2 X 5000 (client selectable)
Sevmorneftegeofizika (SMNG), 17, Karl Marx St., 183025 Murmansk, Russia
Akademik Lazarev 1987/96 81.8 14.8 1 x 960 Yes Worldwide 4 x 4,258 1 x 8,000
Akademik Nemchinov 1988/97 84 14.8 4 x 480 Yes Worldwide 6 x 7,874 4 x 5,000 x 450
Akademik Shatskiy 1986/91 83.5 14.8 1 x 960 Worldwide 6 x 6,444 2 x 4,000 x 100
Iskatel - 5 1989/97 49.2 18.2 1 x 480 Yes Worldwide 4 x 3,000 1 x 4,000
Professor Polshkov 1984/94 71.6 12.8 1 x 480 Yes Worldwide 4 x 3,800 1 x 6,000
Professor Rjabinkin 1989/1995/2007 49.9 10.5 2 x 800 Yes Worldwide 2 x 2,280 2 x 6,000
Shanghai Offshore Petroleum Bureau CNSPC, 1225 Shangcheng Road Pu Dong, Shanghai
Discoverer 1980 72 16.4 120 ch
WesternGeco, Schlumberger House, Buckingham Gate, Gatwick Airport, West Sussex, RH6 0NZ U
Conti 2005 65 17 2 x 3,200 Yes Worldwide
Geco Bluefin 1980 80 19 2 x 3,200 Yes Worldwide
Geco Diamond 1993 81 19 8 x 480 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695 8 x 6,000 x 700
Geco Eagle 1999 95 37 12 x 640 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695 12 x 8,000 x 1,100
Geco Emerald 1992 81 19 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695
Geco Searcher 1983 92 20 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695
Geco Snapper 1997 67 18 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695
Geco Tau 1992 77 19 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695
Geco Topaz 1992 81 19 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695
Geco Triton 1970 79 21 10 x 720 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695 10 x 9,000 x 900
Gilavar 1981 85 19 6 x 480 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695 6 x 6,000 x 500
Ocean Odyssey 2005 72 16 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695
Western Delta 2007 61 12 Yes Worldwide 8 x 750
Western Monarch 1991 93 24 12 x 2,560 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695 12 x 8,000 x 1,100
Western Neptune 1999 93 24 12 x 2,560 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695 12 x 8,000 x 1,100
Western Patriot 1993 78 17 8 x 480 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695 8 x 6,000 x 700
Western Pride 1991 73 20 10 x 1,920 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695 10 x 6,000 x 900
Western Regent 1992 94 24 12 x 2,650 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695 12 x 8,000 x 1,100
Western Trident 1999 93 23 10 x 560 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1695 10 x 7,000 x 900
Western Spirit 1993 78 22 10 x 1,920 Yes Worldwide 8 x 1,695 10 x 6,00 x 700
WG Columbus 2009 88 21 12 x 3,200 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695 12 x 10,000 x 1,100
WG Magellan 2009 88 21 12 x 3,200 Yes Worldwide 6 x 1,695 12 x 10,000 x 1,100
Q refers to Q-Technology

38 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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EMaGS F
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F

GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Technical capability Onboard processing

to shore (company used

Seismic

Satellite transmission
Acquisition

(type or cartridge #)
capability

and transmission
recording media
transition zone

speed (baud ))
Ocean bottom

Vertical cable

Final primary
High density
Deepwater

Nav data

Full data
Shallow

QC data
cable
2D

3D
4C

x x ? x x x x 3590 56k
x x ? x x x 3590 56k

x x x x x x x x VSAT
x x x x x x x x VSAT
x x x x x x x VSAT
x x x x x x x VSAT
x x x x x x x VSAT
x x x x x x x VSAT

x x x x 3590 or EHD VSAT

x x x x 3590 or EHD VSAT
x x x x 3590 or EHD
x

x x

x x x x Inmarsat C
x x x x x x 3590 NorSat C
x Inmarsat C
x x x x Inmarsat C
x x x x x x x Inmarsat C
x x KU Band

x x x x Inmarsat C
x x x x 3590 NorSat C
x x Inmarsat C

x x x x x x 3590 64k
x x x x x x x 3590 64k
x x x x x x x x 3590 64k
x x x x
x x x x x 3590 64k
x x x x x x 3490E 9.6k

x x x x x x

x x x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+

x x x x x x x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x x x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+
x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+
x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+
x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+
x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+
x x x x x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x x x x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+
x x x x 3590 VSAT 128K+
x x x Q x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x Q x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x x x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x Q x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x Q x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x x x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x Q x x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x Q x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP
x x x Q x x 3592 VSAT 128K+ Full OBP

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 39

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F

DRILLING & COMPLETION

Ultra high-pressure risers

for deepwater drilling
Extreme water, well depths are critical challenges

A
s the development of offshore hydro- Karim Jan but because of uncertainty about the exact
carbon reserves extends into greater Simon Luffrum pressure, the maximum design pressure of
water and well depths, riser system John Shield the riser was taken to be 12,200 psi (approxi-
design and supply becomes a critical Paul Brett mately 10% margin). As well as designing for
industry challenge. One such exam- Subsea Riser Products burst, this internal pressure results in large
ple is the drilling of pre-salt wells in water tensile end cap forces (15,800 kN), dwarfing
depths approaching 3,000 m (10,000 ft). This the external tensioner capacity of 2,670 kN.
is a complex undertaking, and can require Even considering high strength steel, the
extensive initial well construction work as resulting wall thickness is very large and
well as regular intervention throughout pro- this results in a very heavy riser with high
duction life. For these reasons, and consid- bending stiffness. Although the water depth
ering recent day rates for a mobile offshore is relatively shallow, the combination of lim-
drilling unit, operators are considering drill- ited tension capacity of the rig, the large
ing these wells using a dry tree floating pro- riser diameter, and high currents result in
duction system with surface BOP. high bending loads, particularly near the
Drilling risers in these surface BOP sys- riser end constraints at the seabed and ves-
tems must contain internal pressures up to sel interface.
15,000 psi (such as in the Gulf of Mexico’s The maximum riser weight that a stan-
Lower Tertiary play), resulting in the need dard jackup can deploy is around 170 metric
for a large wall thickness and high-grade tons, generally limited by the riser tensioner
materials to resist burst. Adding to this tech- system capacity. Using higher strength steel
Seen here is an infra-red trace of flange heating.
nical challenge are the difficulties of sour (>80 ksi) to reduce weight was not practical
Image courtesy of SRP.
service. for this project due to qualified pipe avail-
One solution is a technique of fabrication or 427 ft MWD), sour, high pressure subsea ability constraints and weldability concerns.
using shrink fitting which allows higher tieback. A key to this challenge was the maxi- The riser screening analysis suggested
grade materials to be used and eliminates mum predicted shut-in tubing head pressure that 19 ¼-in. ID, 2-in. WT, 80-ksi steel would
the problems associated with welding thick of approximately 11,000 psi. Ultra high pres- be suitable pipe section to withstand the pre-
walled pipes. sure wells typically are drilled using a subsea dicted load; and the total riser weight would
For many years shrink-fitting has been BOP, low pressure marine drilling riser, and be within a nominal jackup rig’s capacity.
one standard connection method. A shaft is semisubmersible rig. However, in this in- Subsea Riser Products (SRP) selected a low-
inserted into a pre-heated component then stance a jackup drilling rig was selected with a carbon, high-strength steel (modified ASTM
left to cool. Although common in many in- strong preference to maintain a full bore riser A182 Grade F22, 80 ksi, improved weldabil-
dustries, its use in the offshore oil and gas with surface BOP. ity) which is readily available (though only
industry is limited. Welding and threading This arrangement allowed cost benefits as a forged product in this diameter and wall
are the connection methods of choice. This on the rig rates but placed challenges on the thickness) and has excellent resistance to
article describes the development, testing, riser system. fatigue (fracture toughness) and sour gas
and manufacture of a full-bore (19 ¼-in. or The preliminary design and analysis of (hardness).
49-cm inside diameter) shrink-fit riser con- the riser system indicated that a solution In this application, applied loads are the
nection for a high-pressure drilling system could be achieved with a 19 ½ in. (49.53 cm) main design driver in coupling selection
with a surface BOP. It also describes the bore riser with a 2 in. (5.08 cm) wall thick- rather than speed of make-up or compact
methods used and the value gained using ness using a relatively high strength steel size as in other riser systems. However, both
such a system. It will discuss the applicabil- (80 ksi). It was recognized that manufac- these requirements have practical limits and
ity of the system already constructed for a turing such pipe and fabricating riser joints are factors to be considered.
North Sea application to deepwater systems would be a challenge if NACE requirements Owing to the high tension and bending
in which high strength steels of 110 ksi and were to be achieved. Given the commercial loads on the connection, SRP elected to use
beyond might be employed. and schedule risk, the option to use a new a custom designed compact bolted flange.
shrink fit method was considered, and ulti- With detailed finite element (FE) analysis,
Design considerations mately qualified and selected in preference SRP developed flange face profiles and pre-
The shrink-fit connection and riser system to welding. load values specifically for the extreme load
was developed in response to the challenge of The maximum well shut-in tubing head cases as defined by the global riser analysis.
making a cost efficient shallow water (130 m pressure was predicted to be 11,000 psi; This resulted in a compact flange with 12

40 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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F

𰀴𰁠𰁝𰁛𰀎𰁈𰀼𰁝𰁒𰁏𰁚𰀎𰁁𰁧𰁡𰁢𰁓𰁛𰁡𰀎𰁢𰁝𰀎𰁈𰀼𰁝𰁒𰁏𰁚𰀎𰀷𰁛𰁏𰁕𰁗𰁜𰁕

𰀹𰁅𰀃𰁁𰁒𰁅𰀃𰁆𰁕𰁌𰁌𰀃𰁓𰁐𰁅𰁃𰁔𰁒𰁕𰁍
𰀃𰀼𰀰𰁏𰁄𰁁𰁌𰀃𰁔𰁅𰁃𰁈𰁎𰁏𰁌𰁏𰁇𰁙𰀑
𰀨𰁁𰁉𰁒𰂜𰁅𰁌𰁄𰀰𰁏𰁄𰁁𰁌𰀑𰁃𰁏𰁍
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DRILLING & COMPLETION

bolts which is more efficient than a compa- surface finish on sealing and pull-out resis-
rable API flange (18 ¾-in. 15 ksi) in terms of tance. It was also used to assess the pull-out
drill floor make-up time. Coupled with a 100% resistance of mechanical details designed to
bolt tensioning system, the make-up time is supplement the friction joint.
comparable or better than low pressure “fast The small scale tests were conducted us-
make-up” riser connections. Hence the basis ing 3-in. (7.62-cm) diameter shafts fitted into
of the riser system design was defined and capped cylindrical housings. Pressure then
only the method of construction/fabrication was applied within the housing to test seal-
needed to be finalized. ing and an external jack applied load.
This testing proved the predictable be-
Riser joint construction havior of the seal and friction joint with vari-
Because of the pipe material, diameter, ous surface finishes, validating the contact
and wall thickness, the scope of supply was pressure calculations and providing accu-
beyond the capacity of candidate pipe mills rate friction factors for further development
to make a reasonable length standard riser work and final prototype design.
joint. This meant that relatively expensive
forged and machined pipe was the only so- Medium-scale testing
lution. With prototype design complete, 2H Off-
Welded construction is the standard meth- shore and SRP developed a half-scale testing
od of joint construction, so the riser material program designed to reflect the behavior of
was modified to maximize weldability. Weld- the full-scale flange while enabling the use
ing companies were approached to do feasi- of readily available materials and jacking
bility studies on welding these components equipment.
in accordance with the project requirements. The purpose of the test program was to
All the studies determined that welding validate the design methodology of the more
could be feasible, though it presented tech- Shown here is an image of a test specimen. complex connection, prove the connection
nical challenges and would require devel- Photo courtesy of SRP. seal and strength integrity, and assess the
opment and qualification to achieve a level practicality of full-scale assembly.
of commercial confidence. Consequently, on the surface area, coefficient of friction, Four half-scale test pieces were assembled
when combined with schedule pressure this and contact pressure between the two com- and tested in the program -- two prototype
method of construction was eliminated. ponents. SRP, together with 2H Offshore, pieces and two pieces designed to test the be-
Other methods of connection (such as developed a testing program and suite of cal- havior and capacity of the individual design
threading and friction welding) were con- culation tools to complete a screening analy- features: the friction joint and mechanical
sidered and eventually discounted either sis of the geometry combinations (external locking. All were made from steel representa-
because of the technical challenges of join- and internal diameters) and mechanical tive of the final riser joint material.
ing such large components, or because their properties (Poisson’s ratio, modulus of elas- The strength and sealing capacity of the
performance in riser loading conditions was ticity) of the mating components. This also shrink-fit connections were tested with vari-
unknown and could not be determined in was used to input variables derived from ex- ous combinations of pressure, bending and
the short development time frame. perimental data (such as friction factor) into tension, including:
The option of shrink-fitting was consid- the detailed analysis. • Hydrotesting to 13,500 psi
ered, even though it was new and unprov- One of the analysis tools developed was • Gas testing to 12,200 psi
en. In shrink-fitting, an oversized shaft is a method of accurately predicting of the • Hydrotesting to 12,200 psi with external
inserted into the female component (e.g. contact pressure generated between the two loads up to 450 metric tons (496 tons)
hub) which has been expanded with heat. components by hand calculation. Based on • Hydrotesting to 5,000 psi with external
The components are allowed to cool and the simple thick walled theory, it allows quick loads up to 1,050 metric tons (1,157
resulting interference fit offers a structural and easy assessment of the shrink fit assem- tons)
connection. This has been used for years bly under a range of design and operating • Bending and tension loads represent-
on rail wheels, gears, etc. In addition to the conditions. ing greater than 50-year storm event in
structural connection, shrink fit also offers Results from calculations compared fa- service.
a seal due to the high levels of preload that vorably to finite element analysis and strain Taking the test scale into account, the
are achieved. measurements. This design tool was fun- program achieved test conditions more than
2H Offshore and Subsea Riser Products damental to develop the final connection twice as onerous as those predicted for the
previously developed a shrink-fit design for profile as the external constraints on design in-service units. The test showed that ca-
flange to pipe connection. The status of the were refined throughout the project. Such pacities of the friction joint and mechanical
development work, the simplicity of the pro- constraints included practical limits on forg- locking features are additive and exceed
cess, and the predictability of the assembly ing sizes, rotary table drift, and minimum the pipe capacity. It also showed that the
behavior enabled development of a high in- assembly clearance. shrink-fit seal was resistant to variations
tegrity shrink-fit connection to meet the proj- Two testing programs were undertaken in pressure and external load, even severe
ect requirements within the project schedule. as part of the shrink-fit development. overload conditions that exceeded the fric-
tion joint capacity.
Development Small-scale testing
Since a shrink-fit connection loaded in A small-scale test program with simple ge- Fatigue
tension is primarily a friction joint, the total ometry was used to verify the shrink-fit anal- A primary consideration in riser design is
tensile capacity of the connection depends ysis methods and to determine the effect of resistance to fatigue. Riser fatigue is driven

42 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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DRILLING & COMPLETION

by growth of cracks due to cyclic axial stress, the power output of the induction heating
primarily due to varying bending. This is as- unit and cooling time of the assembly; both
sessed by a global riser analysis which in- of which can be accelerated. Once cool, the
cludes the cumulative fatigue damage from assembly is checked for dimensions before
first order fatigue and vortex induced vibration the joint is sent for final machining, hydro-
(VIV) effects under a service life environment. testing, and coating.
From this analysis, a fatigue life for straight
pipe is predicted which can be reduced in a Future developments
nonlinear manner by stress concentrations, The excellent fatigue performance of the
or “hotspots,” that locally amplify axial stress shrink-fit connection lends itself well to riser
ranges. These hotspots can occur at the transi- joints, bend stiffeners, and other fatigue
tions from pipe to flange, and tend to be driven critical services. SRP is developing a low-
by flange geometry. An example of this is the profile shrink-fit sleeve to construct joints
use of integrally forged joints with elliptical ta- up to 30 m (98 ft) long for deepwater drill-
per sections to smooth transitions. ing. Extensive FE analysis of a sleeve design
Mismatched weld fit-up causes stress already has been done, and the results show
concentrations, so eliminating the pipe to that a sleeve coupling with a wall thickness
flange weld automatically can improve the comparable to the pipe would be feasible. In
fatigue performance of the riser joints. deepwater applications high strength steels
The shrink-fit flange-to-pipe connection of 125 ksi minimum yield strength or great-
was evaluated for stress concentrations us- er may be used with the shrink-fit technique
ing finite element analysis. The tapered to minimize riser weight. In critical locations
relief sections designed by Subsea Riser Shown here is the rig that was used for bending along the riser, forged taper joints often are
Products resulted in an axial stress concen- test and 5,000 psi pressure containment test un- required to control bending and fatigue. The
tration factor (SCF) which is better than the der aggressive load. Photo courtesy of SRP. use of shrink-fit flanges or connections al-
pipe. While there is increased axial stress lows equivalent fatigue performance to be
at the pipe-flange transition, the axial stress 2RD rating category (normal, test, extreme, achieved using “fabricated” joints. This sim-
ranges due to varying bending actually are survival) along with 20 more load cases. The plifies the procurement process to reduce
reduced, resulting in a SCF less than unity performance was assessed for von Mises cost and shorten the schedule.
and a fatigue class of parent material B1. stress, SCF values, bolt stresses, flange face Another interest is the possibility of
Shrink-fit assemblies also experience separation, and gasket sealing pressures. shrink fitting a steel flange onto a titanium
a different type of fatigue failure – fretting Limits placed on these criteria enabled pipe. This allows the designer to take ben-
fatigue, which is driven by cracks initiated development of a capacity chart for the con- efit from the titanium properties without the
at the mating surface by the rubbing of the nection. The efficient design of the flange cost and complexity of the titanium connec-
shrink-fit surfaces. Fatigue tests conducted face resulted in the capacity envelopes be- tor that must either be forged integrally or
by Subsea Riser Products with project ma- ing governed primarily by von Mises stress connected through a welding process that
terial demonstrated that under contact pres- near the pipe/flange transition. degrades the fatigue performance.
sures experienced in the shrink fit, material
under fretting and varying axial stress still Production Summary and conclusions
outperforms B1 class fatigue curves. This Shrink-fit assembly relies on the ability to SRP has shown that it is possible to use
means no design considerations must be control the geometry and alignment of the thermal shrink-fitting to assemble riser
made for this effect. two components. The assembly clearance is joints for HP/HT applications in diameters
In conclusion, extensive global riser anal- affected by machining tolerances, tempera- for which threaded connections have not yet
yses, combined with exhaustive FE analysis ture control (thermal expansion), and the rel- been developed or proven, and where weld-
and testing, yield a fatigue life which ex- ative position and angle of the components. ing is not practical or commercially feasible.
ceeds the requirements for the project. SRP constructed an assembly jig to get This allows high and ultra high-strength
precise control of the angle and position of steel riser joints to be fabricated with lower
Flanged connection design the joints in both the cold and hot states; as riser weights, which is critical at deeper wa-
The flange-to-flange bolted connection the flange is heated on the jig. ter depths. Additionally, ongoing develop-
is achieved with 12 preloaded 110 ksi 3-½- Heating is by induction coils and tem- ment has proven the technology for titanium
in. (8.89-cm) studs and sealing is achieved perature is monitored in four locations to alloys and for steel/titanium alloys. 
with an AX-type bore seal gasket. Subsea ensure uniform heating and expansion. Pipe
Riser Products developed a custom tapered and flange diameter and ovality matching Editor’s note
flange face to cope with extreme 50-year is not necessary. Fatigue issues with weld This updated article was originally presented at
environmental loads, 12,200 psi internal alignment are avoided in this design which the Deep Offshore Technology (DOT) conference in
riser pressure, and high thermal stresses increases the flexibility of the production Monaco, in November 2009.
caused by expected 121 °C (250 °F) mud re- schedule, as a just-in-time machining can be
turn temperature. A principal reason for FE employed. References
Qualification of Heavy Wall High Strength Steel Riser
analysis is to combine the residual stresses Once insulated and prepared for heating, Connectors for Dry Tree HPHT
introduced by the shrink-fit technique with there is no need to interfere with the hot Det Norske Veritas, “Fatigue Design of Offshore Steel
the service loads and thermal stresses from flange, so assembly hazards are controlled. Structures” DNV-RP-C203, August 2005.
internal fluids. As the flange cools, it grips the pipe and API – “Design of Risers for Floating Production Systems
The flanged connection was analyzed the connection is completed. The process and Tension Leg Platforms”. API-RP-2RD, 1st Ed.,
against project specific loads in each API-RP- takes approximately 15 hours – limited by June 1998.

44 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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2010 Offshore Technology Conference

𰀨𰀢𰀫𰀕𰁂𰀶𰁎𰀕𰀕𰀕𰀯𰀯𰀕𰀕𰀕𰁇𰀺𰁁𰀾𰀶𰁃𰁉𰀕𰁅𰀶𰁇𰁀𰀕𰀕𰀕𰀯𰀯𰀕𰀕𰀕𰀽𰁄𰁊𰁈𰁉𰁄𰁃𰀡𰀕𰁉𰀺𰁍𰀶𰁈

𰁊𰁞𰁛𰀖𰁅𰁜𰁜𰁩𰁞𰁥𰁨𰁛𰀖𰁊𰁛𰁙𰁞𰁤𰁥𰁢𰁥𰁝𰁯𰀖𰀹𰁥𰁤𰁜𰁛𰁨𰁛𰁤𰁙𰁛𰀕
𰁞𰁨𰀕𰁩𰁝𰁚𰀕𰁬𰁤𰁧𰁡𰁙𰃉𰁨𰀕𰁛𰁤𰁧𰁚𰁢𰁤𰁨𰁩𰀕𰁚𰁫𰁚𰁣𰁩𰀕𰁛𰁤𰁧𰀕𰁩𰁝𰁚𰀕
𰁙𰁚𰁫𰁚𰁡𰁤𰁥𰁢𰁚𰁣𰁩𰀕𰁤𰁛𰀕𰁤𰁛𰁛𰁨𰁝𰁤𰁧𰁚𰀕𰁧𰁚𰁨𰁤𰁪𰁧𰁘𰁚𰁨𰀕𰁞𰁣𰀕𰁩𰁝𰁚𰀕
𰁛𰁞𰁚𰁡𰁙𰁨𰀕𰁤𰁛𰀕𰁙𰁧𰁞𰁡𰁡𰁞𰁣𰁜𰀡𰀕𰁚𰁭𰁥𰁡𰁤𰁧𰁖𰁩𰁞𰁤𰁣𰀡𰀕𰁥𰁧𰁤𰁙𰁪𰁘𰁩𰁞𰁤𰁣𰀡𰀕
𰁖𰁣𰁙𰀕𰁚𰁣𰁫𰁞𰁧𰁤𰁣𰁢𰁚𰁣𰁩𰁖𰁡𰀕𰁥𰁧𰁤𰁩𰁚𰁘𰁩𰁞𰁤𰁣𰀣

𰁭𰁭𰁭𰀤𰁥𰁪𰁙𰁤𰁛𰁪𰀤𰁥𰁨𰁝𰀥𰀨𰀦𰀧𰀦
__________________________

𰁈𰁛𰁝𰁟𰁩𰁪𰁛𰁨𰀖𰁄𰁥𰁭𰀗

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© Copyright 2010 Aker Solutions. All rights reserved.

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Succeeding in subsea today takes

broader capabilities, bolder
strategies, brighter ideas.
E2E Subsea Aker Solutions is the only company structured to help you

It stands for End-to-End Subsea. succeed in every stage of the subsea field lifecycle.

It means every part of your We do this through a purposeful integration of technology,

service capability and regional expertise known as
project performs. It means
End-to-End Subsea. We’ll make the right equipment
you’re in complete control.
recommendations, offer cost-effective system integration
and bundling advantages, and even perform the
installations ourselves. And you’ll gain the confidence of
working with a single accountable source that backs its
work. We can assist with the entire lifecycle of your field,
or selected systems within it. You’re the one in control.

Take a more enlightened approach to subsea.

www.akersolutions.com/subsea

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E N G I N E E R I N G , C O N S T R U C T I O N , & I N S T A L L AT I O N

Installation of the world’s deepest spar

Meeting the challenges of ultra deepwater, distance,
hurricanes, and running out of ketchup in the topsides campaign

S
hell’s Perdido development is a re- René de Koeijer is the installation of a single linear winch and
cord-setting venture. The list of world Olaf Willemse central sheave on the spar top deck, used to
firsts includes the deepest ever instal- Ewout Voors pull-in both the nine mooring lines as well as
lation of a spar, 2,384 m (7,820 ft) of Heerema Marine Contractors the three SCRs.
water depth; the deepest installation
of permanent suction piles, 2,630 m (8,630 Installation highlights
ft) of water; the deepest ever flowlines and The entire Balder campaign for 2008 was
pipeline end structure, 2,984 m (9,790 ft) of lore, India. The engineering for the subsea split into four main phases:
water; and an integrated topsides installa- installation contract was performed in HMC’s 1. Mooring pile installation
tion that set a new record for lift weight in Houston office with support from both Leiden 2. Flowline installation
the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) at 8,866 metric and Bangalore, while the spar installation was 3. Spar mooring hook-up
tons (9,773 tons). Heerema Marine Contrac- engineered in Leiden, also with support from 4. SCR installation.
tors (HMC) met the challenges of this tech- Bangalore. Formal and informal communica- It was clear from the start that the arrival
nically difficult, ultra deepwater installation tion networks were very close knit which re- of the spar hull in the field would take pre-
in a remote location with the threat of hur- sulted in further optimization of installation cedence over installation of certain flowlines
ricanes ever present. aids. Especially the SCR installation required or any other activity, because installation was
Heerema Marine Contractors main office a number of installation aids which were simi- scheduled during hurricane season. In event
is located in Leiden, the Netherlands, with lar or identical to the installation aids required of a storm, flowline installation would have
engineering offices in Houston, and Banga- by the spar. A good example of this synergy to be interrupted to hook-up to moorings
to mitigate exposure of the uninstalled spar
hull. On the other hand, if the flowline scope
was completed prior to arrival of the spar hull
the Balder would have to continue with the
pre-lay of the SCRs. Procedures and mitigat-
ing measures were developed to suit arrival
of the spar hull in the field. Also logistics on-
board the Balder were set-up to accommodate
maximum flexibility for both pipelay work
and more traditional deepwater construction
work, and changing from one type of work to
the other with minimum interruption.

Suction piles
The Perdido suction piles, the deepest per-
manent suction piles in the world, were installed
in water depths of up to 2,620 m (8,630 ft) and
weighed up to 226 metric tons (250 tons).

PLETs
Among the engineering challenges for
Perdido was installation of the pipeline end
terminations (PLETs). Shell designed each
PLET to meet the operational requirements

The Perdido installation set a world record for

water depth. The DCV Balder, pictured here, is
one of the world’s largest installation vessels.

48 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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____ _____

______

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__________

_____

______
______

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E N G I N E E R I N G , C O N S T R U C T I O N , & I N S T A L L AT I O N

at each specific location, consequently almost were different. The jacent to the PLET to allow for bending moments up to three times
smallest PLET comprised of one connection hub, yet the largest higher than the single-wall pipe section. Secondly, a large horizontal
PLET was equipped with four hubs, weighing over 75 metric tons force, which required more than 50 metric tons (55 tons) of vessel
(82.7 tons) and measuring 34 x 20 x 17 ft (10.3 x 6.2 x 5.1 m). thrust, was put on the flowline system during the set down of the
Given the size, shape and weight, the challenge was to develop a PLET on the seabed. These two combined to provide enough redun-
procedure to install the PLETs on the seabed without overstressing dancy for a safe installation of PLETs and flowlines.
the adjacent pipe sections. High bending moments were anticipated
which, without additional measures, could have caused the flowline Flowlines
to buckle. This was mitigated by including a pipe-in-pipe section ad- Two of the flowlines had a length shorter than the water depth.
This provided two challenges.
Hurricane management Since the J-lay tower typically is laid out for second-end PLET in-
in a remote section of the GoM stallation with a pipelay catenary, without catenary, the second-end
Two major hurricanes and two tropical storms hit the Gulf of PLET line up in the firing line can only be achieved by rotating the
Mexico in 2008, and brought additional challenges to the Per- J-Lay tower a few degrees off vertical. Consequently, the pipe is ex-
dido project. These challenges ranged from a flooded supply posed to bending slightly over the stinger. The resolution is found
base, a flooded heliport, and a damaged engineering office to by adjusting the stinger roller box settings.
“simply” evacuating the installation site with the DCV Balder. A second installation risk was the possibility of PLET rotation along
Significant effort went into hurricane preparedness and the pipeline axis during lowering. With the flowline (including two
response during the engineering and planning phase of the structures) hanging from a single wire, there is no mechanism to pre-
project, resulting in operational flexibility and a reduction in vent spinning. To mitigate this, an “anti-twist” system was developed
the amount of downtime caused by these storms. comprising several taglines on the PLET corners. Two ROVs moni-
In the western part of the US Gulf, eight miles from the border tored the PLET constantly during the lowering operation. If needed,
with Mexico, the Perdido site is remote by all definitions. The they held on to the taglines and pulled the PLET back in position.
closest platform (Hoover) is more than 80 mi away. It takes a
supplier 24 to 48 hours to sail from Galveston or Fourchon to the Minor subsea items
site. A helicopter ride from Galveston takes almost two hours, Delay in the arrival of the spar hull moved forward some of the flow-
and that with a restricted payload. Consequently, it was identified
line SCR and minor subsea item scope that originally was to be per-
that well-organized logistics would be important for successful
formed after the hull installation. Minor subsea items such as manifold
project execution, and a number of measures were taken.
In addition to standard procedures for the Gulf of Mexico, piles, manifolds, ESP caissons, and ESP inlet assemblies were to be
specific hurricane response procedures were developed for this installed in various stages of the entire program. All these items were
locale. The westerly location of the field reduced the possible located at the so called DVA location, i.e. on the sea bottom directly
evacuation routes for the DCV Balder. Detailed planning mapped underneath the spar. To allow for schedule flexibility, procedures were
critical activities, which could lead to longer evacuation times. developed to install all these items either prior to arrival of the spar or
All in all, a significant amount of effort was put into hurricane after hooking the spar to its moorings. To allow for installation of these
preparedness to ensure the safety of the vessels and crews. subsea items, the spar was given a dedicated temporary offset to the
The largest critical window was formed by the installation of southeast to allow direct vertical access with the Balder cranes to the
the spar hull to storm-safe conditions. The spar was con- installation position and to avoid contact with the mooring lines.
sidered storm safe with three mooring lines attached. It was
decided to pre-install these anchor lines to reduce the time Hull wet tow and upending
required to connect them to the spar. However, since the poly- Upending the spar from its horizontal tow position to its vertical
ester anchor lines could not be allowed to touch the seabed, operational position consists of two phases: soft tank flooding and
pre-installation meant suspending them from buoys able to
hard tank ballasting. Soft tank flooding at Perdido was designed to
withstand hurricane force waves and currents.
induce a roll of the spar in a predetermined direction. A designed
Designated helicopters and crews were available round the
clock for the duration of the project to accommodate both
roll ensures that pre-installed components, such as the motor con-
normal crew changes and medical evacuations. This deviated trol center and hydraulic power units do not submerge.
from the normal practice in more “populated” areas where The second phase, hard tank ballasting, was optimized to be per-
helicopters are widely available on the spot and flight times formed as quickly as possible, without losing track of the stability
are much shorter. In addition, HLV Thialf and DCV Balder each requirements of the spar. DCV Balder can provide water flow rates of
was equipped with a helicopter refueling system. A large effort 1,500 m3/hr (6,650 gal/min). Roughly 20,000 m3/ 5.3 MMgal bal-
was made to identify all required equipment and installation last water were required to upend the spar.
aids, as it would take at least two days to get anything from Tanks high in the hard tank were used for wet tow stability plus
onshore to site. As such, any “missing” items could become heel and trim requirements. A draining system drained water from
very costly by potentially incurring DCV Balder delays. these high tanks to the lower tanks in the hard tank to save time and
As a consequence of Hurricane Ike, Galveston was aban- improve stability during upending.
doned as the main helicopter base of operations in favor of
Corpus Christi, Texas. Galveston also was scheduled as the Polyester mooring lines
first response for any medical evacuation of the installation DCV Balder has the largest mooring deployment winch in the
vessels, but due to flooding caused by Ike, this also was
world, with a drum diameter of 10.5 m (34.5 ft) and a width of 14.2 m
shifted to Corpus Christi.
(46.5 ft). It has a proven track record of over a 100 km of spiral strand
Reflecting on the project, it can be said that the logistical
preparations worked well with no major delays. All equipment, and polyester mooring line installed successfully.
components, and resources were delivered on time. The larg- Some of the main advantages of this large winch are:
est logistical issue encountered seemed to occur when the • The 14.2 m width allows for large segments to be spooled single
Balder ran out of ketchup during the topsides campaign. layer to reduce the risk of sheath damage by a top layer cutting into
the lower layers on a drum

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E N G I N E E R I N G , C O N S T R U C T I O N , & I N S T A L L AT I O N

characteristics. Routing the piping over a fixed

ballast boom allows for a higher access point
to the spar, making weather vaning easier for
the installation vessel. The motions of both the
barge and the SSCV can be reduced by choos-
ing the optimal environmental heading.

SCRs
After the operation mode change, which took
effectively one day, the Balder continued with the
flowline and SCR installation. The SCRs were
installed using the second-end. The prelaid sec-
tions of the SCR s were picked up and the pipe-
line was constructed and completed with a flex
joint assembly onboard the Balder.
Thereafter, the SCR pull-in lines, pre-
installed on the spar prior to sail-away from
Finland, were transferred to the Balder and
connected to the FJ assembly. Finally, the
entire SCR was lifted outside the J-lay tower
and swung towards the spar. With a combi-
nation of Balder’s crane and the pull-in equip-
ment on the spar the SCRs flex joint was
landed in its porch on the bottom of the spar.

Getting the alignment just right during topsides installation. Photo courtesy of Shell. Topsides
In early 2009 HMC installed the integrated
• Maximum lowering speed of 40 m/min mean a difference of 22% of the inline ten- topsides of the Perdido Host. With a 9,773
(131 ft/min) sions, which may lead to some components ton lift, a record for the US part of the Gulf of
• Protruding outboard to allow obstacle being loaded beyond allowable safe working Mexico, the HLV Thialf completed most of the
free handling of the polyester rope. loads. work within two weeks. With 700 berths on the
Use of the MLD winch allowed spooling It also must be taken into account that due Thialf, a large hook-up crew was able to work
of 9.69-in. diameter polyester rope segments to the low stiffness of the polyester mooring towards quarters habitable (when the crew is
with a length of 1,725 m (5,660 ft), allow- line during installation and a possible spar allowed by the US coast guard to live in the plat-
ing the designer to reduce the number of offset caused, for example, by the loop cur- form living quarters) in a relatively short time.
segments for significant savings on the re- rent, the risk that mooring lines will touch Due to its schedule the Thialf abandoned the
quired connection links. the seabed increases significantly. HMC’s hook-up support before completion. Luckily,
The sequence in which the mooring lines procedures and software are designed to ac- Balder was available to provide a work platform.
are installed can be optimized pending the count for these scenarios.
environmental conditions and is determined An additional feature on the DCV Balder is Conclusions
offshore. Not only does the DCV Balder have its unique equalizer system. During the in- The Perdido Regional Development proved
good workability features, the large deck space stallation of a spar mooring line, this system to be a challenging installation project from
allows storage of multiple mooring lines. These allows the vessel to transfer the horizontal many angles. The installation in hurricane
features allow late decision for the mooring component of the pulling force of the moor- season and in ultra deepwater posed some
line installation sequence along with the actual ing line directly to the spar. This allows for obvious challenges. The remote location of
weather condition and ensures optimal project greater workability because there is no need Perdido in the Gulf of Mexico (170 mi [274
overall workability and schedule flexibility. to use dynamic positioning to pull the moor- km] from the nearest shore and 80 mi [129
Polyester mooring line installation needs ing line to the spar. All available thrust can km] from the closest platform) added to the
some additional consideration due to un- be used for station keeping. unique difficulty of the project. With two years
known stiffness and length properties of of preparation under two separate contracts,
the line and stricter installation criteria com- Fixed ballast HMC’s tasks of engineering, scheduling, and
pared to spiral-strand wire. Currently the One of the last steps of spar installation is logistics for installation in the flowlines, SCRs,
MMS requires that polyester mooring lines the installation of fixed ballast in the soft tank. subsea structures, and spar platform were
do not touch the seabed at any time during Fixed ballast usually consists of an inert metal completed successfully in a single continuous
or after installation. However, both the length (magnetite). This material was pumped as a campaign in the summer of 2008 by the DCV
and stiffness of the polyester is known only slurry from a hopper barge over the Balder’s Balder. HMC’s heavy lift vessel Thialf installed
within a certain fabrication tolerance, usually deck to the top of the spar in. The piping is the topsides in spring 2009, with the Balder fin-
+/- 0.5% of the length. For ultra deepwater routed over a fixed ballast boom supported ishing HMC’s scope for the Perdido develop-
this can amount to a length deviation of 100 by an installation vessel crane. From the top ment with an integrated installation and hook-
ft (30.5 m), which is roughly 1% of the water of the spar, separate piping was routed to up support period. 
depth. Polyester clearances during instal- each soft tank compartment. The piping was
lation, however, usually are in the order of routed over the deck of the installation vessel Editor’s note: This paper is an updated version of a
magnitude of 10 m (32.8 ft). to reduce the motion sensitivity of the proce- presentation made during the Deep Offshore Technol-
These length and stiffness variations can dure. SSCVs are known for excellent motion ogy Conference (DOT) in Monaco, in November 2009.

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 51

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P R O D U C T I O N O P E R AT I O N S

Downhole monitoring, control using

digital distributed sensing Garth Naldrett
Tendeka

R
eal-time, accurate downhole monitoring data is crucial to un-
derstanding and controlling wellbore and reservoir perfor-
mance while maximizing oil and gas extraction. An increas-
ingly used method to get this data is permanently installed
downhole monitoring sensors in production and injection
wells. Of growing importance in this trend is fiber optic distributed
temperature sensing (DTS).
While fiber optic technology is relatively recent compared to oth-
er electrical downhole sensors, its ability to monitor the complete
wellbore from top to toe, the use of passive in-well components, long
field life, and non-intrusive flow monitoring means rapid adoption.

DTS development
Fiber optic monitoring has come of age and delivers meaningful A real-time measurement from a gas-lift system.
information rather than vast amounts of unmanageable temperature
arrays. New generation high-resolution monitoring units coupled mersible pumps (ESPs) are approaching the end of life. As the field
with advanced data management solutions enable this shift. Using produces relatively heavy crude, and reservoir pressures are sub-
the system in combination is known as digital flow profiling (DFP). hydrostatic, all production wells need artificial lift. The preferred lift
In practice, DTS data is transmitted from the field in an open solution often is ESPs, which complicate wellbore access for produc-
format Wellsite Information Transfer Standard Markup Language tion logging. As a consequence, reservoir production data previously
(WITSML), through the firewall to a secure database inside the cli- had been acquired only on very few wells, despite over a decade of
ent network. The client gets full ownership and management of its production from the field. The operator had no opportunity to com-
own DTS data, and multiple end users can access this information prehensively understand the reservoir, in particular the complex frac-
using a Web interface if the operator wishes. DTS data is presented ture network.
with relevant contextual data, including wellbore survey data, com-
pletion diagrams, log data, and production data. Overall surveillance strategy
Data is quickly accessible and less time is spent manipulating data When reviewing their overall field surveillance strategy, the im-
sets to ensure greater user acceptance in the surveillance plans. portance of reservoir data acquisition through permanent monitoring
DTS data is often the first port of call to identify production issues, devices was found to be one of the most important variables in allow-
not the last resort as it had been prior to the adoption of user friend- ing the desired recovery factor to be achieved. Given the restriction
ly DFP data management packages. imposed by ESPs the only option for complete data acquisition across
production intervals was a DFP system.
Downhole monitoring in action The data gathered has increased the understanding of the com-
In 2007, a major operator awarded Tendeka companies Sensornet plex fracture network in the reservoir, and has given the operator
and FloQuest a five-year contract to engineer, procure, install, and greater appreciation of issues surrounding long horizontal liners
manage its fiber optic digital flow profiling systems. These differ and cement integrity behind the liners. This information has al-
from conventional DTS equipment in that they were designed from lowed production improving modifications and assessments carried
the ground up to provide a flow profile rather than vast arrays of out on new methods of creating annular barriers outside of the liner
raw temperature and pressure data. This involves high-performance section. By incorporating swellable packers outside the liner, sub-
measurement equipment coupled with novel in-well cable designs sequent wells have isolated problematic zones, verified through the
and requires the resulting data to be handled by an effective data use of the monitoring system.
management and interpretation tool.
The contract engineering phase ensured the in-well equipment Digital well integrity
was properly designed for the downhole conditions and could be Digital well integrity is a further benefit of full wellbore coverage us-
deployed in tortuous horizontal wellbores. This resulted in 100% re- ing DTS systems. The technology was installed in an adjacent field to
liability with no downhole failure or degradation, despite horizontal monitor the temperature profile across gas lift systems in the upper
intervals in excess of 2,500 m (8,202 ft). All the cables were installed part of the completion. As injection gas moves from the annulus into the
with feed-through splices to avoid in-well connectors. Not only has tubing string it is throttled, accurately termed Joule-Thomson cooling.
operation been trouble free, but also allows improved measurement This cooling allows the gas injection position(s) to be accurately
performance due to lower optical loss. During early evaluation in a determined, making it possible to differentiate between injection
static wellbore, the system had temperature resolution better than through valves or through a tubing leak to monitor well start-up in
0.008 °C. The resolution has been critical to ensure the horizontal real time without intervention. By monitoring the sequence of in-
well performance, with small thermal deviation, can be assessed. jection valves issues can be identified and interventions planned, if
While DFP systems are being installed in newly drilled wells, an required. This can save many man hours and tens of thousands of
increasing number are deployed in existing wells when electric sub- dollars to replace the wrong valves. 

52 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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View InterMoor’s WEBCAST

“Recent Innovations in Mooring Technology”
InterMoor has a long history of developing and implement-
ing innovative mooring technology. This webcast reviews
recent important mooring innovations, along with those
under development.

As drilling rigs and floating production systems continue

to operate in deeper water depths, the need for tighter
watch circles and reductions in vertical mooring load in-
creases. Fiber mooring ropes have been used to overcome
some of these challenges. We examine some of the newer
innovations regarding fiber rope technology, such as laying Webcast Presenters
polyester on the seabed, when to use fibers that are stiffer
than polyester, and advancements in rope construction. In Tom Fulton
addition, we discuss how this technology can be used to President
enhance the capabilities of tender assist rigs. InterMoor Inc.
Tom Fulton, President of InterMoor Inc, earned
We also cover some of the advancements of anchoring
technology. There are many different anchor types on the
market today. And, we investigate some anchor technology
Free Webcast his degree in Ocean Engineering from Texas
A&M University and is a registered Professional
Engineer. Mr. Fulton has over 23 years of

advancements that can increase reliability and lower costs. Originally presented experience in the design and installation of
mooring systems, as well as general marine
operations. He is extensively involved with
Connecting hardware must be used to join sections of
on February 25, 2010 research, development and implementation of
new mooring technology, especially with novel
mooring equipment together. This is occasionally an
overlooked item in mooring systems. Improper connecting
The entire webcast has anchor systems and synthetic rope.

hardware can lead to higher costs and lower mooring been archived and can now Kent Longridge
system reliability. We examine a few technical advancements be viewed on Offshore’s Technical Development Lead
in this area as well. InterMoor Inc.
website for free at:
Kent Longridge, InterMoor’s Technical Devel-
Finally, we cover InterMoor’s Mooring Integrity Services. opment Lead, graduated from Texas A&M
How should owners and operators inspect and maintain www.offshore-mag.com University with both BS and MS degrees
their mooring systems? What plans should be in place in in Ocean Engineering. He has 19 years of
experience in the offshore oil and gas industry,
case a mooring is damaged or fails? 15 of which were focused on the design of FPU,
FPSO, and FLNG vessels and their mooring
Company profile and riser systems with technical emphasis on
mooring system design, global performance
InterMoor, an Acteon company, is the global leader of analyses, and wave tank testing. During the
mooring and subsea technology providing innovative past 4 years, most of his attention has been
solutions for rig moves and mooring services including given to the development of engineering
resources, tools, and work processes and
engineering and design; fabrication; subsea services and the quality assurance of InterMoor’s MODU,
installations; and survey and positioning. TAD, Barge, and marginal field FPU mooring
system designs.

Co-Sponsor:

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P R O D U C T I O N O P E R AT I O N S

Capitalizing on real-time drilling data

in reservoir management

T
he industry is looking for fast, easy-to- Tone Kråkenes can change dramatically. Using the most re-
use, powerful reservoir management Emerson Process Management cent data and the latest interpretations when
solutions to improve performance drilling can be the difference between suc-
and production, and reservoir model- cess and a low-producing offshore well.
ing is moving into this crucial phase Latest developments One enabler for rapid model updating is
of drilling developments in well correlation, in reservoir modeling WITSML (Wellsite Information Transfer Stan-
well planning, local model updates, and the A reservoir model is a numerical descrip- dard Markup Language), the industry stan-
ability to incorporate real-time drilling data. tion of a reservoir. The key inputs are the in- dard for transmitting data. WITSML has im-
The end result is a rapid model updating terpretations from the seismic, the faults, and proved the ability to transfer data in real time
workflow running on a continuous basis as the top and base of the reservoir, in addition between service and oil companies, helping
new well data is gathered, ensuring the most to well logs. Together, these provide details provide minute-by-minute updates on well po-
correct model is always available for reser- on the quality of the rocks, such as porosity, sitions and log data. Furthermore, WITSML is
voir management decisions to maximizing permeably, and the presence of hydrocarbons. a public domain standard that also has enabled
reservoir performance. The reservoir modeling tools have the func- software companies to develop real-time appli-
Reservoir modeling software can hold all tions offshore operators need to further interpret cations independently.
the data about the reservoir – including seis- and analyze this data and to build a numerical 3D Using WITSML, a real-time geosteering
mic and well data, as well as both static and model representing these interpretations. The method has been developed where the con-
dynamic reservoir models. model describes the extent of the reservoir, the tinuous flow of data can be integrated seam-
Such modeling programs, however, tradition- quality of the reservoir, the potential subdivision lessly into the model. In this way, initial well
ally are used to calculate volumes and to esti- of the reservoir, and where the hydrocarbons planning can be extended to help adjust the
mate production, with other software programs are. From this, the model can calculate volumes well path during drilling.
used for operational activities such as well plan- and simulate production.
ning and optimizing the well path while drilling. The workflow manger can store each step Real-time well correlation
This separation often results in barriers between in the modeling process as a job. This opens The benefit of incorporating real-time data
different specialist and in delays updating the a new world of more efficient work processes into reservoir modeling is improved when
reservoir model. relating to how easily and quickly models can combined with the improvements in well cor-
The benefits of an integrated tool for all these be updated as new data arrives. It also aids in relation, which makes picking and tracking
activities in one program are potentially huge. the vital area of uncertainty evaluation. the geology simpler, faster, and more adapt-
With one common platform, both the speed The model is only an interpretation of able. With a new well correlation tool, log
and quality of the decisions can be improved. the available data, so as more data becomes responses in different wells can be compared
available, the interpretation of the reservoir using ghost curves, with the ghosts resized
and mirrored to reflect changes in the geol-
ogy or well path orientation.
For the planned well, a synthetic log re-
sponse can be calculated by combining log
responses from the neighboring wells and
the model. This synthetic log response then
can be compared with the real log response
from the well being drilled. This tool often
can improve job of hitting the target
Reservoir engineers, for example, might
want to see how the new data from the well
being drilled affects the flow of the reservoir.
To this end, a local adjustment of the 3D grid,
such as the stretching or compression of the
grid to reflect thicker or thinner reservoirs,
can be carried out, making it faster and easier
to update the simulation model.
The physical properties such as porosity
and permeability also can be adjusted lo-
cally to incorporate the latest data are into
An example of real-time drilling monitoring using WITSML. Bit position and logging measurement
points behind it are visualized within the 3D geological model with the red disk on the well repre-
the model. This is achieved with the small-
senting the position of the survey tool. The planned ahead trajectory with a return to target option is est adjustments possible while ensuring that
constantly updated based on the current bit position. the model matches the new data. 

54 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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30 NOVEMBER – 2 DECEMBER 2010

AMSTERDAM RAI l AMSTERDAM l NETHERLANDS

CELEBRATING 29 YEARS OF DOT

For 29 years DOT International has been
recognized as THE event where operators,
equipment manufacturers, contractors and service-
providers introduce deepwater solutions.
DISCOVER THE UNKNOWN

The event provides a unique platform where

knowledge is shared and distributed throughout the
global industry. Through this sharing, the industry
increases its understanding of the challenges
and solutions involved in deepwater and ultra-
deepwater operating conditions.

Don’t miss your chance to join the distinguished list

of exhibitors, delegates, visitors and speakers.

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS OPEN

DEADLINE 6 APRIL 2010
For more information contact:
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P R O D U C T I O N O P E R AT I O N S

Polymer seal tests reveal elastomer

needs for future EOR programs John Kerwin
Precision Polymer Engineering

E
xtracting oil is becoming more technically and financial challeng- and ETP), and perfluoroelastomer (FFKM) as well as thermoplastics in-
ing as operators face increasingly complex and deeper wells. The cluding PEEK, PPS, and PVDF. These polymers were selected because
lifespan of a well is dictated by production volume versus eco- of their proven success in current field applications, and their potential to
nomic viability. This has led to technologies for enhanced oil re- be developed and incorporated into future EOR technologies.
covery (EOR) to increase volumes extracted from a well, thereby Initial screening of the polymers involved exposure to steam, super
improving its profitability. critical CO2, and hydrogen sulfide. The materials’ performance was
EOR can involve the injection of super-critical CO2, steam, or H2S assessed by means of visual inspection, tensile testing for steam, and
into a well in order to recover a larger proportion of the oil. The sol- H2S, rapid gas decompression damage evaluation using the NORSOK
vating properties of high temperature steam and CO2 super critical M-710 oil and gas standard.
when injected at high CO2 reduce the viscosity of heavy oil, enabling • Steam tests (exposure of dumbbells followed by tensile testing)
more oil to be extracted. have shown that materials including FKM, FFKM, ETP, and FEPM
These same solvating effects, however, can affect sealing elastomers, perform well when subjected to temperatures of 220 °C (428 °F)
thermoplastic liners, and composites that contact the fluids, leading to and pressures of 150 bar, under a two-week exposure. Other materi-
swelling and a weakening of the polymer’s structure. This can cause als including HNBR do not perform well under these conditions.
loss of sealing due to extrusion of the seal under pressure, increased • Super-critical CO2 was applied by soaking of O-rings while con-
fluid permeation, and seal volume loss. As a result, polymer seals on strained in rapid gas decompression (RGD) fixture. The tests have re-
pumps and compressors, for example, must be replaced frequently. vealed that very few materials are unaffected by exposure to super-crit-
With a 1% improvement in world oil production efficiency esti- ical CO2. Swelling is followed usually by damage resulting from RGD
mated to be worth an additional 20-30 Bbbl, the ability to extend the (tested according to NORSOK M-710 standard with a decompression
operational life of seals and other polymer-based components would rate of 20 bar/min). HNBR and FKM (with high fluorine content) have
provide significant financial benefits. performed well with little damage seen following one decompression,
A UK government-supported project – “Durability of Polymers Un- at 110 °C (230 °F) from 350 bar. Other materials such as ETP have
der Injection Conditions for Enhanced Oil Recovery (PEOR)” has been exhibited extrusion, while the base resistant FKM O-ring was split
established to improve understanding of the effects of EOR environ- into two halves. Blister damage was also common. Thermoplastic PPS
ments on polymers used for reinjection and storage purposes in new showed slight swelling (PEEK does not under these conditions), and
and existing production infrastructure. PEOR is man- both PPS and PEEK exhibited discoloration, although
aged by MERL, assisted by polymer technology special- no blistering was observed.
ists Precision Polymer Engineering and Clwyd Com- • Hydrogen sulfide testing was conducted in a harsh
pounders, and offshore tooling provider Baker Hughes. environment of 65% H2S + 35% CO2. Interestingly, more
The aim of the project is to identify, qualify, and material grades showed good resistance to H2S (through
develop for EOR operations new polymeric materi- tensile testing and swell measurements), including FKM,
als offering longevity and safe operations in hostile HNBR, FEPM, BUTYL, EP, and FFKM.
applications. The EOR injection process also can be None of the materials tested exhibited good resis-
applied in CO2 storage and carbon capture by pump- tance to both steam and super-critical CO2. In practice,
ing super critical CO2 into a well and displacing the however, it is unlikely that materials would encounter
oil. It can then be re-injected and sealed underground both environments: more likely they would be subject-
rather than venting into the atmosphere. Part of the ed to hydrocarbon exposure followed by super-critical
PEOR project calls for the development of guidelines CO2 or steam (as in well conversion).
on the use of polymers in carbon capture applications The initial list of 34 polymer materials was reduced
The PEOR project simulates the operating and re-in- to seven material grades (based on FKM, FFKM, ETP,
jection conditions for North Sea and other fields around EPDM, FEPM, and PPS). These were then exposed to
the globe, and assesses what effect these conditions the full test conditions. Each of the polymers was sub-
might have on current and emerging state-of–the-art jected to exposure to steam at 260 °C (500 °F) and 250
polymers. bar, and to 65% H2S and 35% CO2 at 220°C (428 °F) and
The 34 materials evaluated in the project 20 bar.
include elastomers such as ethylene pro- Rapid gas decompression also was per-
pylene (EP), butyl, hydrogenated nitrile formed in 100% super-critical CO2 at 150
(HNBR), tetrafluoroethylene propylene co- °C (302 °F) and 410 bar. Just one mate-
polymer (FEPM), fluoroelastomers (FKM rial, a fluoroelastomer, performed accept-
ably well in all tests. The next stage of
(Above) Steam swell comparison of HNBR the project with this material will involve
dumbbell shown with un-aged dumbbell. molding of a three-element packer com-
(Below) Blister damage during rapid gas
ponent for test under steam conditions to
decompression following super critical CO2
immersion.
ISO 14310. 

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Oil & Gas Maintenance Technology

NORTH AMERICA
August 31 – September 2, 2010
www.ogmtna.com
________________________ Hilton New Orleans Riverside | New Orleans, LA

SPONSORSHIPS
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For optimal visibility at Oil & Gas
Maintenance Technology North The Oil & Gas Maintenance Technology North America Conference and Exhibition attracts
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Whatever your desired level of OGMT North America attracts the types of visitors who are serious about finding the right
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offers several options that will fit
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Who Should Exhibit?
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Companies M – Z What Will Visitors Be Looking for at the Show?
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Attendees will be researching products and services within the following disciplines:
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Phone: 713.963.6283
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SUBSEA

Subsea separation, boosting Michael Padilla

Matt Reznicek

reach record depths INTECSEA

T
his is an overview of the subsea separa- System reliability is critical to the offshore
tion, boosting, and compression prog-
Subsea processing poster oil and gas industry. Subsea processing
ress and development in the offshore This issue of Offshore also contains technology has emerged from new-product
oil and gas industry during 2009. Re- the 2010 Worldwide Survey of Subsea status to establish itself as a reliable solu-
Processing: Separation, Compression,
cent awards and start-ups indicate sev- tion with far ranging applications. System
and Pumping Systems with a number
eral new projects in the developmental stages packagers and component manufacturers
of improvements and additions to last
plus new world records for installed systems. have begun to study mean time before fail-
year’s inaugural poster. The primary
Subsea separation and boosting technology aim of this poster is to chronicle the ure (MTBF) in an effort to quantify reliabil-
is now operational in 2,438 m (7,999 ft) water development and developers of subsea ity claims and to set maintenance intervals.
depth in Shell’s Perdido field. processing systems and to introduce Overhaul and replacement schedules are
The worldwide oil and gas industry con- the new products, services, and sys- now becoming predictable, while MTBF is
tinues to climb slowly out of the economic tems that have arisen since last year at applied also to estimate project costs.
downturn. With the increasing demand for oil this time. Framo Engineering continues to develop
in China, Iraq emerging onto the world stage hybrid solutions which combine the benefits
as an oil exporter, and conflicting opinions ogy has matured to a point that component of helico-axial and centrifugal pumps. Fra-
concerning peak oil, the industry looks for- manufacturers are developing qualified equip- mo is manufacturing pumps for the Pazflor
ward with healthy optimism. Offshore oil and ment internally rather than at the behest of op- and Marlim projects, which are scheduled to
gas exploration will continue to advance into erators. Operators are not alone in advancing be operational in late 2011. Framo’s develop-
deeper and more challenging waters as new technology to meet industry needs. Looking ments include a primary drive qualified for
technology and increasing demand allow. to the near future, they will be able to purchase 4-MW shaft power.
Starting production in 2010, Perdido has standardized and qualified equipment to meet In an effort to provide a 98% gas-tolerant
set the stage as the first commercial Paleo- subsea processing goals. pump, Flowserve recently completed quali-
gene production in the Gulf of Mexico. Ex- Starting at the conceptual level, individual fication trials for a 3.5-MW twin-screw pump,
treme weather and a rugged seafloor were pump and system components are specified with the future target of a 5-MW pump system.
only half the battle. Significant challenges to meet the unique requirements of the de- FMC Technologies is able to provide com-
were overcome in order to develop the field’s velopment. Pumps are then sized to meet plete integrated subsea separation systems in
ultra deep and remote oil reserves. Perdido’s the desired production conditions over the a compact package. Additionally, FMC’s re-
use of multiple subsea separation and boost- entire life of the field. In addition to gas vol- cent alliance with Sulzer Pump affords it the
ing stations highlights one option for the fu- ume fraction and differential pressure, the opportunity to produce a complete boosting
ture of offshore oil production. selection of the pump type and configuration solution rather than relying on a pump from
This is one of many field architecture solu- must consider single and multi-phase flow, another manufacturer.
tions proving that subsea processing technol- viscosity, and reservoir drilling programs. Baker Hughes’ single-phase pumping tech-
nology is becoming well established through
its inclusion in several GoM and Brazil deep-
water projects. Baker Hughes provides elec-
trical submersible pumps (ESP) for Perdido
and BC-10 in Brazil. Centrifugal technology
continues to increase differential pressure ca-
pabilities; up to 350 bar (35 MPa) differential
pressure is in development.
As the offshore oil industry reaches out to
deeper and more challenging waters, the ben-
efits of subsea processing technology are prov-
ing technically and economically viable. The
challenge remains to match an owner’s applica-
tion with existing technology in an effort to re-
duce development time and cost. As additional
fields become operational, field data will aid in
future development and testing. Deeper water
and deeper wells will continue to be the prize of
the industry and subsea processing and boost-
ing will be there to meet those challenges. 

The subsea boosting system on its way to BP’s Schiehallion field in the North Sea west of the Shet- Editor’s note: To continue this conversation, please
land Islands in an average water depth of 400 m (1,312 ft). email INTECSEA at [email protected].

58 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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Under the Patronage of

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Technip lowering threshold Jeremy Beckman

Editor, Europe

for flexible pipes, risers

T
echnip is shifting its subsea R&D fo- Cascade/Chinook, based around the first Pre-salt challenge
cus increasingly towards the coming FPSO in the US Gulf of Mexico, in a water Alain Marion, senior VP for Subsea As-
generation of ultra deepwater proj- depth of 2,500 m (8,202 ft). In this case, sets & Technologies, spoke of the new
ects. Management outlined some of Technip was contracted to supply and install technical challenges associated with ultra
the solutions and associated invest- free-standing hybrid riser systems (FSHRs) deepwater developments. With Brazil’s new
ments at a recent presentation at the com- for both Cascade and Chinook fields, all con- pre-salt discoveries in 2,000 – 2,500 m (6,561
pany’s flexible risers/flowlines plant in Le nected to the US GoM’s first FPSO. Three – 8,202 ft) water depth, he said, there were
Trait, northern France. years earlier, Technip had engineered and in- concerns over corrosion in certain cases
According to Technip Subsea Division Pres- stalled Brazil’s first FSHR in ultra deepwater due to high levels of CO2 in the wellstream.
ident Dominique de Soras, 7,500 Technip per- for Petrobras’ PDET project on the Roncador “In the Gulf of Mexico, on top of that there
sonnel (around one third of the group’s global field offshore Brazil. are high-pressure/high-temperature issues
workforce) are employed in the subsea sector. Among the benefits of this technology, the to take care of. Off West Africa, there is a
These comprise 4,500 in Europe/Africa, 2,000 system is tensioned by a buoyancy can, allow- mixture of all these things, plus concerns
in Brazil, and 500 each in North America and ing the riser to support its own weight. This in over flow assurance, i.e. managing tem-
the Asia/Pacific region. turn reduces the weight supported by the pro- perature during fluids transport to avoid hy-
Increasingly, he said, the separate divisions duction platform. Also, the riser is connected drates formation.”
work together as integrated project teams. He to the platform via a flexible jumper, allowing Marion said Technip historically has
cited as an example Tullow’s Jubilee develop- the platform’s motion largely to be disassociat- ploughed €30-35 million/year ($41-48 mil-
ment in 1,200-1,700 m (3,937-5,577 ft) water ed from that of the riser. This makes the riser lion/yr) into subsea R&D. Around 70% is
depth offshore Ghana. Here, Technip is respon- virtually insensitive to fatigue caused by wave directed towards new solutions for flexible
sible for engineering, fabrication, and installa- motions. If a hurricane threatens, the FPSO pipes, with 12% for rigid pipes, and lesser al-
tion of over 27 km (16.8 mi) of flexible risers can be moved off-station via a simple discon- locations to umbilicals and hybrid technolo-
and 48 km (29.8 mi) of rigid production and nection of the flexible jumper. gies. One issue the group has been working
injection flowlines. It also will install umbilicals Each Cascade/Chinook FSHR comprises on is how to qualify flexible pipes for opera-
and other subsea structures, as well as connect four, 630-m (2,067-ft) long, 7-in. (17.8-cm) ID tions in 3,000 m (9,842 ft) of water, which
flowlines to wellheads and subsea manifolds. flexible jumpers; one 630-m long, 6-in. (15.2- means subjecting the outside of the pipe to
Work is due to take place from early to mid- cm) ID flexible jumper; a 39-m (128-ft) long, pressures of up to 300 bar (4,351 psi).
2010, performed primarily by Technip’s con- 6.4-m (21-ft) diameter buoyancy can, with a The goal is to deliver an 11-in. (28-cm)
struction vessels Deep Blue and Deep Pioneer. top depth of 200 m (656 ft) and net uplift of sweet service flexible for these conditions,
The group’s operating center in Houston is 70 metric tons (77 tons); and production/gas Marion said, adding that Technip already
managing the program, supported by the Paris export risers. De Soras said Technip teams in performed qualification tests for 7-in. (17 ¾-
division for the installations, with Flexi-France Rio, Paris, and Aberdeen had been working cm) sour service pipes in 3,000 m (9,842 ft)
in Le Trait fabricating the flexible pipes, and together to optimize all their resources for a water depth. “The deepest flexible installed
the yard in Pori, Finland, responsible for other successful installation of the high-pressure to date is in 2,100 m (6,889 ft) of water,”
structures. dynamic flexible riser system prior to the ar- he pointed out, “so this represents a step-
Another collaborative project is Petrobras’ rival of the FPSO. change for flexible pipes/risers.”

(Left) The Deep Pioneer, pictured here by the quayside at Flexi-France in Le Trait, is one of two Technip construction vessels handling subsea installa-
tions at the Jubilee field offshore Ghana. (Right) Assembly of an integrated production bundle for the Pazflor project at Flexi-France.

60 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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FLOWLINES & PIPELINES

(Left) A million-cycle fatigue test of a prototype high-pressure, high-temperature flexible, one of numerous R&D programs under way at Le Trait. (Right)
In the carousel building at Flexi-France.

Another major concern for the industry Pazflor, also in block 17, where first oil is due for delivering consignments around the globe.
is riser integrity management, Marion said. in 2011. Here Technip is engineering and Recently management took delivery of a new
“With these increasingly demanding condi- providing two 10-in. ID gas-lift IPB risers, 400-metric ton (441-ton) Amclyde crane for the
tions, we must be able to show our custom- each 1,200 m (3,937 ft) long, with a weight plant’s 220-m (722-ft) long quayside on the river
ers that our products are fulfilling [the role] in air of 503 metric tons (554 tons) each, Seine, providing 400 m (1,312 ft) reach for load-
they were designed for.” and incorporating super-duplex steel tubes ing and unloading services for Technip’s con-
Recently Technip signed a collaboration for added corrosion protection. As at Dalia, struction fleet.
agreement with Schlumberger to jointly the Deep Blue will perform the installations. Technip’s other flexibles plant, in Vitoria,
develop subsea integrity and surveillance Technip also tendered the IPB solution in Brazil, employs around 1,200 personnel, with
solutions for flexible pipes used for deep off- 1998 for Girassol, the first project onstream a capacity of 380 km/yr (236 mi/yr). AsiaFlex
shore oil and gas production. This initially in block 17, although on that occasion Total in southern Malaysia, the company’s newest
will focus on new applications such as Bra- opted instead for hybrid riser towers. IPBs manufacturing facility, is due to start operating
zil’s deepwater pre-salt fields. also may be considered for the block’s next at the end of the year, providing 150 km/yr (93
“Schlumberger have been active in well multi-field development, CLOV. mi/yr) capacity, manned by 300 personnel.
control and field monitoring for years,” Mar- Among Technip’s other current develop- Technip also operates steel tube umbilical
ion pointed out, “and some of its technolo- ments, Marion mentioned a heat-traced, pipe- manufacturing centers in Houston and New-
gies are also applicable to flexible pipes.” in-pipe system with electrical cables installed castle, UK, (under the DUCO umbrella), and
One integrity technique the partners plan to externally in a three-phase assembly. The ar- AngoFlex in Lobito, Angola. To support rigid
develop and qualify uses ruggedized optical fi- rangement is designed to circulate heat inside pipelay operations, the group maintains a spool-
ber sensors subsea to monitor various param- the pipe, at the same time preventing it from base network of locations in Orkanger, Norway;
eters affecting the behavior of Technip’s new- escaping to the outside of the pipe. Evanton, Scotland; Mobile, Alabama; Barra do
design ultra deepwater flexibles and risers. Riacho, Brazil; and Dande, Angola.
Marion touched on one application, which Flexible statistics Currently the group operates a fleet of 16
would involve blowing optical fibers, via stain- Flexi-France was established in Le Trait construction/support vessels, with three
less steel tubes, down an ultra deep riser’s in 1974. To date the plant has manufactured more due to be added by 2011. “Over the past
entire length, taking temperature readings at over 7,000 km (4,350 mi) of flexible risers four years we have spent €1.3-1.4 billion ($1.78-
various points en route. The aim would be to and flowlines, according to CEO Philippe 1.92 billion) to enhance and complement our
verify that the temperature regime within the Enxerian, in inside diameters ranging from fleet of vessels and manufacturing facilities,”
riser avoids the risk of hydrates deposition. 1.5-20-in. (3.8-50.8 cm), for applications in said Marion.
water depths of up to 3,000 m (9,842 ft), tem- Later this year the newbuild rigid pipelay
Second IPB project peratures up to 130 ºC (266 ºF), and design vessel Apache II – acquired last summer from
In late 2006, Total’s Dalia field came on- pressures up to 20,000 psi (1,379 bar). previous owner Oceanteam – has been deliv-
stream in 1,350 m (4,429 ft) of water in Ango- “We manage around 50 different projects ered from the Metalships yard in Vigo, north-
lan block 17. One technological first of this each year,” he added, “and around 100 dif- ern Spain. This is intended to replace the origi-
project was Technip’s integrated production ferent types of pipe structures.” nal Apache, built in 1979, which completed its
bundle (IPB), comprising eight electrically Currently the plant employs a 950-strong final pipelay assignment last year before being
heated and gas-lift flexible risers. The heating workforce, with a normalized flexible pipe taken out of service.
system is designed to ensure insulation of the construction capacity of 480 km/yr (298 mi/ Deep Energy, due to be delivered in 2011
extensive subsea production system (71 wells, yr). Enxerian said West African projects ac- from a shipyard in China, will have a similar
nine manifolds), preventing wax or hydrates counted for 68% of Flexi-France’s offshore- pipe-carrying capacity to the Deep Blue, Mari-
formation during shutdowns. The gas-lift ap- related production, followed by India, the on explained, with a 22 knot-transit speed. Its
plication involves injecting gas through the Middle East, and the North Sea. pipelay spread is under construction in New-
bottom of the riser, typically 70 ºC (158 ºF), to Facilities at the site include six manufacturing castle, UK.
push the field’s heavy, viscous oil through the carousels offering 2,000-metric ton (2,204-ton) Another new pipelay ship Skandi Vitoria
flowline network to the Dalia FPSO. capacity, and storage carousels with 3,500-metric will be the first Brazilian-flagged flexible pi-
The next project to feature IPBs will be ton (3,858-ton) capacity, with hundreds of reels pelay vessel, he added. 

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 61

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Challenges to manufacture of pipe

for deepwater, corrosive hydrocarbons
Richard Freeman
Corus Tubes Energy

G
as is increasingly important in a historically oil-driven world
economy. Its increased value is a driver of pipeline technol-
ogy developments. To meet the demand for gas transporta-
tion through more onerous environments, there are factors
the pipe and plate makers need to consider to ensure the
finished product meets the standards required especially for sour
service and deepwater applications.
One trend driving pipeline demand is the gas production from
deepwater fields. Traditionally this gas would either be flared or
re-injected into the well for enhanced recovery. However, operators
now are keen to capture this production and trade it as either lique-
fied natural gas (LNG) or domestic gas. These gas-gathering pros-
pects present challenging combinations of deepwater installation,
corrosive well fluids, and difficult shore approach conditions. These
all combine for demanding pipe specifications for manufacturers to
meet.
These requirements can be met only with a holistic technical ap-
proach from plate procurement to pipe dispatch. The foundation of
this approach is to use the highest quality sour plate, which is de-
livered using state-of-the-art primary and secondary steel making,
continuous casting, and proper plate rolling practices. During UOE
(U-ing, O-ing, and Expanding) pipe manufacture, the forming pro-
cess is optimized so strain is managed to minimize any reduction in
sour resistance. For these demanding applications, low-temperature
toughness in the heat affected zone, demanding hardness, and Bat-
telle drop weight tear test requirements commonly are specified.
In combination with forming, welding using optimum consumables
and design parameters ensures the mechanical properties and in-
tegrity of the pipe.
Corus supplied 81,000 metric tons (89,287 short tons) of thick-walled,
Gas-gathering in West Africa sour resistant steel linepipe to three projects offshore West Africa.
Corus recently completed a series of gas-gathering development
projects in West Africa to link fields and to transport the gas for ing restricts the line chemistry to strength grades at X65 or
export as LNG. In total, the company supplied 81,000 metric tons below
(89,287 tons) of thick-walled, sour-resistant steel linepipe to three • Seabed stability restricts the diameter of the line that can be
projects installed – larger diameter pipe is more buoyant and less stable
The pipe, ranging from 457 mm (18 in.) to 610 mm (24 in.) in di- • Larger diameter pipe is more vulnerable to hydrostatic collapse,
ameter and up to 33.5 mm (1.3 in.) in wall thickness, is to transport meaning wall thickness needs to be increased
gas in water depths of up to 1,500 m (4,921 ft) over difficult seabed • Wall thickness also needs to be increased because of corrosion
bathymetry and also with critical shore approach areas. Corus ex- concerns and fatigue life considerations.
ported the pipe from its Hartlepool 42 in. capacity mill in the UK These reasons drive a need for thicker pipe wall with higher in-
to West Africa where the project is being completed with first gas duced strain during forming, but pipe which also conforms to inter-
scheduled for 2012. national standards such as DNV, ISO, and API. Successful manufac-
ture of these pipes needs not only an expert understanding of steel
Thick-walled sour service pipe manufacturing and pipe making but also an appreciation of the service demands.
Gas lines typically are larger diameter and generally constructed
from welded linepipe – the most economical production method. Challenges of pipe forming
However, for deepwater prospects, the parameters for gas transmis- During service, the pipe bore is exposed to a wet, sour (H2S) en-
sion are restricted by the following: vironment. Atomic hydrogen is generated at the pipe surface via a
• The offshore lay process and the need for speedy, reliable weld- cathodic reaction, and enters the steel. Migrating hydrogen atoms

62 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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FLOWLINES & PIPELINES

known as “inverse fracture” with associated low shear values, which

has not been seen previously in bainitic/acicular ferrite structures.
A program is under way to understand this behavior and to deter-
mine whether DWTT is a viable evaluation of the resistance to long
running brittle fracture for these steels.

Pipe making
While the amount of strain imparted to form the pipe is set by
dimensions, there are key parameters to consider, specifically strain
management when forming and welding.
Control of shape and formability is required to ensure a consis-
tent product; poorly controlled forming leads to variable strain ef-
fects within each pipe. The forming in the crimp, U- and O-press,
and subsequent expansion must be accurate and consistent to en-
sure each pipe produced is representative of the pipeline as a whole.
Suitable welding consumables are selected to achieve the weld
hardness and toughness requirements, and to deliver good HIC per-
move through the structure, gather and combine with each other at formance across the weld. For toughness, a moderate manganese
discontinuities, voids, and susceptible zones in the microstructure wire is used with alloying additions of silicon and molybdenum; tita-
to produce molecular hydrogen (H2). The increasing quantity of H2 nium and boron also can be used, depending on the toughness re-
at the initiation site creates a high hydrogen pressure, which can be quired. The wire is combined with a high-performance, semi-basic
magnified by the shape of the site, leading to a stress concentration and fully agglomerated flux, which combine to promote formation of
that ultimately “cracks” the microstructure. acicular ferrite in the weld bead, and confer good Charpy and crack
Strain compromises sour service phenomena such as hydrogen tip opening displacement (CTOD) toughness at low testing tempera-
induced cracking (HIC), and with the industry looking for more tures while maintaining a stable welding performance.
stringent sour resistant ratios, pipe milling influence on these fac- In addition to the mechanical performance of the weld, a high lev-
tors need to be understood. el of integrity must be maintained through production. This means
Total micro-strain from forming could contribute to an increase low levels of slag entrapment and gas defects, for example, as well as
in the number of available sites for molecular hydrogen formation cracks to ensure a clean seam is presented to the welding machine
throughout the microstructure. Therefore, the effects of compres- to avoid gas defects. The weld arc and flux burden must be suffi-
sion and expansion may have to be considered as cumulative. Con- ciently stable to minimize slag entrapment.
trol of these features within the microstructure is essential to ensure
the pipe’s sour performance is achieved. Future trends
The sour resistance of the plate is imparted via the chemistry and The question remains whether these pipelines will continue to be
microstructure. Most modern steelmakers agree that to balance the required as technology offers other methods to transport gas such
mechanical properties needed with sour resistance, the required as FLNG. However, the diversity of the offshore industry almost
microstructure is a very clean, fine-grained, equiaxed/polygonal, or certainly means a variety of technologies both old and new will be
acicular ferrite structure with limited volumes of secondary phases used in the future.
such as an artensite/austenite (M/A) phase. Deploying an FLNG liquefaction vessel directly to a field similar
To deliver optimum sour properties in the final pipe, attention to an FPSO for oil, may remove the need in some instances for gas
needs to be paid to each stage of the process from steel making to fi- export pipeline projects, but infield subsea connections still will be
nal pipe fabrication. During steel mak- needed.
ing, the process must be monitored Additionally, regassification and
where the material is treated prior to liquefaction are being considered for
casting with the correct composition, some applications offshore, opening
homogeneity, and temperature suit- further pipeline prospects for product
able for HIC resistant quality. transfer from ship to shore. These
Casting is integral to ensuring suf- offshore pipelines are likely to have
ficient quality for plate rolling to HIC demanding specifications, crossing
grade. This includes controlling mac- high-risk shore approach areas and
ro-segregation, which occurs as steel shallows. Additionally, the increasing
transitions from the liquid to the solid trend towards deepwater production
phase, achieved through soft reduc- means the linepipe must counteract
tion, Statistical Process Control, and higher concentrations of impurities,
Caster configuration processes. driving the need for products to meet
In terms of plate rolling, single- severe sour conditions. 
phase austenitic rolling is favored to
meet the sour service and drop weight
tear test (DWTT) requirements of a
thick wall for offshore projects. How- Fine grained
ever, recent experience shows that equiaxed/acicular
material with a higher proportion of ferrite structure.
acicular ferrite in the microstructure
can be susceptible to a phenomenon

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 63

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E N V I R O N M E N T A L S O L U T I O N S

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Both MD-3 shaker configurations can be run at two
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Houston London Paris Stavanger Aberdeen Singapore Moscow Baku Perth Rio de Janeiro Lagos Luanda

For continuous news & analysis

www.offshore-mag.com

March 2010

World Trends and Technology for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations

Port Fourchon exhibits

growth, optimism

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_______________

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Yes, they have no bananas

PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

But, 50-year-old Port Fourchon is certainly not complaining

D
etermined to corner the lucrative Jim Redden
banana trade, Louisiana Gov. Jim-
mie Davis on July 7, 1960, put his
signature to Act 222 that created
the Greater Lafourche Port Com-
mission, and with it, Port Fourchon.
Over the next 50 years, the banana gotten in oil and gas,” 40-year port veteran
bonanza never materialized as most boat Pat Pitre, vice president of family-owned
captains opted to unload their fruity cargo supply boat company L & M Botruc Inc.,
farther east in Biloxi, Mississippi. Nev- says of the commission’s original ambition.
ertheless, you’d be hard-pressed to find Indeed, a study commissioned by the
anyone in Port Fourchon bemoaning the Louisiana Department of Economic Devel- A tanker off-loads imported crude at the Louisi-
monopoly lost, for the consolation prize has opment and released in late 2008 disclosed ana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP).
eclipsed by several magnitudes any banana just how vital this once insignificant port is
revenue. It also propelled what once was to US energy security. The report conclud- future. Some estimates say that by the end
an isolated backwater, popular only with ed that any disruption of Port Fourchon of this year, the deepwater could account
weekend anglers and duck hunters, into operations would keep 18% of the nation’s for nearly 80% of GoM oil production. The
what is unquestionably one of the nation’s energy supplies out of the marketplace. US Minerals Management Service (MMS)
most indispensable pieces of waterfront. That ominous assessment was driven said that as of Jan. 25, 43 new projects in
According to the latest federal estimates, home in August and September of 2008 1,030 ft to 8,850 ft (314 to 2,697 m) of water
upwards of one-fourth of the US domestic when hurricanes Gustav and Ike slammed were undergoing either drilling or work-
oil supply and nearly 90% of its offshore gas into southern Louisiana, temporarily shut- over operations. It followed a similar report
production flow through what is known as ting off production coming out of the port issued in early 2009, which showed 33
“The Gulf’s Energy Connection” just over and keeping an estimated $7 billion in oil deepwater wells being drilled, along with
100 mi (161 km) south of New Orleans. and gas from reaching consumers. another 59 “pending.” Factoring in the 135
With the deepwater Gulf of Mexico as its deepwater fields already developed at the
backyard, Port Fourchon is the nucleus Still bullish on deepwater time, the 2009 report documented nearly
for nearly all of the flourishing drilling and The core of Port Fourchon remains the 230 deep and ultra deepwater projects in
production business in the outer fringes deepwater, which unlike other geographic need of products and services, not includ-
of the continental shelf. What’s more, Port drilling theaters, shows no indications of ing the projects under way this year.
Fourchon also serves as the base for the falling on hard times within the foreseeable “Our saving grace is the deepwater,” says
Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP) that
offloads from some of the world’s largest Once dead shelf showing signs of life
tankers as much as 1.2 MMb/d, or 10-15% While deepwater is the primary
of all US oil imports. focus in Port Fourchon, others say
“They could’ve added pineapples and the shallow waters of the Gulf of
several other fruits and wouldn’t have Mexico shelf also are poised for a
come close to making up what they have resurgence in drilling activity.
“We’re finding that some com-
panies are planning to go back
and look again at some of the
older wells that were drilled there.
With the technology we have
today, they can drill those wells
even with current (gas) prices,”
says Greater Lafourche Port Com-
mission Executive Director Chett Stacked jackup drilling rigs may return to work if
Chiasson. prospects improve for the shelf.
Many believe Fourchon would
enjoy full employment if not for the rigs, boats, and workers idled by the free fall in
deep shallow-water shelf drilling. That once dormant drilling arena may be in line
for a rebound, thanks to a major discovery in January by Louisiana’s own McMoRan
Exploration Co. of New Orleans. Drilled to a depth of more than 28,000 ft (8,534 m)
in 20-ft (6-m) of water some 20 mi (32 km) off the Louisiana coast, McMoRan’s Davy
Louisiana Gov. Jimmy Davis signs Act 222 on Jones discovery is believed to hold from to 2 to 6 tcf of gas, making it one of the
July 7, 1960, to create the Greater Lafourche largest shelf discoveries in decades. Chaisson and others believe it could breathe
Port Commission and, in turn, Port Fourchon. new life into the once drilling dead zone.
Looking on, from left, are State Rep. Woolen “The deepwater is going well and continues to be very strong, but now we’re
Falgout, State Sen. A.O. Rappelet, and State seeing a lot of the shelf operators starting to pick up activity,” says Daniel LaFont,
Rep. Dudley Bernard. Fourchon marketing manager for Edison Chouest Offshore.

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Karl Boffanie, manager of long-time port

PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

tenant John W. Stone Oil Distributor Inc. “If

anyone doubts the value of the deepwater
all they have to do is look at the price of oil
after Katrina and these other hurricanes
when the port was shut down for a while.”
Despite the healthy outlook for the deep-
water, Port Fourchon has not been entirely
immune to the economic downturn that
brought with it a sharp decline in drilling
and production elsewhere in the country.
The shelf earlier became a virtual dead
zone for drillers, and even some companies
involved directly with servicing and supply- The 1971 (left) and current port commission boards
ing the more prosperous deepwater market and new Executive Director Chett Chiasson.
have been proceeding a bit more cautiously
of late, says Chett Chiasson, who this year encouraging. “We’ve seen an upturn over
became only the second executive director the last two to three weeks and that’s a
in the history of the Greater Lafourche Port good sign. Normally, January’s slow even
Commission. He replaced Ted Falgout, who in a good year.”
after 31 years at the helm retired at the end Pitre and others say that while they have
of last year as the first executive director of not experienced any major upturn, they
the now 50-year-old port commission. have not seen any signs of decline either.
“We’re having to deal with the economic “Business is steady,” says Rene Mel-
downturn like everyone else,” he says. ancon, Port Fourchon yard manager for
“Companies are still coming in, but not mooring company Delmar Systems Inc.
at the same pace as before. But, we’ve “We haven’t seen any downfall at all and, in for Halo LLC, which provides wire rope,
recently seen interest pick up. Companies fact, we’re seeing steady improvement.” chains, slings, and related industrial equip-
are drilling and they tell us that between “Business hasn’t been wide open, but ment for the offshore. “Between Jan. 1
2011 and 2012 they’ll be back to where it’s been steady and really started picking and Jan. 20, we’ve manufactured and sold
they were.” up in December,” says Al Graham, director 700 pipe slings.” The same for Danos &
of Marine Operations for the Central Divi- Curole, which provides supplemental labor
Port tenants sion of USLL, which specializes in waste and related services for area operators and
optimistic, expanding management. service companies. Nicole Williams says
L & M Botruc’s Pitre agrees, saying that “Somebody’s drilling,” adds Tyrus business in 2009 increased appreciably
since the first of the year, signs have been Smith, business development manager for the 63-year-old family-owned company,

Port, ROR work to save the coastline land from the seabed for development, it gives birth to a simi-
lar amount of wetlands, he says.
A spate of shoreline-eating hurricanes in recent years and
the sweeping expansion under way at Port Fourchon have “For example, for the 700 acres we are developing for the
combined to invigorate fears that the Gulf of Mexico is close to Northern Expansion, we also will create 700 acres of new
swallowing the southern Louisiana coast. marshland,” Chiasson says, referring to the port-sponsored
Maritime Forest Ridge project.
No one argues the scientific
evidence that warns Louisiana is “Port Fourchon has been an
losing its coastal marshland at industry leader when it comes to
an alarming rate. The non-profit balancing their growth and the
Restore or Retreat (ROR) advo- environment. The port has been
cacy group that counts among its consistent in beneficially using
members a number of operators dredge material for decades, and a
and service companies, says the prime example of this is the Mari-
state is losing 25 to 30 sq mi (40 to time Forest Ridge project,” Maloz
48 sq km) of wetlands every year, or says. “This 6,000-linear ft (1829-m)
more simply, marshland the size of ridge restoration project originated
an American football field every 30 from the need of the port to expand
minutes. to accommodate increased federal
The non-profit Restore or Retreat and the Greater Lafourche outer continental shelf energy
ROR and the Greater Lafourche Port Commission are working on initiatives to keep the Port activity. Going above and beyond
Port Commission have joined to Fourchon shoreline intact and open. the required mitigation, the project
reverse that trend.
is envisioned to be 12,000 ft (3,658
“Restore or Retreat and the port work together, directly m) upon completion and will provide a world-class birding
and indirectly, on many coastal projects. For years, the habitat, increased hurricane protection, and serve as an edu-
Greater Lafourche Port Commission has consistently sup- cational and eco-tourism platform.”
ported Restore or Retreat financially through a significant
She adds ROR and the port also are involved in a number
annual membership donation,” says ROR Executive Director
of marshland-saving projects, including, among others, one
Simone Theriot Maloz. “We are working together on a number
devoted to re-introducing freshwater into Bayou Lafourche
of initiatives today.”
and another aimed at diverting encroaching salt water from
Her counterpart at the port commission, Executive Director the GoM. Also underway is the $243-million US Corps of Engi-
Chett Chiasson, says commissioners have long recognized neers Caminada Headlands Project, a shoreline restoration ini-
the environmental threat to expanded development and have tiative that is part of the Louisiana Coastal Area Study (LCA).
taken steps to combat it. Every time the port literally creates

68 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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D E E P W A T E R S O L U T I O N S
𰁅𰁝𰁤𰁩𰁤𰀯𰀕𰀹𰁖𰁜𰀕𰁂𰁮𰁧𰁚𰁨𰁩𰁧𰁖𰁣𰁙𰀤𰁈𰁩𰁖𰁩𰁤𰁞𰁡𰀽𰁮𰁙𰁧𰁤

The
deeper
you go,
the closer
Unmatched
we are.
infrastructure
𰀶𰁘𰁘𰁚𰁨𰁨𰀕𰁩𰁝𰁚𰀕𰁢𰁤𰁨𰁩𰀕𰁚𰁭𰁩𰁚𰁣𰁨𰁞𰁫𰁚𰀕𰁙𰁚𰁚𰁥𰁬𰁖𰁩𰁚𰁧𰀕
𰁡𰁤𰁜𰁞𰁨𰁩𰁞𰁘𰁨𰀕𰁣𰁚𰁩𰁬𰁤𰁧𰁠𰀰𰀕𰁝𰁞𰁜𰁝𰀢𰁘𰁖𰁥𰁖𰁘𰁞𰁩𰁮𰀡𰀕𰁛𰁖𰁨𰁩𰀢𰀕 𰁅𰁝𰁤𰁩𰁤𰀯𰀕𰀽𰁖𰁧𰁖𰁡𰁙𰀕𰁅𰁚𰁩𰁩𰁚𰁧𰁨𰁚𰁣𰀤𰁈𰁩𰁖𰁩𰁤𰁞𰁡𰀽𰁮𰁙𰁧𰁤
𰁩𰁪𰁧𰁣𰁖𰁧𰁤𰁪𰁣𰁙𰀕𰁛𰁖𰁘𰁞𰁡𰁞𰁩𰁞𰁚𰁨𰀕𰁖𰁩𰀕𰁠𰁚𰁮𰀕𰁥𰁤𰁧𰁩𰁨𰀕𰁖𰁣𰁙𰀕
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𰁗𰁖𰁨𰁚𰁨𰀕𰁬𰁤𰁧𰁡𰁙𰁬𰁞𰁙𰁚𰀣 𰁌𰁚𰀕𰁝𰁖𰁫𰁚𰀕𰁤𰁫𰁚𰁧𰀕𰀧𰀥𰀥𰀕𰁙𰁚𰁚𰁥𰁬𰁖𰁩𰁚𰁧𰀢𰁘𰁚𰁧𰁩𰁞𰁛𰁞𰁚𰁙𰀕
𰁨𰁥𰁚𰁘𰁞𰁖𰁡𰁞𰁨𰁩𰁨𰀡𰀕𰁨𰁘𰁝𰁤𰁤𰁡𰁚𰁙𰀕𰁞𰁣𰀕𰁩𰁝𰁚𰀕𰁡𰁖𰁩𰁚𰁨𰁩𰀕 Tailored technology
𰁩𰁚𰁘𰁝𰁣𰁤𰁡𰁤𰁜𰁞𰁚𰁨𰀕𰁖𰁣𰁙𰀕𰁚𰁭𰁥𰁚𰁧𰁞𰁚𰁣𰁘𰁚𰁙𰀕𰁞𰁣𰀕𰁩𰁝𰁚𰀕 𰁌𰁚𰀕𰁝𰁖𰁫𰁚𰀕𰁢𰁖𰁙𰁚𰀕𰁨𰁞𰁜𰁣𰁞𰁛𰁞𰁘𰁖𰁣𰁩𰀕
𰁩𰁤𰁪𰁜𰁝𰁚𰁨𰁩𰀕𰁗𰁖𰁨𰁞𰁣𰁨𰀣 𰁞𰁣𰁫𰁚𰁨𰁩𰁢𰁚𰁣𰁩𰁨𰀕𰁞𰁣𰀕𰁙𰁚𰁚𰁥𰁬𰁖𰁩𰁚𰁧𰀕𰁛𰁡𰁪𰁞𰁙𰁨𰀕𰁖𰁣𰁙𰀕
𰁧𰁚𰁡𰁖𰁩𰁚𰁙𰀕𰁩𰁚𰁘𰁝𰁣𰁤𰁡𰁤𰁜𰁞𰁚𰁨𰀡𰀕𰁛𰁧𰁤𰁢𰀕𰁩𰁝𰁚𰀕𰁢𰁤𰁨𰁩𰀕
𰁚𰁣𰁫𰁞𰁧𰁤𰁣𰁢𰁚𰁣𰁩𰁖𰁡𰁡𰁮𰀕𰁖𰁘𰁘𰁚𰁥𰁩𰁖𰁗𰁡𰁚𰀕𰁙𰁧𰁞𰁡𰁡𰁞𰁣𰁜𰀕
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sion will provide operating space for more than 20 new companies,
PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

says Chiasson.
As for the first phase of the Northern Expansion, Chiasson says
3,000 ft (914 m) of bulkhead for Slip B was completed recently
with an additional 1,000 ft (305 m) now under construction. With
the completion of Slip B in 2011 and the newly completed Slip A,
he says Phase 1 of the expansion will be complete.
A short time ago the commission received the necessary per-
mits to begin dredging for the 2,000-ft-long by 700-ft-wide (610 x
213 m) Slip C, which essentially kicks off the second phase of the
expansion. Pointing out that work began on slips A and B in 2000,
Chiasson says the entire Northern Expansion project will take 10
to 15 years to complete.
While all that is in full swing, the new director says port officials
continue to explore innovative ways to serve the tenants already
there.
An anchor handling vessel undergoes work at the recently opened “We’re constantly planning to do anything we can to further
Edison Chouest covered dock in Port Fourchon. enhance our capabilities. For instance, we recognize that vessels
are becoming larger so we’re looking at deeper drafts to allow the
pointing specifically to a multi-year contract the company received industry to continue to expand here,” he says.
recently to provide contract operations and maintenance person-
nel for all of BP’s deepwater activities. Inauspicious beginning
“We’ve seen amazing growth the past year,” she says. “The All this is a far cry from the Port Fourchon of 1979 when Bof-
deepwater remains strong and now it looks like drilling on the fanie began working in what was basically an undeveloped swamp.
deep shelf may take off.” Boffanie, who says he practically grew up around the port, recalls
In response, and following the lead of its landlord, many port when the main artery was nothing more than a dirt road canopied
tenants, likewise, are expanding their operations. Bollinger Ship- by towering cattails, and the only business enterprise was fishing.
yards, for example, recently unveiled the first public dry dock in “At that time, there was one dock and the only two (oil) companies
Port Fourchon; Cal Dive International has completed development here were Martin Fuel Distributors and Baroid Drilling Fluids,”
of its Fourchon Marine Base; Offshore Cleaning Systems became he says.
the latest company to establish a port presence; and Hornbeck The same for Wayne St. Pierre, Fourchon facility manager for
Offshore introduced the world’s largest multi-purpose vessel, says
Chiasson.
Mammoth Edison Chouest Offshore, which like the port is cel-
ebrating its 50th anniversary this year, also had a busy 2009 with
the opening of its covered anchor handling dock. By far the port’s
largest leaseholder, Edison Chouest operates 165 supply vessels
worldwide and services 41 rigs out of Port Fourchon, says Daniel
LaFont, marketing manager. The company operates the C-Port I
and C-Port II covered facilities and last summer opened its three-
slip covered dock. The facility, which has lifting capacity for 9,950
tons, comprises two wet and one dry dock. “We can handle any
size (anchor handling) boat in the Gulf,” he says.
M-I SWACO, already the port’s dominant supplier of drilling
and completion fluids, intends to increase completion fluids capac-
ity this year by 10,000 to 20,000 bbl at its HOS Port location, says
the company’s Port Fourchon Facilities Manager Ron Domangue.
In addition, he says the company plans to introduce its automated
boat and tank cleaning technology this year at its C-Port II loca-
tion, one of five it operates within Port Fourchon.

Remarkable growth
It took nearly 20 years after its creation before the port went
all out in major infrastructure enhancements that included roads
and channel improvements. Since then, and despite the cyclical
ups and downs of the E&P industry, the growth of Port Fourchon
over the past 50 years has been nothing short of remarkable and,
with its overseers seemingly locked onto a continual mode of
expansion, it shows no sign of slowing anytime soon. The 700-acre
Northern Expansion, in what at one time was a playground for
duck hunters, is well under way, and when completed over the
next decade or so, will more than double the port’s developed
acreage.
More than 125 service and operating companies, from multi-na-
tional conglomerates to private, home-grown enterprises, call Port
Fourchon home and many, led by Edison Chouest, hold multiple
leases. The soon-to-be completed Phase 1 of the Northern Expan- Schematic of future Port Fourchon expansion.

70 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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InterMoor Inc. “When I started here in the Taking hurricane evacuations to a new level
PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

late ’70s all we had basically was a gravel

Port newcomer Offshore
road and this whole area was used mainly Cleaning Systems takes a unique
for duck hunting. A few small banana boats approach to evacuating for a hur-
would come in occasionally and there were ricane: Just pack up the whole
the fishing companies, but that was about kit and caboodle and move it out
it,” he says from what is now the central of harm’s way.
location for InterMoor’s worldwide opera- Michael Breaux, corporate
tions and home of the largest lift crane asset manager for the tank and
on the Gulf Coast, a behemoth capable of vessel cleaning company, says
lifting 800 tons (726 metric tons). within a matter of hours its entire
The times they most definitely have Port Fourchon location can be
cleared, leaving nothing behind,
been a-changing and many of those but a concrete slab. Owing to the
changes, ironically, came when the oilfield company’s uniquely designed
was mired in turmoil. In the early 1980s, 8- x 12-ft (2.4- x 4-m) modular
the industry took a severe and prolonged office and warehouse, when a
nosedive with the price of a barrel of hurricane approaches the build- With its modular design, the Port Fourchon headquar-
crude dropping to low single digits. With ing can be disconnected simply ters of Offshore Cleaning Systems can be removed
completely in the face of a hurricane.
jobs harder to come by, service and sup- by flipping corner bottom and
ply companies considered every possible top levers. Once the structure is
avenue to cut costs. More times than not, detached from his support, a crane lifts it onto a trailer and hauls to a safe location
until the all-clear is given to return.
that avenue reached a dead end at Port
“Once the roads are cleared and we are given approval to return, we can be up
Fourchon. and running in 24 hours,” he says, adding the site also is equipped with generators
“Many of the service and supply compa- to keep it in operation if electricity is down.
nies had numerous, small facilities located Based in Abbeville, Louisiana, the 12-year-old company established a base in
all along coastal Louisiana so they could Port Fourchon last November.
be close to the projects they were working
on. They had to downsize and centralize
their operations into one or two logistically Then came Hurricane Katrina in late modate mid-size corporate jets. Airport
advantageous locations. For many of them, summer 2005. As operators and service manager Jason Duet says construction of a
Port Fourchon was chosen for their con- companies surveyed the wreckage the parallel jet taxi way is complete as is instal-
solidated shore base,” Chiasson says. storm left in its wake, many once more lation of sophisticated localized landing
“While oil and gas suffered through a turned their sights to Port Fourchon. systems that rely on radio signals. He says
depression in the ’80s, Fourchon actually “Many of these companies still had facili- the port commission also continues to look
experienced tremendous growth, as more ties in Cameron, Venice, and elsewhere at developing an industrial park at its unde-
and more support services companies set along the coast and most of those were ei- veloped 1,200-acre parcel that surrounds
up their shore base operations here to take ther destroyed or under water. Like every- the airport.
advantage of our strategic proximity to the one here, we had a mess to clean up, but This year, VIH Cougar opened its new
current and future activities in the GoM. sustained no major structural damage, so hangar, which will serve as the base for its
“The port received a major boost in 1995 we were able to get back up and running GoM air services operations, while Edison
when the US Congress passed the Deepwa- fairly quickly. Several of those companies Chouest, which already operates one han-
ter Royalty Relief Act that improved the decided it would be more prudent to oper- gar, is looking at build another, Duet says.
economics of drilling in more than 1,000 ft ate out of here.” “Traffic has increased steadily,” Duet
(305 m) of water. “If you service the offshore oil and gas says. “In fact, between January 2009 and
“Significant technological advancements industry, this is the only place to be,” says January 2010, we’ve seen a 19% increase in
were made to coincide with the timing of Offshore Cleaning Systems Corporate traffic and that even with us being closed
the passage of this act. Therefore, all the Asset Manager Michael Breaux, echoing two months for construction. We also have
conditions were favorable for the rebirth of what seems to be a universal sentiment several tenants who’ve expressed interest
the drilling industry in the GoM. Fortu- among Port Fourchon tenants. in building at the airport.”
nately for Fourchon the service companies “Fourchon has really changed and the If Davis and the other pioneers who
realized there was no better place economi- growth over the past 10 years has just been laid the foundation for Port Fourchon
cally, environmentally, or geographically remarkable,” adds Todd Hornbeck, chair- could see what their once modest port had
to conduct their operations than Port man, president, and CEO of Hornbeck become 50 years after its founding, they
Fourchon. Offshore. “It offers the best value proposi- undoubtedly would feel is if they had been
“The passage of the deepwater royalty tion for those of us operating in the GoM.” transported into some parallel universe.
act created rapid expansion at the port. At And, considering where the port is today
that time, we had a 2000 to 2030 strategic Airport also growing and where it is headed, anyone who still
plan that soon went out the window and we The expansion has not been restricted believes the administrators should have
had to revise it upward.” to the port. The South Lafourche Leonard held steadfast to their original aspiration,
In addition to the ongoing 700-acre Miller Jr. Airport in neighboring Galliano, would be looked upon here as being a bit,
Northern Expansion, since 1996 the avail- which came under the umbrella of the port well, bananas.
able 500 acres created in the three-phased commission in 2001, likewise is engrossed The continuous advancements in
E-Slip development all were leased quickly in expansion. Named Louisiana’s 2006 Air- deepwater oil and gas technology, coupled
and fully developed. “We really ramped up port of the Year by the US Federal Aviation with the reserve projections for the GoM,
between 1997 and 1998 and by 2000, a third Administration (FAA), the airport early last indicate the activity currently ongoing at
of the E-Slip had already been leased,” year extended its main runway from 3,800 Port Fourchon will be sustained for the
Chiasson says. ft to 6,500 ft (1,158 to 1,981 m) to accom- next 40 years, at least. 

72 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc. offers the highest

quality helicopter service available in the Gulf
of Mexico (GOM). From air conditioned hangars
for all our aircraft, to a fully entrenched Risk
Management Culture, VIH Cougar Helicopters is
like no other helicopter operator in the GOM.

Improving safety through Improving service through

RISK MANAGEMENT INNOVATION
The VIH Cougar Safety Management System VIH Cougar is the GOM leader in innovative ways to better
(SMS) is fully integrated into every part of our serve our customers. We are the ONLY operator in the GOM
company including maintenance, operations and with FAA Certified Internal Auxiliary Fuel Tanks for the S-92,
administration. Our SMS includes an internet and we are the only Operator in the GOM with Helicopter EMS approval for
based Safety Reporting System (SRS) as well as the S-61 with the S-92 and AW139 to be added Spring 2010. We are also
our Risk Assessment Matrix (RAM). the first helicopter company in the US to obtain FAA Approval for a multiple
litter system installation in the S-61.
Our SRS, RAM and Threat and Error Management
procedures along with strict PPE policies are just Our records are digital and flight specifics are uploaded within minutes of
some of the ways VIH Cougar makes focusing on landing. This information updates invoicing, training and maintenance re-
safety part of every step in the performance of cords instantly. This means our customers get the flight information they
our daily tasks. need when they need it and in the format they choose.

VIH Cougar is the only US operator in the GOM with satellite communications
and tracking, and 24/7 global flight following for 100% of our fleet.

If you are looking for an innovative solution provider that will adapt to your
special requests, give VIH Cougar a call today.

Increasing expectations through

GLOBAL STANDARDS
VIH Cougar is built on international best practices that meet the highest
requirements of any oil company. Our personnel hold multinational aviation
certifications. Our equipment and facilities meet international transporta-
tion standards.

Air Conditioned hangars for all aircraft,

custom work stands and fall restraint.
www.vihcougar.com

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New lock keeps bayou cargo flowing;

PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

LA 1 again seeks funding

A
waterway that some contend is as
vital to the offshore as its more
popularized overland counterpart
received a major boost late last year
with the long-awaited opening of a
lock engineered to keep rig-bound cargo
moving.
The November opening of the Lean
Theriot Lock on widely traveled Bayou
Lafourche is heralded as a high point for
barge captains who often found themselves
grounded, sometimes for days after a
storm had passed over the southern coast
of Louisiana. Before the opening of the
lock, the area relied solely on the bayou’s
network of floodgates. While effective in
heading off flooding, the gates prevented
vessels from transporting needed supplies
and equipment offshore, says Windell
Curole, general manager of the South
Lafourche Levee District. The district’s
primary responsibility is to maintain (Above) Aerial view of the recently chris-
the ring levy flood prevention system. tened Tony Doucet Bridge over Bayou
The district has been working to build Lafourche. (Photo courtesy of Wilbur
the lock for the past 15 years. Smith Associates) (Left) The new Lean
Meanwhile, at press time the LA Theriot Lock is engineered to keep cargo
1 Coalition was heading back to the flowing offshore.
drawing board after being denied a
$300-million federal grant that would lion, Curole says, thanks in no small
help fund the final 8.3-mi (13-km) part to Hurricane Katrina in 2005
segment of the new elevated LA that sent construction costs soaring.
1 highway system. The so-called While no precise numbers are
Transportation Investment Generat- available, Chett Chiasson, executive
ing Economic Recovery (TIGER) grant importance like ours. The Coalition’s work director of the Greater Lafourche Port
would have been used to complete the is far from over, and we are looking at Commission, says “hundreds” of barges
elevated highway between Golden Meadow additional funding opportunities being pro- and other vessels traverse the bayou
and Leeville, where it would tie into the posed by Congress in the coming months,” monthly, delivering equipment and sup-
elevated Tony Doucet Bridge that opened he says. plies offshore. Ultimately constructed with
last July. The remaining eight-mi (13-km) stretch a combination of state and federal funds,
Coalition Executive Director Henri remains the only unfunded portion of the the uniquely engineered lock, which was
Boulet says the group knew up front that highway that is engineered to keep cargo fabricated in Morgan City, Louisiana, and
the competition it faced in getting a share and production flowing in and out of the floated into place, is designed to keep that
of the total $1.5-billion the US Department port during storms. This past July, the traffic moving, which was not the case with
of Transportation (DOT) is earmarking $161-million elevated toll way over Bayou the floodgates.
for highway and bridge projects, public Lafourche opened to replace the old and “The floodgates would be closed two
transportation proposals and port projects decrepit Leeville bridge that was consid- days prior to a storm and after the storm
would fierce. ered the “weakest link” in the oft-flooded passed a low-pressure system could remain
“The LA 1 Coalition is disappointed by and badly damaged LA 1 highway. The old over the area for a week. The gates would
the fact our well-drafted and compelling bridge has since been demolished. have to remain closed until all the threat of
TIGER grant application was not selected. Curole and the levee commission flooding had passed. We’ve had boats with
In reviewing the list of projects that did definitely have experience when it comes millions of dollars worth of cargo trapped
receive funding, it is clear to me that a to acquiring funding. Since conceiving the and unable to navigate the bayou for days
decision was made by the Department of idea for a lock in 1995, the commissioners after a storm had passed,” Curole says.
Transportation to spread the money across of the South Lafourche Levee District had Days after its unveiling, the lock received
the country versus focusing on large to face more than their share of frustration its first big test when in late November Ida
significant projects such as LA 1. We had when it comes to funding. What’s more, became the latest forming hurricane in
hoped that the majority of funds would be the original price tag for the lock was $7 history. The lock passed the test with flying
directed to large-scale projects of national million, but the final bill came in at $25 mil- colors, Curole says. 

74 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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________________

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Storms, deepwater combine to make

PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

inspections healthy business in Port Fourchon

A
dd a few hurricanes to the intrinsic
nature of the deepwater and you
have the ideal scenario for compa-
nies specializing in checking the
integrity of topsides and downhole
paraphernalia.
“With all the storms we’ve had, the regu-
lations have gotten much more stringent,
so the need for inspections has increased
a great deal,” says Wayne St. Pierre, Four-
chon facility manager for InterMoor Inc.
InterMoor is heavily involved in inspec-
tions of wire rope, mooring, and similar
apparatus.
Elsewhere within Port Fourchon, Smith
Services Inc. operates what it says is the
only inspection facility of its kind anywhere
along the Gulf Coast. Occupying two slips
at the C-Port II facility, the Smith Super
Service Center can inspect all downhole tu-
bulars and includes a full-service machine
shop for repairs. What district manager
AJ Wanous III describes as the area’s only (Above) At the Smith Services facility in C-Port II, drill pipe and other tubulars arrive straight from
“one-stop shop,” also is being upgraded to the rig to be cleaned, inspected, and, if necessary, repaired before returning to operation. (Below)
handle up to 23-in. (58-cm) casing. With the portable load test unit, Halo can simulate an actual lift at a client’s facility.
“We are installing all applicable equip-
ment in the C-Port facility to make and
break, store, and load casing. We plan to be
up and running by the start of May,” adds
Todd Simar, Eastern US regional manager.
Wanous explained that the center uses
ultrasonic technology to check for fatigue
cracking anywhere along a full-length of
both new and used pipe.
“This is a one-stop shop. The pipe comes
off the rig and we have everything here to
both clean and inspect it,” he says. “Our
inspections also can be tailored to meet a
client’s individual requirements.”
He says the technology and configura-
tion of the center allow its technicians to
inspect in three days pipe that normally
would require more than one week to
examine.
“We literally can inspect 18,000 ft (5,486
m) of pipe in 72 hours. What we do is
provide added insurance to the operator
and drilling contractor. After all, if you have
a pipe failure in deepwater it can cost you
dearly,” he says. “We have even spotted testing unit in Lafourche and two surround- ness Development Manager Tyrus Smith.
defects in pipe that came directly from the ing parishes. The unit has a load testing Founded in 2007, Halo also operates
mill.” capacity of up to 125,000 lb. a 3-million lb (1.36-metric ton) capacity,
Meanwhile, Halo LLC is taking its “With this unit, we can go to the clients’ 220-ft (67-m) long load test bed at its Port
inspections services on the road after sign- yards and simulate an actual lift without Fourchon base with an 11-ft (3-m) stoke
ing a franchise agreement with IntegriCert them having to load up and haul their skids capable of testing all sizes and types of
of New Iberia, Louisiana. The agreement or whatever else needs testing. Anything mooring lines and heavy-lift slings. Smith
gives the three-year-old Port Fourchon that requires load testing we can do with says the company also is looking into the
supply company exclusive use of Integri- this unit quickly, and as we all know in the possibility of developing a mobile test bed
Cert’s uniquely engineered portable load oilfield time is everything,” says Halo Busi- with 100,000-lb load capacity. 

76 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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HOS Centerline gives new meaning

PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

to multi-purpose vessel
W
hen Hornbeck Offshore Services Inc. introduced its
370-ft (113-m) HOS Centerline last year, it not only gave
the Gulf of Mexico the world’s largest support vessel,
but also one designed to transport everything from
drilling fluid to crude oil. With a more than 8,000-dwt
(7,258-metric ton) capacity, the Centerline brings multi-purpose
support vessels to an entirely new dimension. Not only is the
triple-certified newbuild designed to transport supplies for drilling The HOS Centerline is not only the world’s largest multi-purpose supply
and production, it can be “flipped over” in two to three days and vessel, it also is the most versatile, says Hornbeck.
work as a crude oil tanker, says Todd M. Hornbeck, chairman,
president and CEO of the Covington, Louisiana-based company “These vessels really provide a wider weather window, and they
that also operates the HOS Port in Port Fourchon. What’s more, are equipped and designed to safely transfer cargo in high seas,”
Hornbeck says the newest entry to the company’s global fleet also he says. “They really give us a cradle-to-grave approach to serving
is fully certified to haul hazardous wastes. our customers, from spud to production.”
“It’s the only time in the world this has been done,” he says of The HOS 370-class cargo deck is 240 ft x 58 ft (1,287 sq m)
his new support vessel/tanker combination. A sister-vessel, the and is complemented by an additional 30 ft x 58 ft (9 x 18 m) of
HOS Strongline, was expected to join the Hornbeck fleet in Febru- covered deck space, which is unprecedented. The large deck and
ary and is destined to receive the same regulatory pedigree. living quarters for 78 crew members also makes the Centerline
Hornbeck says the uniquely engineered vessels can transport functional for subsea construction.
more than 30,000 bbl of liquid drilling mud and fuel. The vessels’ While the commissioning of the Centerline, gives Hornbeck 85
400 kW of available propulsion, power, and DP-2 capability allows vessels working worldwide, he says the company will continue to
it to work safely in sea and weather conditions that keep smaller focus on the Gulf of Mexico.
vessels in port. The design of the vessel reduces fuel consumption “Any place we look at first has to pass the smell test and con-
in half, he adds. vince us it is a better place to be than in the Gulf of Mexico.” 

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Report shows enormity

PORT FOURCHON SUPPLEMENT

of GoM decommissioning market

I
t may come as a surprise, but for some Port Fourchon com- office and housing modules, Martin says that for the past two
panies one of the hottest markets in the Gulf of Mexico these decades much of the firm’s attention has focused on ensuring
days has nothing to do with drilling or production. Quite the the seabed is cleared once the topsides have been removed for
contrary, actually. platform decommissioning. The foundation of the Martin seabed
“Salvaging is by far the biggest market in the GoM other clearance business is its patented Gorilla Net, which is construct-
than deepwater drilling. The numbers are unbelievable,” says Jim- ed of a weave of 9/16-in. combination cable at the opening and a
mie “Beau” Martin Jr., sales representative for family-owned B & body made with twine five times the strength of a standard trawl
J Martin Inc., which has a strong focus in post-decommissioning net. Martin says the increased strength allows it to contain debris
seabed cleaning. that would rip a standard net.
Before dismissing Martin’s assessment as fanciful, consider the He says as the net is pulled across the seabed it can clear sev-
results of the Gulf of Mexico Decommissioning Report released eral tons of debris within an 80-ft (24-m) pass, with the activities
in December. According to the report’s author, Dr. Mark J. Kaiser, on each line recorded electronically. Once the debris is removed,
director of Research and Development at Louisiana State Univer- the Gorilla is followed by a verification pass to confirm to opera-
sity, GoM decommissioning is destined to be a well over $3 billion tors and regulatory authorities that the site, indeed, is clear.
market over the next five years. The GoM holds more than 4,000 “With the Gorilla, we are able to remove seabed debris for 20%
platforms and Kaiser wrote that an average of 140 structures have of the costs of using divers or some other clearing method. We
been removed annually over the past decade with another 424 also can do in two days what normally would take a month,” he
wells P&A’d. US Minerals Management Service (MMS) regula- says.
tion mandates a site be cleared one year after abandonment. The trawlers that pull the net have a remarkable resemblance
“Throw in the occasional devastating hurricane and the huge to standard shrimp boats, which Martin’s grandfather Beauregard
impact this has had both in activity volume and cost and you have Martin of Galliano, Louisiana, operated from 1947 until the com-
an annual industry worth between $377 million and $825 million,” pany he founded turned its sights toward servicing the oil and gas
Kaiser concludes. “The total exposure for decommissioning in the industry 20 years later. With the commissioning of a 110-ft (34-m)
GoM sits somewhere between $18 billion and $57 billion.” trawler in December 2009, the company now has five vessels, all
Martin adds that many operators just now are getting around of which are at work with their six-man crew, says Martin. The
to permanently abandoning the structures Hurricane Katrina largest vessels can operate in a maximum 400-ft (122-m) water
destroyed in 2005, “and then we had (hurricanes) Gustav and Ike. depth.
“Everything really slows down for us right after a hurricane, Martin emphasizes that the nets are constructed to allow fish
because operators’ priorities are trying to restore what production and other aquatic life to escape unharmed.
they can. They worry about abandonment later,” he says. “We’re here to pick up debris, not catch fish,” he says.
While his family’s 63-year-old Port Fourchon company also The company has serviced the oil and gas industry since 1968,
operates Martin Quarters, which manufacturers rig and platform but it was not until 1990 that Martin entered the seabed clear-
ance business. Since then, Beau
Martin estimates the company
has cleared between 600 and 700
locations.
“The operators have done a
tremendous job of returning the
seabed to its natural state. Once
they have borrowed it, the oil
companies return the seabed to
as good or better condition than it
was when they got it,” he says. 

Mountains of Gorilla Nets are on

standby at the B & J Martin Inc.
facility in Port Fourchon.

78 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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HOS
PORT
FOURCHON
Hornbeck Offshore’s HOS Port shore base is a 66-acre facility at Port Fouchon,
LA., supporting the deepwater E&P logistics requirements of our customers.
It offers nearly 3,000 linear feet of proprietary dock space, shore side support
for our vessel charterers, water depths sufficient for the deep draft berthing
required by large OSVs and MPSVs and a 300-ton heavy lift crane with a reach
of 180 feet. But it doesn’t end there.

Through on-site vendors, HOS Port can provide dispatching, fuel and lube
distribution, waste removal, tank cleaning, office, warehouse and outdoor
storage space, and rental equipment, including A-frames, winches, AHC/
articulating gangways, ROVs, portable accommodation buildings and more.

Learn more about HOS Port Fourchon and our fleet of

OSVs, MPSVs, tugs and tank barges by visiting us online
at www.hornbeckoffshore.com or calling (985) 727-2000.

HORNBECK OFFSHORE
®
Service with Energy ®

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TECHNOLOGY • EXPERIENCE • SERVICE

CORTEC has over 30 years experience in the design

and manufacturing of fluid controlling products while

adapting to the changing oil and gas industry, and

responding to its needs. CORTEC provides a ‘priority’

in regards to high quality equipment and customer

service. CORTEC provides equipment for onshore,

offshore and subsea applications.

985-223-1966 337-267-3100
www.uscortec.com www.cortec-cms.com

ISO-9001-2000 6A-0700

TRUNNIONS • FLOATING VALVES • SUB SEA • CHECK VALVES • MANIFOLDS

PRODUCTION CHOKES • DRILLING CHOKES • FLOWLINE ACCESSORIES
A

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SWEDEN

Glass-syntactic foam insulates IRM divers

S
yntactic foam from Trelleborg Off- Unique LLC’s diving bell,
shore is helping to protect saturation thermally insulated by Trelleborg.
divers from the cold during offshore
inspection, repair, and maintenance
tasks. based on BASF’s ZEROHg glass syntactic
Unique LLC commissioned an insulation polyurethane foam technology, in a one-pour,
solution for one of its diving bells because of one-lift foam application. According to Trelle-
performance issues with previously installed borg Offshore’s Product Manager in Houston
insulation systems. These had proven sus- James Vultaggio, “The application technique
ceptible to damage and water ingress, which ensured no insulation interface joints for
could have impaired the systems’ thermal complete integrity. This eliminates water in-
and buoyancy properties. gress into the foam, which could affect the
The diving bell serves as a submersible de- thermal properties.”
compression chamber for a three-man satu- The shell for the diving bell is constructed
ration diving team performing tasks such as from ABS-approved carbon steel. The total
pipeline repair, platform installation support weight of foam poured around the shell was
services, and cable maintenance. It takes 1,300 lb (600 kg). Trelleborg claims this
them from an offshore vessel’s live-in hyper- was the first use of the Trident system in a
baric chamber down to undersea depths of up custom-coating operation, and also the first
to 1,000 ft (305 m), in sea temperatures vary- instance of a diving bell being insulated with
ing from 45-65 °F (9-18 °C). glass syntactic polyurethane foam. The solu-
The helium/oxygen (Heliox) breathing mixture for the divers is tion, it adds, leads to reduced operating costs, as well as improving
imported through an umbilical from the support ship. As Heliox has diver safety.
a higher thermal conductivity than air, good thermal insulation is According to Unique’s Design Engineer Shane Julias, the insu-
critical to the divers’ comfort. Dive times within the bell can vary lation system combined with Trelleborg’s 3D modelling design
from 10-12 hours, and the divers can remain under saturation condi- provided high-accuracy thermal and buoyancy properties. “This
tions for up to 30 days. enables us to predict the thermal insulation thickness required, and
For this project, Trelleborg applied its Trident insulation system, the uplift of the bell for accurate system buoyancy control.” 

H-shackles to connect Usan mooring chain

K
ohlswa Gjuteri will supply a total of
54 mooring shackles for Total’s Usan
development off Nigeria. The order Kohlswa will deliver 54 H-shackles to Ramnäs
has been placed by Ramnäs Bruk, a for the Usan FPSO mooring system.
regular user of Kohlswa’s cast-steel
products, which is providing mooring chain
to the Hyundai yard in Korea where the to offer numerous advantages over forged
Usan FPSO is under construction. products. One of the most important is the
This will be a huge production ship, with isotropism – the products are equally strong
capacity to produce around 150,000 b/d of in all directions. Casting also allows freedom
oil and to store up to 2 MMbbl. It will be of construction – the ability to incorporate a
moored in a water depth of around 800 m large degree of irregularity in the shape of
(2,624 ft). The H-shackle, which has a pin at each products.
Kohlswa’s order, valued at around $1.57 end, was developed by Ramnäs to connect The company also supplies other mooring
million, is due for delivery in April. It con- separate lengths of chain. Kohlswa’s previ- system products. It currently is working on
sists of 18 units of each of three types of ous shackle deliveries have included the an order for swivels and ball-sockets for off-
H-shackle, to be manufactured in grade 4 Vincent and Maari FPSO projects offshore shore mooring connections supplier Moor-
cast steel. Each shackle has an approximate Australia and New Zealand. Last month the link. 
weight of 1.8 metric tons (1.98 tons), giving company received another order from Ram-
a total weight of almost 100 metric tons (110 näs, this time for 10 shackles – five each of For more information contact Håkan Thoreson,
tons), according to CEO Håkan Thoreson. two different types – for Statoil in Norway. Kohlswa Gjuteri. Tel +46 221 830 02, fax +46 221
Bureau Veritas is the classification society Delivery also is scheduled for April. 830 19, [email protected], ___
www.
for the project. Kohlswa specializes in cast products, said kohlswagjuteri.se
_________

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 81

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SWEDEN

SKF helping Total to limit unplanned shutdowns

S
KF has strengthened its offshore pres- SKF staff in a data handling room for remote
ence with two wide-ranging contracts diagnostics in Stavanger.
for operations in the northern hemi-
sphere. machinery lubrication practices, including
The Gothenburg-based company has processes and common sets of guidelines.
entered into a five-year contract with Total E&P Several SKF units around the world will co-
UK under which it will provide condition-based operate in this contract. SKF can provide tailor-
maintenance services for a range of rotating made solutions by combining elements from its
machinery on Total’s off- and onshore-related five technology “platforms,” says Ole Kristian
North Sea assets, which include the Alwyn Jødahl, director for north Europe in the SKF
North, Dunbar, and Elgin/Franklin production Service Division. These are bearings and units,
complexes, and the St Fergus gas terminal. sealing solutions, mechatronics, lubrication sys-
The range of services will include in-depth tems, and services.
vibration data analysis, lubrication oil analysis, and equipment pro- The company’s services are designed to optimize machinery perfor-
cess analysis, in addition to other specialist investigations. mance, reduce downtime, both planned and unplanned, and cut mainte-
“We see our partnership with SKF as an important step in supporting nance costs by identifying only components that actually need replacement.
our strategy of improving equipment reliability, enabling us to reduce The end result is that the machinery not only operates more efficiently but
unplanned equipment downtime and helping with Total’s commitment also has a longer life. This is an important consideration for operators are
to meeting safety, health, environment, and quality requirements,” says seeking to extend the life-span of aging offshore installations.
Alan Messié, operations manager for Total E&P UK. In addition to sending engineers to offshore installations to take direct
SKF also has signed a $1.37 million service contract with Trans- measurements, monitoring is performed remotely. This suits the integrat-
ocean for asset reliability services on 59 of the rig contractor’s mo- ed operations approach increasingly adopted by offshore operators. 
bile units operating in the North Sea, Mediterranean, and Caspian
Sea, as well as off West Africa. For more information contact Ole Kristian Jødahl, SKF. Tel +47 23170710, ole.
It will help Transocean develop a consistent approach to onboard [email protected], www.skf.com

_________________

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MASTER
THE
Our highly skilled engineers provide
top-notch design and service for
offshore projects. We are a world
leading company for semi-sub-
mersibles; we also design all types
of floating vessels including FPOs
and drill ships. All our series are

OCEANS
designed to function in ultra-deep
water and harsh environments all
over the world. Find out more at
www.gvac.se

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____________

__________

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BUSINESS BRIEFS

People Oil & Gas UK has appointed Brian Jurong Shipyard is building a new shipyard
Aker Qserv has appointed Ian Pittman as Kinkead as supply chain director. in Brazil. The company has acquired land in the
well services manager to lead its operations in Reservoir Group has appointed Malcolm municipality of Aracruz, close to the offshore
the east of England. Based in Great Yarmouth, Greener as MD of its XDT downhole drilling Espirito Santo basin. The shipyard will offer
Pittman will provide operational management tools and services division. drillship and semisubmersible construction,
support for a range of Aker QServ clients The Department of the Interior’s MMS has FPSO integration, topside module fabrication,
including E.ON Ruhrgas and Scottish and appointed Mary Katherine Ishee as deputy PSV construction, as well as drilling rig repairs,
Southern Energy. He will also develop new director. ship repairs, and modification works.
business opportunities within the well stimula- Petroresurs has appointed Daniil Schedrov Huisman has opened its latest production
tion, coiled tubing, wireline, pipeline, and as general director. hall in China. The new hall is the company’s
process services in the North Sea. largest to date, measuring 205 m (672 ft) long,
The Artificial Lift Co. has promoted Dr. Company news 54 m (177 ft) wide, and 62 m (203 ft) high.
Hassan Mansir to VP of engineering and Nord Stream AG has received the Finnish This height, and the 2,000-metric ton (2,204-
technology. Mansir joined ALC in 2009 as “Water Permit,” the last permit required to ton) internal hoisting capacity, allows the facil-
design manager. start constructing its 1,223 km (760 mi) natural ity to assemble products vertically, allowing it
Multi-Chem has pro- gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. The con- to handle a wide range of products.
moted Dr. Zubin Patel to sortium plans to start construction in April. GE has realigned its Oilfield Technology
director of capital expendi- Shell has appointed Emerson Process business from GE Energy Services to GE Oil
ture and flow assurance. Management as a main automation contrac- & Gas. The company says the move strength-
Based in Houston, Patel tor on future capital projects globally under a ens and expands GE Oil & Gas’ drilling and
will develop and execute five-year contract. production portfolio, extending the business
strategies for the deepwa- BP is to collaborate with the Massachusetts reach with directional drilling, formation
ter flow assurance market Institute of Technology (MIT) and the UK’s evaluation systems, and wireline solutions for
for both existing assets University of Manchester on materials and the exploration and production of oil and gas.
and future capex projects. Patel corrosion research for oilfield applications. The GE Sensing & Inspection Technologies
Drillsearch Energy early focus will be on materials and corrosion is expanding its Odelzhausen, Germany, facility
has appointed David science, encompassing corrosion and corro- which designs and manufactures Rheonik
Evans as CTO, effective in March. He will sion-fatigue modeling, environmental cracking, coriolis flow meters. The $1-million expansion in-
oversee and manage all technical aspects of novel coatings, and new monitoring technol- cludes a flow meter calibration center to test and
the company’s exploration, development, and ogy. Research will extend over time to other calibrate ultrasonic and coriolis flow meters. The
production activities. mechanical integrity and reliability issues. center will be operational in the fourth quarter.
Schlumberger has appointed Paal Kib- The Shtokman Development AG partners CNOOC’s capex budget this year will be
sgaard as COO. Kibsgaard will be respon- Gazprom, Total, and Statoil plan to commit $7.93 billion, an increase of 29.5% over the
sible for the day-to-day management of the to a final investment decision (FID) on the gas estimated total for 2009. This comprises $1.47
company’s worldwide operations as well as its export pipeline in March 2011 and to an FID billion for exploration, $4.81 billion for devel-
technology organization including engineer- on LNG facilities before the end of 2011. This opment, and $1.5 billion for production.
ing, manufacturing, and product development. should lead to start-up of the pipeline in 2016 Foster Wheeler has agreed to form a
Geotrace has appointed Mark Robinson and LNG in 2017. jointly owned Saudi Arabian entity with A.
as area manager for the Far East. Robinson Subsea Services International has estab- Al-Saihati, A. Fattani, and O. Al-Othman
will be responsible for seismic processing and lished a new subsidiary, PT Subsea Services Consulting Engineering Co. (SOFCON) .
reservoir services in the region. Indonesia. The company, which will operate The new entity, Foster Wheeler SOFCON
S3 ID has appointed Doug Woodbridge as from a new facility in Batam, will support Consulting Engineering Co. , will be based
head of group sales and marketing. Wood- customers in Asia, Australia, India, and the in Al-Khobar in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
bridge previously served as sales and market- Middle East. AMEC has acquired Currie & Brown
ing director for Cetix Salem Automation. Expro is constructing a new facility in (Australia), an Australian cost and commer-
Ashtead Technology has appointed Mark Takoradi, Ghana. The 8,000-sq m (86,111-sq cial management consultancy, for $32 million.
Derry as MD of the company’s offshore divi- ft) facility will include a workshop and office Peritus International has entered the
sion. Derry previously served as MD of SBS space upon completion. global subsea and floating systems oil and gas
Marine. Petrobras, YPF, and Petrogal (Galp En- engineering market. Focusing on subsea and
Pan Asia has appointed Domenic Martino as ergia) have signed an agreement with Ancap, floating systems design, the company will use
chairman of the company’s board of directors. the Uruguayan national oil company, for oil an international network of regional engineer-
Chariot Oil & Gas has appointed Martin and natural gas exploration and production on ing centers initially based in Perth, Australia;
Richards as chief reservoir engineer and Alex the Uruguayan continental shelf. The compa- Woking, UK; and Houston.
Green as commercial manager. nies have four years to evaluate seismic data Saudi Aramco has opened a new branch of
Seismic Micro Technology (SMT) has and to make a decision on drilling. In the ten- Aramco Overseas Co. in India. The opera-
appointed TengBeng Koid as president of its der, the companies committed to 2D seismic tion will focus on the companies involved in
international team. Koid will oversee sales acquisition and existing data reprocessing. manufacturing and contracting materials for
and operations in Asia, Europe, Middle East, Helix Energy Solutions Group and Saudi Aramco.
Australia, and Africa. Clough have formed a joint venture to provide TAM International North Sea has ex-
IBC Advanced Alloys Corp. has appointed a subsea services to offshore operators in the panded its offices in Aberdeen, Scotland. The
Douglas Veitch as VP of business develop- Asia-Pacific region. recently acquired building, next to the existing
ment. Veitch will work with the company’s DOF Subsea has established PT DOF TAM facility, will provide 5,800 sq ft (625 sq m)
sales and marketing departments to expand Subsea Indonesia, an integrated subsea of offices as well as additional warehouse space
and support IBC’s global growth initiatives. services provider based in Jakarta. for customer demonstrations and storage.

www.offshore-mag.com • March 2010 Offshore 85

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C L A S S I F I E D A D V E RT I S I N G

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C O N S U LTA N T S E M P L O Y ME N T

Brazil: EXPETRO can be your guide into this

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specialists upstream, downstream, gas and biofuels.
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ADVERTISERS INDEX

A K
SALES OFFICES Kohlswa Gjuteri AB...............................82
AADE 2010 Premier Fluids
PENNWELL PETROLEUM GROUP Conference ............................................27 www.kohlswagjuteri.se
1455 West Loop South, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77027 www.aade.org/houston
PHONE +1 713 621 9720 • FAX +1 713 963 6228 Aker Solutions ................................ 46-47
David Davis (Worldwide Sales Manager) www.akersolutions.com/subsea L
[email protected]
Bailey Simpson (Regional Sales Manager) L&M Radiator, Inc..................................77
[email protected] B www.mesabi.com
Glenda Harp (Classified Sales) [email protected]
Baker Hughes Incorporated...........13, 25
GREATER HOUSTON AREA, TX www.bakerhughes.com M
David Davis [email protected] Bayou Companies ................................21
www.insituform.com M-I SWACO.. ....................................64, 69
www.miswaco.com
USA • CANADA BISSO MARINE .................................... C2
Bailey Simpson [email protected] www.bissomarine.com
BJ Services .............................................1
www.bjservices.com N
UNITED KINGDOM • SCANDINAVIA •
THE NETHERLANDS Bupa International ................................31 National Oilwell Varco ..........................23
9 Tarragon Rd. www.bupa-intl.com www.nov.com
Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom ME16 OUR
PHONE +44 1622 721222 • FAX +44 1622 721333
Roger Kingswell [email protected] C O
Cameron ..................................................7 Offshore Technology
FRANCE • BELGIUM • PORTUGAL • www.c-a-m.com
SPAIN • SOUTH SWITZERLAND • MONACO Conference 2010..... ..............................45
CGGVeritas ........................................... 11 www.otcnet.org/2010
• NORTH AFRICA www.cggveritas.com
Prominter ORR Safety..... ...................................... C3
8 allée des Hérons, 78400 Chatou, France Clover Tool Company............................14 www.orrsafety.com/kong
PHONE +33 (0) 1 3071 1119 • FAX +33 (0) 1 3071 1119 www.clovertool.com
Daniel Bernard [email protected] Cortec Fluid Control.. ...........................80
www.uscortec.com P
GERMANY • NORTH SWITZERLAND • Pacific Drilling .......................................15
AUSTRIA • EASTERN EUROPE •
RUSSIA • FORMER SOVIET UNION • BALTIC
D www.pacificdrilling.com
• EURASIA PennWell
Danos & Curole Marine DOT International.............................55
Sicking Industrial Marketing, Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 16 Contractors............................................71
59872 Freienohl, Germany www.deepoffshoretechnology.com
www.danos.com Offshore Middle East 2010 .............59
PHONE +49 (0) 2903 3385 70 • FAX +49 (0) 2903 3385 82
Andreas Sicking [email protected] www.offshoremiddleeast.com
Offshore Webcasts ..........................53
E www.offshore-mag.com
ITALY
SILVERA MEDIAREP ESAB......................................................17 OGMT North America 2010..............57
Viale Monza, 24 - 20127 Milano, Italy www.esab.com www.ogmtna.com
PHONE +39 (02) 28 46716 • FAX +39 (02) 28 93849 PennEnergy JOBS ...........................49
Paolo Silvera [email protected] www.PennEnergyJOBS.com
F Polarcus.................................................33
www.polarcus.com
BRAZIL / SOUTH AMERICA
Grupo Expetro/SMARTPETRO, Ave. Erasmo Fairfield Industries, Inc.........................41
Braga 227, 11th floor www.fairfieldnodal.com
Rio de Janeiro RJ 20024-900, BRAZIL FMC Technologies, Inc......... ............... C4 R
PHONE +55 (21) 2533 5703 or +55 (21) 3084 5384 www.fmctechnologies.com
FAX +55 (21) 2533 4593 FUGRO GEOTEAM AS......... .................30 RAMNAS BRUK AB...............................84
[email protected], Url [email protected] www.fugro.com www.ramnas.com
Marcia Fialho [email protected]

G S
JAPAN
ICS Convention Design, Inc. Sercel .....................................................43
6F Chiyoda Bldg., 1-5-18 Sarugakucho Greater LaFourche Port Commis-
sion........ ................................................66 www.sercel.com
Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 101-8449, Japan Strategic Marine Pty Ltd.......................31
PHONE +81 3 3219 3641 • FAX +81 3 3219 3628
www.portfourchon.com
Gulf Offshore Logistics, LLC........ .......75 www.strategicmarine.com
Manami Konishi [email protected]
www.gulf-log.com
GVA CONSULTANTS AB.......................83
SINGAPORE www.gvac.se V
19 Tanglin Road #05-20 Tanglin Shopping Center
Singapore 247909 VIH Cougar Helicopters, Inc.................73
PHONE +65 9616 8080 • FAX +65 6734 0655 www.vihcougar.com
Michael Yee [email protected] H
Halliburton...............................................9 W
INDIA www.halliburton.com
Interads Ltd., A-113, Shivalik, New Delhi 110 017 Hornbeck Offshore Services................79
PHONE +91 11 628 3018 • FAX +91 11 622 8928 Weatherford.........................................4, 5
www.hornbeckoffshore.com www.weatherford.com/micro-seal
Rajan Sharma [email protected]
World Energy Congress 2010 ..............29
www.wecmontreal2010.ca
NIGERIA/WEST AFRICA I
Flat 8, 3rd floor (Oluwatobi House)
71 Allen Ave, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria INTECSEA .............................................19
PHONE +234 805 687 2630 or +234 802 223 2864 www.intecsea.com The index of page numbers is provided
Dele Olaoye [email protected] as a service. The publisher does not as-
ITT Goulds Pumps...... ............................3
www.ResourceITT.com sume any liability for error or omission.

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BEYOND THE HORIZON

Geoscientists peer
into the crystal ball
We hear so many varying opinions in the mainstream media With this kind of unblemished track record, we could not resist
about the energy industry that it is hard to tell if it will be feast or asking the geoscientists to gaze into their crystal ball a few more
famine in the days ahead. So we at SMT thought it would be interest- times. So, we also asked them to predict oil prices five years from
ing to avoid the “talking heads” and survey some “thinking heads” now. Our soothsayer scientists see prices continuing to climb by
about where our industry is going. Over the last two years, SMT 2014. The vast majority, 74%, see oil above $100, with 55% of them
has conducted surveys at Society of Exploration Geophysics (SEG) pinpointing the $100 - $150 range as the likely scenario, and the re-
to see if geoscientists could read the tea leaves and predict the fu- maining 19% seeing us north of that.
ture. And looking at the accuracy of previous prognostications, 2010
looks good for the industry. And what do our amateur market analysts have to say about the
persistent notion of peak oil? There we have a bit of a hung jury. Half
Way back at SEG 2008 in Las Vegas, our geoscientists could have of respondents believe peak oil is 10 or more years away, with a large
made a nice return picking future oil prices – during one of the most subgroup seeing it more than 20 years out. Demonstrating the polar-
volatile periods in history. SMT asked them to predict prices one ized perspectives on this issue, amongst the other half who believe
year into the future, choosing amongst ranges of above $150, be- peak oil will occur earlier, 13% believe it has occurred already. So,
tween $100 and $150, between $50 and $100, and under $50. To set almost as many people believe peak oil has arrived as believe it is
the stage, remember what was happening to the industry at that more than 20 years away! This seems to be a debate without a clear
time. Just that summer oil was trading above $140 a barrel. Yet by consensus amongst our cohorts.
SEG, in precipitous decline, we were heading below $70 – a 50%
decline in just a few short months. At the same time, the global fi- The SMT survey, however, concludes with one clear and opti-
nancial collapse was in full swing, so the future of oil prices looked mistic note. We asked whether exploration budgets were likely to
gloomy to say the least. increase, decrease, or stay the same – both in our 2008 and 2009
survey. Predictably, in the 2008 survey the minority, 42%, expected
Yet less than 4% of the 110 geoscientists surveyed succumbed to increases in budget in the year ahead. However, in our more recent
the prevailing pessimism and felt we would be trading at less than survey, 60% of respondents expected to see increases in budgets in
$50 a barrel in a year. In fact, 74% of respondents correctly chose the 2010. So the tide is turning.
trading range as falling between $50 and $100. And sure enough, oil
traded around $75 a barrel during that time period. Of course we will be able to evaluate how well the geoscientist
track record holds up by SEG 2010 – and SMT will be running its
So what does our prescient cadre of geoscientists say about the annual survey again at the convention in Denver. So drop by our
coming year? Well, at the most recent SEG in 2009, we asked attend- booth to share your perspective and see if you can be the next Jim
ees to take another look. The consensus, 67% of the 120 respondents Cramer. Of course, if last year’s predictions hold true, we will all be
again chose between $50 and $100 a barrel. But this time, not a sin- making…Mad Money.
gle respondent believed we would be under $50. As further proof of Indy Chakrabarti
the growing optimism, 33% now believe oil will be above $100 barrel Director of Marketing
in the fourth quarter. SMT

This page reflects viewpoints on the political, economic, cultural, technological, and environmental issues that shape the future of the petroleum industry. Offshore
Magazine invites you to share your thoughts. Email your Beyond the Horizon manuscript to Eldon Ball at [email protected].

88 Offshore March 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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1-800-669-1677 www.orrsafety.com/kong
____________________________________

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Start with deep water. Add a low pressure reservoir and heavy, viscous oil.
Unworkable? Not with FMC Technologies’ subsea separation solutions. When you
move separation down to the seabed, the gas rises by itself. The liquid is far easier
to pump than the gas-liquid mixture. And as the pressure differential with the
reservoir increases, substantially more oil can be extracted. It’s the right technology
at the right time – tested and tough, from FMC Technologies.

We put you first.

And keep you ahead.
______________________

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RIL’s
KGD6 Fields
Transforming India’s
Energy Landscape

supplement to:

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Custom sponsored by:

Publishing
VP, PennWell Custom Publishing, Profile Writers, Production Manager, PennWell Petroleum Group
Roy Markum Jerry Greenberg Dorothy Davis 1455 West Loop South, Suite 400
[email protected] [email protected] [email protected] Houston, TX 77027 U.S.A. supplement to:
Pramod Kulkarni 918.831.9537 713.621.9720 • fax: 713.963.6285
Managing Editor, [email protected] fax: 918.831.9415
Gurdip Singh PennWell Corporate Headquarters
F. Jay Schempf
[email protected] Circulation Manager, 1421 S. Sheridan Rd., Tulsa, OK 74112
®

[email protected]
Tommie Grigg P.C. Lauinger, 1900–1988
[email protected] Chairman, Frank T. Lauinger
Presentation Editor/Designer, 918.832.9207
Chad Wimmer President/CEO, Robert F. Biolchini
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The commissioning of the KG-D6 project marks a proud

new milestone in the journey of Reliance Industries
Contents
Ltd. Bearing the names of the sacred rivers of Krishna 4 Introduction
and Godavari, and paying tribute to the inexhaustible Deepwater Fields Transform India’s
inspiration of Dhirubhai Ambani, our Founder, the KG- Energy Landscape
The Beginning
D6 project is truly an infrastructural marvel on the
The Potential
eastern coast of India. It has propelled Reliance to a The Commitment
higher growth trajectory and transformed the energy The Path Ahead
landscape of India. Against All Odds

In the successful execution of this project in highly 9 Game Changing Discovery

challenging frontiers, Reliance has created a new
chapter in the annals of India’s E&P sector. It has 10 Challenges of a Giant
announced to the world that Reliance has arrived as Deepwater Gas Field
a global energy player, even as it has opened new
avenues in value creation. We are committed, and 10 Investment Decision
now poised, to make a material difference to the global
energy industry, and to the energy security of India.
11 Mega Deepwater Hydrocarbon
Development
This book tells the story of how one of Reliance’s dream Understanding the Reservoir
projects moved from concept to commissioning. It also Concept Selection
showcases the never-say-die spirit of our project teams
who, working under the guidance of Mr. P.M.S. Prasad, 13 Execution – Getting it right
have tirelessly executed this massive project, despite the first time
extreme hardships in the deep-sea environment and Commitment to Safety
Expanding the Talent Pool
acute shortages in the global supply chain.
Innovative Contracting Strategy
Well Construction
Mukesh Ambani Deepwater Subsea Facilities – A first in India
Chairman and Managing Director Onshore Facilities
Reliance Industries Limited Quality & Technical Assurance
Commissioning - Flawless Startup

25 KG-D6 – Raising the Bar

29 Community Development –
Making a Difference

30 D26 Development

32 Company Profiles

47 Company Profile Index

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4
Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Introduction

Deepwater Fields Transform India’s Energy Landscape:

Every once in a while there comes a game changer, sometimes through

serendipity and sometimes through grit and resolve. Here is a project

that showcases how grit, resolve and world class management can

impact an entire nation’s destiny.

The discovery and subsequent develop- half years, and the D26 field in just a little
ment of the deepwater oil and gas fields, over two years - from discovery.
in the KG-D6 Block off the Bay of Bengal Gas from these fields flows via a subsea
in the east coast of India, have important architecture, through a Control and Riser
ramifications for the country’s energy secu- Platform (CRP), to an Onshore Terminal
rity. And the discovery and development (OT) located at Gadimoga on the east coast
project has been executed by India’s largest of India. Oil flows though a subsea system
corporate house, Reliance Industries Ltd tied-back to a Floating, Production, Storage
(RIL). and Offloading (FPSO) vessel from where
In fact, RIL is already producing natural it is dispensed through shuttle tankers to
gas from the Dhirubhai - 1 & 3 gas fields local refineries.
(D1&D3) since April 1, 2009, and light These hydrocarbon finds by RIL are not
crude oil from the Dhirubhai 26 (D26) oil only trendsetters in the exploration and
field, since September 17, 2008. Both proj- production of oil and gas in India, but they
ects have been commissioned in a record also herald the renaissance of India’s quest
time –the D1 & D3 fields in about six and for energy self-sufficiency.

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

The Beginning ment framework through NELP for enabling E&P
In 1999, the Government of India unveiled the operators worldwide to participate in the develop-
New Exploration Licensing Policy (NELP) to ment of India’s E&P sector. However, deep pes-
attract large investments needed for the resurgence simism about hydrocarbon prospectivity in India’s
of E&P activity in India. Its origins lay in the sedimentary basins, and the huge risk capital
compelling fundamentals that faced the sector. investment requirement meant that only those
Prior to the onset of NELP, primarily National who truly believed in India’s potential, and had
Oil Companies had undertaken exploration cam- the guts and gumption, participated in the NELP
paigns, but only on land and in shallow waters rounds of bidding.
close to the continental shelf. Consequently, Challenging conventional wisdom, RIL, hith-
barely 15 percent of India’s sedimentary basins erto known as India’s leading petrochemical
were well explored. With India’s cumulative sedi- and petroleum refining company, took a plunge
mentary basin acreage equivalent to almost four into exploration and production business in this
percent of the World’s sedimentary basins, the backdrop - and that too in one of the most chal-
question was: why was India’s oil and gas produc- lenging frontiers of deepwater exploration and
tion less than 1 percent of global production? production. In the NELP-I round of bidding,
As one of the World’s fastest growing econo- Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) and its partner
mies importing nearly 40 percent of its energy Niko Resources Limited (NECO) were awarded
requirement, which included more than 70 per- the block KG- DWN-98/3 (KG D6). RIL is the
cent of its crude oil requirement, energy security Operator with a 90 per cent participating interest in
had become a mission for the leaders of the this block, with Niko holding the rest. The KG-D6
country. Clearly, discovering indigenous resources block is located in the Krishna Godavari (KG) basin
of oil and gas had become a dire necessity. With off the east coast of India. The block covers an area
India remaining under-explored, the realization of 7,645 sq. km. The proximal boundary of the
had dawned that it would take massive scale risk block, in its northern part, is about 20-km southeast
capital to unlock the potential of India’s sedi- of Kakinada coast. The water depth in the block
mentary basins. It is then that the policy makers area ranges from 400-m in the north-northwest to
of the land sought to create a world class invest- more than 2,700-m in the south-southeast.

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80°0'0"E 81°0'0"E 82°0'0"E 83°0'0"E 84°0'0"E

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

²
19°0'0"N

19°0'0"N
18°0'0"N

18°0'0"N
Visakapatnam
")

17°0'0"N
17°0'0"N

Kakinada
")

KG-D6
16°0'0"N

16°0'0"N
15°0'0"N

15°0'0"N
Legend
14°0'0"N

14°0'0"N
") Ports
Permits
River
Coast
Ennore
") 0-200 M
Chennai
")
13°0'0"N

13°0'0"N

1000-2000 M
200-1000 M
2000-3000 M
>3000 M

80°0'0"E 81°0'0"E 82°0'0"E 83°0'0"E 84°0'0"E

KG D6 Block Details
• Block No: KG -DWN -98/3 • No. of Exploratory /
• Awarded under NELP -1 bidding, in year 2000 Appraisal wells drilled - 26
• Area: 7645 sq. km with Water depths -400 m to 2,700 m • 18 Gas Discoveries
• Located in Krishna Godavari Basin off the East Coast • 1 Oil Discovery
of India in Bay of Bengal
• First Discovery made in Year 2002

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

In just two years as an Operator, RIL struck the largest gas
find of 2002, in its very first venture in the deepwaters of
the KG D6 block.

The KG basin is a known petroliferous basin importantly, with no prior availability of expertise,
and extends to both onshore and offshore areas. technology and services in this field, this is truly
The onshore part covers an area of 28,000 sq. a remarkable achievement in constructing one of
km. and the offshore part, including deep waters, the world’s largest Greenfield deepwater infra-
covers an area of about 145,000 sq. km. After structure.
signing the production contract in 2000, Reliance Even as Reliance made several more gas dis-
embarked on an intensive exploration program. coveries within this block, and commenced the
What followed has redefined the history of the development of the D1/D3 gas fields, the company
E&P sector in India. struck another milestone oil discovery, namely
In just two years as an operator, RIL struck the D26, in the deeper sediments of Mesozoic’s in
largest gas find of 2002, in its very first venture 2006. RIL developed this field in a little over two
in the deepwater of the KG D6 block. This was a years, commissioning it in September 2008.
game changer on several counts. A discovery of
this scale and size had been made in India after The Potential
almost three decades - transformational from the Within nine years as an E&P Operator, RIL has
standpoint of India’s prospectivity perception, and become the largest gas producer in India, with
thereby bolstering investments and activity in the current production at about 50 Million standard
Indian E&P sector. It also established a significant cubic metres per day. At peak, these fields
geological framework in the deepwater of the East can potentially produce 550,000 barrels of oil
Coast, confirming the presence of a biogenic gas equivalent per day, which is equivalent to 40 per
channel-levee-complex petroleum system in the cent of India’s current indigenous production.
younger tertiary sequences. RIL’s investment of about US$9 billion is by far the
In another six and half years, gas production single largest investment by an Indian company in
from these fields, namely D1/D3, commenced in India’s hydrocarbon sector, and has the potential
a record time in April, 2009, an achievement that to save the country more than US$10 billion a year
normally takes anywhere between eight and ten in oil and gas imports for years to come. Of note is
years, per global averages. Operating in an area the fact that the D1/D3 fields cover just about 4.5
with no known infrastructure, one of the harshest per cent area of the D6 Block, one of the 51 blocks
operating environments in the world, and most within RIL’s global E&P portfolio.

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The Commitment satisfaction to see that hydrocarbons from KG-D6

With several more discoveries in its repertoire, and Block are flowing to meet the country’s high energy
with an acreage of over 325,000 sq km in 38 blocks demand,”says Mr. Mukesh Ambani.
in India, RIL’s multi-billion dollar investment in
deepwater hydrocarbon development indeed Against All Odds
reflects the company’s commitment to India’s By all standards, the development of the D1/D3
energy sector.“RIL remains committed to India’s fields in the KG-D6 block has been one of the
quest for energy self sufficiency, and we will most challenging projects in the field of exploration
do everything in our capacity to bolster India’s and production of hydrocarbons, anywhere in the
hydrocarbon resource base,” says Executive world. The daunting project was carried out in the
Director, RIL, Mr. PMS Prasad. hostile conditions of the East Coast of India, in the
backdrop of a critical shortage of skilled manpower
The Path Ahead and extremely difficult business environment,
Commissioning of these fields has catapulted even as the global oil and gas industry faced acute
Reliance to an elite league of deepwater operators shortages of manpower, equipment, services and
in the world. The intellectual capital and proven escalating costs.
mega scale deepwater E&P project execution “This was a discovery of great significance. It
very favorably position RIL for its future ventures. became global market talk, with skeptics wonder-
These feats have obviously elated the entire top ing how a relatively unknown E&P company in
management of the Reliance Group. The dynamic India would exploit these reserves. It only made
Chairman & Managing Director of the Reliance RIL even more determined to develop these fields,
Group, Mr. Mukesh D. Ambani, who is steering and in doing so raise the bar of performance,”
the company from strength to strength, strongly recalls Mr. PMS Prasad.“The country’s huge
believes that the development of KG-D6 has put energy appetite meant that we needed to develop
the company on the right path to manage high- the resources immediately. The Government of
risk upstream businesses. India, the relevant regulators and other authorities
“Reliance has always believed that what is good also facilitated with required approvals for acceler-
for India is good for us, and it gives us immense ated development of the fields,” adds Mr. Prasad.

A project of this magnitude and complexity defies conventional norms of E&P, especially when you have to build
both capability and infrastructure from scratch. Besides, it was the first of its kind deepwater development in
India, and we knew it was going to be a stupendous task, given the challenges and odds stacked against us.
The scale, magnitude, complexity, speed and span of execution positions this project
in an elite league of mega deepwater projects. This project is testimony of the passion and
commitment of our team that made it happen in a record time. In the process we believe
we have built differentiating capability for executing Deepwater Projects. Truly building this
mega greenfield deepwater oil and gas infrastructure is one I will cherish forever, especially
so because of the sheer value it has created for our Nation.
This is indeed a tribute to the Vision of our founder Chairman Dhirubhai Ambani and the
leadership of our Chairman Mukesh Ambani for his guidance and support at all times.

PMS Prasad
Executive Director
Reliance Industries Limited

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Game Changing Discovery
With scant data available, RIL initiated an inten- against the best in the industry” says Mr. IL
sive 2D and 3D seismic program. This data, Budhiraja RIL’s President for Exploration
combined with regional geology and basin mod- What followed is history. Reliance struck the
eling, was used to develop the geological frame- world’s largest gas discovery for that year. The
work, and the concept of the petroleum system. well encountered almost 340-mts of gross pay
Based on advanced 3D imaging and interpreta- comprising gas bearing sands. Data from the well
tion technologies, as well as Direct Hydrocarbon was later integrated with the 3D seismic data,
Indicator technologies, such as AVO and AVA and what emerged was a biogenic channel-levee-
(amplitude vs offset / amplitude vs angle), complex gas reservoir in the Pliocene sequence.
exploration experts at Reliance started mapping After a series of discoveries in the shallow
the prospects to commence its drilling program. tertiary reservoirs, RIL also struck a new oil
In mid 2002, RIL embarked on its first drilling and gas discovery, D26, within the Mesozoic
campaign. “Our emphasis was on integration of sequence in 2006. The field has been subse-
geological concepts and geo scientific technol- quently put on production in a record time of a
ogy through workflows that were benchmarked little over two years.

“Our emphasis was on integration of

geological concepts and geo scientific
technology through workflows that were
benchmarked against the best in the industry”
says Mr. IL Budhiraja RIL’s President for Exploration

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Challenges of a Giant Deepwater Gas field

The euphoria of the world’s largest discovery had in flow assurance issues within the concept stud-
soon turned into a reality of numerous challenges, ies in deepwater subsea systems. Adding to the
as it had come at a time when the global market woes was the development of the remote onshore
was critically short of resources – be it manpower, site, which was not only prone to flooding and
material, fabrication yards, equipment, marine cyclones, but also lacked basic infrastructure. To
vessels or rigs. That the environment on the east top them all, RIL had set itself the ambitious target
coast of India is generally harsh, with strong of implementing the project in just six years!
winds, currents and cyclonic conditions, limiting
the fair weather offshore construction window to
about four months in a year, it made the project far
more challenging.
In fact, the challenges were multifold, as RIL Investment Decision
was a relatively new player in the E&P business.
Apart from the supply chain pressures, the D1/ While the Indian market was hungry for the new
D3 field itself posed numerous technical chal- hydrocarbon resources, there were huge risks
lenges during the concept and design stage of involved in implementing the project. A multibil-
the project. As it was a complex reservoir with lion dollar capital expenditure in a completely
sinusoidal channels and a combination of thick unknown frontier for an operator with no prior
and thin sands, RIL had to precisely map the loca- experience was good enough to deter anyone
tion of the wells. It also had to factor in the risk of from further investments. More so because it
reservoir compaction and subsidence with future represented deep cash sink in the unknown. Any
depletion due to unconsolidated sands within the failure in execution could set the company back by
younger tertiary sequences in its subsea facility decades. Obviously, it was not so for RIL, which
design. As the seabed topography was relatively had a rich history of entering and succeeding in
unknown, RIL also had to consider potential soil uncharted territories, and as things turned out
erosion and equipment corrosion issues, typical of subsequently, here was another bastion to be won
offshore terrains, as well as Tsunami risks, prior to - against all odds. The final investment decision
concept selection and design. To prevent the pos- (FID) was prompt, as RIL mustered the necessary
sibility of gas hydrate formation, RIL also factored resources using its goodwill in the market.

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Mega Deepwater Hydrocarbon Development
Understanding the Reservoir fields. I am proud to say that in all these wells,
A multi disciplinary team comprising geologists, there was a close match between predrilled prog-
geophysicists and petro-physicists worked closely nosis and actual post-drilled results. The predic-
to characterize the reservoirs. The D1/D3 reservoirs tion accuracy was between 90 and 95 percent.
are a complex reservoir system of sandstone. It Almost all the wells were better than the nearby
comprises two huge sinuous, stacked channel- exploratory wells in terms of net reservoir thick-
levee systems of late Pliocene age. The main ness and yields. This surprised many Industry
channel belts have a very thick column of highly experts. We have 118 different sand units in the 18
porous and permeable gas saturated reservoir wells and all of them are now ready for produc-
rocks. To characterize the reservoirs in this block, tion,” shares a beaming Mr. Bhagaban Das, Head
RIL carried out extensive 3-D seismic surveys over of Reservoir Characterization.
the entire D6 block, including high resolution “Q”
marine 3D seismic surveys covering the fields. As Facilities Concept Selection
a risk mitigation measure, RIL drilled two of the RIL had set up a project team soon after the first
planned development wells ahead of schedule discovery. The project team went in for concept
and cored 290-m of reservoir rocks. The 3D studies, and subsequently FEED, at various offices
™
seismic data was inverted using Jason’s Inversion of Aker Kvaerner in Norway and Singapore.
Technology. The core data, a direct rock record, The team addressed site specific challenges
immensely improved the understanding of the such as flow assurance, reservoir compaction /
reservoir rocks and their depositional processes subsidence, harsh environment and unknown
and petrophysical characterization. Inversion and seabed terrain at the concept selection stage itself.
“Q” marine data improved the bed resolution, They also collected extensive field data and carried
reservoir mapping and reservoir characterization out technical studies in conjunction with the FEED
further. All these measures increased the study. Both concept and FEED were subsequently
subsurface prediction accuracy significantly. validated by reputed third party experts. Techno-
The interpretation of the reservoir models were economic feasibility of various options were ana-
undertaken in virtual reality centers at RIL’s E&P lyzed before finalizing the concept, which was a
headquarters in Mumbai. These are state-of- typical “subsea to beach” approach.“The D1/D3
the-art visualization centers using 3D immersive development concepts were benchmarked with
technology. Optimization of well locations to the best in the industry,” recalls Mr. S. C. Varma,
ensure maximum reservoir contact was greatly RIL’s President, Development.
enhanced by these technology centers.
As an active member of the Stanford “The D1/D3 development
University’s project on Deepwater Dispositional
Systems, a global consortium of 20 Exploration
concepts were benchmarked
and Production Companies, which includes the with the best in the industry,”
E&P majors, RIL also had access to the latest
recalls Mr. S. C. Varma, RIL’s President,
research and expertise that it utilized in reservoir Development.
characterization.“We drilled several wells in these

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Design and selection of equipment and facilities were guided by:

• Safety in operations

• Maximization of reliability and availability

• Use of proven technology, as far as possible

• Simplicity in design and operation – with flexibility to integrate

and scale up known and future discoveries

• Use of standard equipment/products

• The ease of construction and installation

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Execution – Getting it Right the First Time
Safety - A Top Priority month express training program to make them
In keeping with its corporate philosophy that project ready.
safety overrides all production targets and that As a result, from a core group of less than 10
safe work practices in fact accelerate the project industry veterans, the RIL Petroleum E&P team
execution, RIL planned its project in line with has grown to be 1,350-strong over the last five
world class safety processes to get it right the years. The Projects & Development team alone has
first time. The smooth execution not only amply grown to 300, from 25 professionals in 2002.
justified the marginal expenses dedicated to safe
project practices, but also set a new benchmark in Innovative Contracting Strategy
safety for others to emulate. The contracting strategy had to take into account
challenges associated with complex subsea
Expanding the Talent Pool architecture, an extremely aggressive timeline,
In keeping with its ambitious timeline, RIL highly overheated offshore markets and limited
undertook an aggressive recruitment drive, as availability of major contractors. In order to
well as appointed consultants worldwide, to understand the risks involved and to reduce the
recruit the best available talent globally. “We contract award cycle, RIL also studied various
adopted the strategy to go global, and appointed deepwater field developments (with subsea
five international consultants to recruit the best completion) executed around the world.
experts available for the KG D6 project. It was In view of stiff targets and availability of a fair
very important for us to get the right people on weather window of about four months a year for
board because RIL, as a young upstream company, offshore installation works, it was necessary to
was yet to build its international track record as a have a contracting strategy that would help maxi-
major player in the E&P space. Besides, nothing mize the chances of meeting the next-to-impossi-
could be left to chance,” says Mr. P. Sakthivel, ble deadlines. After considering various options in
Head of Human Resources. As advance planning a niche market, RIL took a few path breaking deci-
was critical, RIL always kept the recruitment pace sions, such as booking manufacturing capacities in
ahead of specific project requirements. various vendor shops for critical long lead items /
Back home, Reliance also recruited young equipment through early engineering, and directly
engineers, and put them through a rigorous four- awarding contracts for long lead items like line

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

pipes, XMTs, valves, umbilicals, the control system other measures helped with well designing, based
and subsea structures. To complement these, RIL on well life cycle to minimize intervention and to
adopted a task-force approach for critical pack- avoid costly rework or re-entering of wells in the
ages for both offshore and onshore, and awarded deepwater. Additionally all wells are equipped
a single contract for offshore facilities installa- with state-of-the-art instrumentation, such as
tion, with the long lead items free issued by RIL, gauges for reservoir surveillance and monitoring
to minimize the interfaces. Similarly, it awarded during production.
single contracts for the CRP and the construction Three deepwater rigs were selected for develop-
of the OT, while awarding separate equipment ment drilling and well completion. These were used
and services contracts for the drilling and comple- to drill wells into highly unconsolidated sands,
tion works. with completion ensuring effective sand control,
following the best suited design that ensured that
Well Construction - Large Bore High Delivery all the stacked pay zones contribute to the field life
Deepwater Gas Wells of at least 25 years.“As it is a very unconventional
The need was for reliable and maximum reservoir system, the situation demanded that we
productivity wells with minimal intervention drill high angle wells. Ultimately, we drilled the
throughout the life of the fields. Considering these wells at 50-52 degree angles. But we did not go
are sinuous channel-levee-stacked reservoirs, the there immediately, it happened gradually, using
biggest challenge was placement of wells that will technology to improve and optimize production,”
enable maximum reservoir contact and well bore recalls Mr. Bhagaban Das.
integrity. The entire drilling and completion opera-
The team carried out design studies based on tion was monitored in real time through a Real
Finite Element Analysis Modeling to ensure well Time Operations Centre located at the Project
integrity throughout the well life with selected Headquarters in Mumbai. Live feed from the rigs
casing and completion designs. The target was was continuously being analyzed to ensure that
to have high deliverability wells with big bore targets were achieved; both in terms of targeting
completions. Site inspection test programs and the reservoir sands and well bore objectives.

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Well Completion Philosophy:
• Flexibility in design to ensure higher production from wells - allowing 9 5⁄8”, as well as 7” completions

• Ensure effective and proven sand face completions with high quality gravel packing

• Use of proven components in design, and state-of-the-art equipment, tools and

technologies used in deepwater gas developments around the world

• Minimized well intervention requirements

• Standardization of completion design and equipment for

enhanced operational efficiency and flexibility

• Use of Temperature Array Sensor (TAS) System in selected wells, perhaps a first in reservoir
temperature monitoring in the world. TAS is used to understand the reservoir during production.

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DEVELOPMENT SCHEMATIC —
Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Deepwater Subsea Facilities – pipelines transfer it from the CRP to the OT. The
A First in India: mammoth subsea facility weighs nearly 125,000
metric tons, comprising 350-km of pipelines,
Subsea Infrastructure 150-km of umbilicals and 212 subsea tie-ins.
The subsea architecture comprises 18 production The Subsea operations are controlled and
wells connected to six subsea manifolds, all of monitored from the Central Control Room (CCR)
which are connected to a Deepwater Pipeline at the OT. Controlling and monitoring the subsea
End Manifold (DWPLEM). Two 24-inch pipelines facilities are via a multiplexed electro-hydraulic
transport the well fluids from the DWPLEM control system comprising power and communi-
to the CRP and three 24-inch shallow water cation equipment, an Umbilical Distribution Hub

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DHIRUBHAI-1 & DHIRUBHAI-3 GAS FIELDS

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

D1 D3 Subsea Architechture

18 Producing Wells

• 18 Subsea X’mas trees

• Six Subsea Manifolds (6 slots each)

• One Deepwater Pipe Line End

Manifold (DW PLEM) (8 slots)

• One Umbilical Distribution Hub (UDH)

• 3 x Subsea Distribution Assembty (SDA)

• 14 x 8”/10” flowlines from wells to Manifolds

• 6 x 16”/18” Deepwater infield pipelines

from Manifolds to DW PLEM

• 2 x 24” Gas trunk lines from DW PLEM

to Control & Riser Platform (CRP)

• Manned CRP

• 3 x 24” Export pipelines from CRP

to Onshore Terminal (OT)

• 3 x 6” MEG lines from OT to Umbilical

Distribution Hub (UDH) for hydrate inhibition

• Subsea control system & umbilicals

• Block valve station at Land Fall Point

(UDH), subsea distribution assemblies (SDA),

subsea distribution units (SDU), subsea control
modules (SCM), X-mas tree mounted instrumen-
tation and associated hydraulic and electrical fly-
ing leads.
The OT has the facility to pump Mono Ethylene
Glycol (MEG) through six-inch diameter pipelines
to the UDH and then through the infield umbili-
cals to well heads for continuous injection for
hydrate prevention in the subsea pipeline system.

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

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Subsea Control System - The Deepwater Control System (SCS) is designed to provide flex-
Nerve Centre ibility, expandability and upgradeability throughout
The D1/D3 Subsea Control System (SCS) is used for the life of the field, as well as for future expansions.
monitoring and control of gas production from 18 The D1/D3 field has six subsea wells equipped with
subsea wells located at water depth of 450 metres Down-hole Temperature Array Sensing (TAS) sys-
to 1150 metres. The SCS comprises topside control tem for the reservoir and well monitoring.
system equipment and subsea control modules
installed on subsea control structures. The topside of Control and Riser Platform (CRP)
the SCS is installed on the CRP and consists of the The Control and Riser Platform is the offshore
Master Control System (MCS), the Electrical Power hub of the KG D6 development. The CRP has
Unit (EPU) and the Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU). a strategic role in managing the production
The MCS is integrated with the CRP/Onshore from deepwater subsea network, as well as in
Terminal (OT) Distributed Control System (DCS) controlling the future supply of natural gas from
via a redundant OPC link. The communication the D26 field. The CRP exports natural gas through
between CRP and OT is via two separate redundant three 24-inch pipelines to the OT. All gas from the
power and fibre optic umbilicals with the backup KG D6 fields, including the gas from D26 field is
on the Microwave System. The microwave takes gathered at the CRP and then exported to OT.
over the communication in case of failure of both The CRP is continuously manned by 22 peo-
the main umbilicals. This facilitates the remote ple. From a security standpoint, this platform is
monitoring and control of D1/D3 subsea facilities equipped with twin radars and night vision ther-
from the OT, which is approx 60-km from the field. mal cameras for continuous surveillance. Located
The main subsea communications are provided in 98 metres of water depth, the CRP has six
using fiber optic backup on the communication- 24-inch risers and one 4.5-inch riser, with provi-
on-power between a CRP topside MCS and Subsea sions for future expansion.
Control Module (SCM), via a composite services The topside of the CRP has four level decks
umbilical and appropriate subsea distribution units. comprising facilities and packages such as Living
The entire communication up to the Subsea Quarters, the Heli-Deck, Deck Crane, Gas Import
Distribution Unit (SDU) is on the high speed fibre and Export Piping, Process Control System,
optic backbone, with TCP/IP protocol. The Subsea Chemical Injection System, Fuel Gas System,

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Norway
way
Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

AKPS, AKS
AK

Siemen
e s
Sweden
wed Austria
tria
CCI

JP Kenny
Kenn Japan
an
U
UK
Sumitomo
ito

Dubai
Holland JRM
RME
Bechtel Helix Allseas
Alls
JRME Zeeco Mokveld
Cat
aterrpillar Germany
USA Europip
urop e Vietnam
nam
V M
V&
ABB

Malayasia
aya
Invensys
nsy
India
Aker Solutions,
utio India
Italy Larsen & To
Toubro
Comart Perone
eron Pompe Godrej & Boyce
Petrol
trol Cameron Thermax
OLMI Valvitalia

Aus
Australia
Aker S
Solution
l s

Nitrogen Generation System, Flare System, ing consultants’ offices for a one-stop review of
Emergency and Fire Protection System, as well engineering documents, and for expediting the
as utilities, including Emergency Generator, Fire review cycle. The document submittal, review and
Water System and Survival System. approval process demanded swift exchange of
various engineering documents and drawings. This
Project Execution and Management was accomplished using a web based tool “eRoom”
Given the chosen contracting strategy and that helped the project engineering teams sta-
complexity, RIL had formed two independent tioned at different locations globally to collaborate.
project teams - one for offshore and another for Engineering reviews by DnV were also coordi-
onshore and adopted a fast-track approach of nated from respective engineering locations.
executing EPC activities in parallel. Attempting RIL had also located its procurement and
to compress the timeline by nearly 30 percent expediting teams at consultants’ offices for expe-
meant that it has to be a complex web of activities
carried out at 20 international centres across the A multi-tiered project review
world, 24x7, keeping in mind the different time system for close monitoring
zones, with the nucleus of the entire activity at and control:
the company’s headquarters at Mumbai, India. • Monthly progress reviews between RIL
The complex project management needed an and major partners to address techno-
commercial issues and find resolutions
out of the box approach. As soon as the contracts
were awarded, RIL created satellite office across • Steering committees formed with Project
Sponsors drawn from RIL and Top
the world, mobilized the workforce, and went
Management representatives from various
headlong into project execution.
Project Partners to ensure continued
The complexity of the project also necessi- alignment to Project objectives and goals.
tated deploying engineering teams at engineer-

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

diting ordering decisions for packages / equip- Interface Management
ment, and dedicated expeditors at vendor shops Considering the huge challenges arising from
for expediting material / equipment deliveries. the nature and number of contracts, RIL had
Dedicated construction management teams, formed an exclusive team for managing the
including project planning engineers and quality interfaces. A dedicated lead engineer was
inspectors, were deployed at fabrication sites to nominated for dealing with interface issues for
accelerate the fabrication activities. each work package.

Subsea valves Connector,

Connection tooling
G&G, Reservoir
(Well locations)
Umbilicals

SPU Manifolds,
Lengths Umbilicals DWPLEM
Structures
Sizing info,
Umbilical
Vendor Engineering
Terminations SDU Coated Review & Approval
SCM Pipelines & Line
Control System
Installation Engg Pipes Graded
Site
Reservoir SCMMB, SCM MCS-DCS MCS-DCS Handover
Input data Instruments & Connectors
Final Well Interface MCS, Interface MCS,
Jumpers HPU, EPU, TUTU HPU, EPU, TUTU
Locations XMT
Onshore Terminal
CRP
Construction
XMTs after System
SCSSV/
Integration Test
DHPG
Development Well Completions Offshore Installation
Drilling (Batch) (Batch) For Well Jumper,
Control Connections
SDAs, SDUs
Well Completions
Design & Procure

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Construction Management inspected before they were mobilized in the water,

As swells, currents and waves in the hostile and meticulous planning of vessel movement was
east coast environment could threaten offshore carried out for simultaneous operations. An effec-
work, the team had to take special care to choose tive vessel tracking system was deployed to plan
appropriate installation vessels. A tight installation the simultaneous movement of 89 vessels and
program restricted by a small fair-weather window barges at the peak of the offshore work.
and inadequacy of marine support infrastructure “The first and the last thing that made this
on the east coast necessitated that every piece of complex project successful was the passion of the
equipment had to be meticulously planned and people. In spite of all the project management
selected.“So when we were selecting the vessels skills, the best contractors, the best equipment,
and barges to work on that field, we had to ensure and the best tools, you can never get a project
that there was enough inter-changeability. Our of this complexity right without the passionate
philosophy was simple; if something ever went involvement of people. Finally, what made the dif-
wrong with one of them, the other should be ference was our passion to do this project, and we
able to substitute. Basically, we had to have a are proud of it. I feel it was a once-in-a-lifetime
contingency plan at all times. So, we had to ensure experience,” says Mr. Narang.
sufficient flexibility while selecting the fleet of
vessels and barges,” recalls Mr. Naresh Narang, Onshore Terminal – Amongst the Largest Gas
Project Manager, Offshore. Handling Terminals
To ensure “zero-incident and zero-defect” As the Onshore Terminal site was remotely
field development activity, the team carried out located, with no existing infrastructure, RIL had
an advanced assessment of port and berth avail- to work on building the infrastructure, as well
ability to support offshore work. All vessels were as other enabling facilities at OT site, such as

“Finally, what made the difference was our

passion to do this project, and we are proud of it.
I feel it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience,”
says Mr. Narang, Project Manager, Offshore.

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Construction Jetty

a dedicated construction jetty, a water supply “We had to ensure that the large
pipeline network from a source 12-km away, a
haul road from the land fall point to the OT site
team working on the project felt
for transportation of Over Dimension Cargo motivated at all times,”
(ODC), and widening of access roads from
says Mr. Sudarsana Rao Kotaru,
Kakinada city (30 Kms) to reach the OT site at Project Manager, Onshore.
Gadimoga. Also, as the 203-acre OT site was
in a low lying area, and surrounded by creeks,
it was prone to heavy floods during monsoons. to ensure that the large team working on the proj-
Based on a mathematical model study, RIL ect felt motivated at all times,” says Mr. Sudarsana
engineers established the safe grade elevation of Rao Kotaru, Project Manager, Onshore. The OT
the OT site, and raised it by about 4.5-m, using facilities are designed to produce 80 MMSCMD of
approximately four million cubic metres of sand sales gas, with future scalability.
through hydraulic filling. Segmented piles, with
mechanical connectors, were extensively used to Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG)
support all equipment to avoid settlement. Each The OT has one of the world’s largest MEG
pile was driven to a depth of 50-m from finished reclamation and regeneration system. Some 10,000
grade level. A total of over 22,000 piles were metric tons of MEG is stored at the terminal, from
driven to strengthen the site base for plant and where 11cum/hr per hour is pumped into a 60-km
civil construction. A workmen’s colony was also pipeline to well-heads to inhibit hydrate formation
set up near the OT for nearly 10000 workers. All in the gas flow, which comes up at a low five
essential, basic amenities were also provided. degree centigrade temperature. A reclamation
Another challenge was sourcing and retention system helps strip the rich MEG, as gas flows
of skilled manpower in the remote site location, through pipelines into the plant, making it one
compounded by harsh environment.“We devel- of the single largest sites operating MEG facility
oped the entire infrastructure, including roads, in the deep water gas development business. The
water pipelines and workers’ accommodation. MEG reclamation units are now running with high
Advance infrastructure planning and development production availability, setting a new benchmark
was critical to the success of the OT, and we had in the industry.

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Quality and Technical Assurance Third parties such as Det Norske Veritas carried
The project also went through extensive quality out certification and verification of all works. DNV
assurance and quality control audits with the reviewed and verified engineering, fabrication and
support of internationally renowned experts like installation of all offshore facilities. DNV also carried
Det Norske Veritas (DNV), Ward Associates and out the HAZID and HAZOPs through the different
Shell Global Solutions. In all, there were four stages of the project. Other independent surveyors
external and three internal audits over 18 months included Lloyds Register and Moody’s International.
of brainstorming sessions. Extensive and intensive checks were done on
The pipelines were put through Nitrogen all equipment, which included FAT, EFAT, SIT &
Helium tests for leak tests and pressure points. SAT prior to installation. Multiple levels of inspec-
More than 1,000 punch points were addressed tion were undertaken by manufacturer’s QC team,
within six months, eliminating risk factors. Fatigue RIL QC team and Third party QC teams to ensure
tests were also carried out on installed infrastruc- nothing was left to chance.“We had stringent pro-
ture to ensure their ability to support the planned cedures and practices to ensure our quality spoke
25-year lifespan of the field. The entire develop- of the high grade of this project we had planned,”
ment was put through stringent quality checks says Mr. S. C. Varma, President, Development.“We
in compliance with the applicable standards, and were aware that the industry has witnessed mas-
organizational and project policies. sive delays in projects due to equipment failure

“We had stringent procedures and practices to ensure our

quality spoke of the high grade of this project we had planned,”
says Mr. S. C. Varma, President, Development.

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

post installation. As a preventive action, we put in
stringent QA / QC measures to make it right the KG-D6 –
first time,” he adds.
Raising the Bar
Commissioning - Flawless Start Up
Strategically, the O&M team was in place since
inception. This enabled seamless understanding It took 20000 professionals engaged 24x7 in 20
and validation of the entire field design and locations worldwide for a little over two years, 50
layout, and active participation in the project million man-hours of grueling effort and in excess
implementation phase. All key personnel were of 125,000 metric tons of steel to build this mega
identified for each of the systems and sub systems Greenfield deepwater infrastructure.
and positioned well in advance. By design, they “We believe we have set an industry bench-
were actively involved in the installation phase mark for developing deepwater fields of this scale
to witness and take over the facilities through and complexity in 6-½ years, and for sure, the les-
a detailed and approved hand-over / take– sons learned in this mega-journey can be applied
over (HOTO) process.“This helped in smooth to all future deepwater projects,”
commissioning and flawless start up of the KG says Executive Director, RIL Mr. Prasad.
D6 project,” says Mr. P.K. Verma, who heads the
D1 / D3 Operations. All teams involved from the
planning to development stage were integrated “We believe we have set an industry
while control room engineers underwent extensive
training programs and made good use of the
benchmark for developing deepwater fields of
simulators to understand the production processes. this scale and complexity in 6-½ years, and for
“Multiple technical audits and stringent quality
sure, the lessons learnt in this mega-journey can
checks resulted in the desired gas quality being
achieved within 30 minutes of arrival at the be applied to all future deepwater projects,”
Onshore Terminal,” adds Mr. Verma. says Mr. Prasad, Executive Director, RIL.

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Onshore Terminal Facilities Utilities
• Pressure Reduction Station and HIPPS • Air Compressiors for Plant
• Three 40 MMSCMD Slug Catchers/Inlet Gas Heater Trains and Instrumentation Air

• Four 20 MMSCMD Gas Dehydration Trains • Water Storage Ponds for

Raw and Fire Water
• Custody Transfer Metering
• Desalination plant
• Three 11m cu/hr MEG Reclamation and Regeneration Trains
• 3 Gas Turbine Generators + Emergency
• Condensate Handling Facility Diesel Genrators for Power
• 45 MMSCMD High Pressure Flare. • Three Hot Oil Heaters
1.4 MMSCMD Low Pressure Flare
A World Class State of the Art Control • Effluent Treatment Plant
Centre to operate the subsea and on
land gas facility at the Onshore Terminal

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

KG D6 Project Highlights
• World’s largest Gas Discovery for the Year 2002

• Among the World’s Largest and most complex

Deepwater Gas production facility in the World

• Tie Back of 60 Km

• Transforming India’s Energy Landscape

• Capacity of 550 000 boepd (barrels of oil equivalent per day)

• Equivalent of 40 % of India’s current oil and gas production

• Has the potential to more than double the country’s gas production

• Among the fastest Deepwater Field development projects

• Among the lowest F&D cost per boe for similar deepwater projects

• Global scale project management-simultaneous execution in 20 locations worldwide

• Among the largest Marine Construction spread

• Peak workforce of over 20,000 people

• Equipment weighing 125000 Metric Tons installed offshore

• 500 line kilometers of pipelines and umbilicals installed

• Flawless Commissioning

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Community Development –
Making a Difference
The project has also brought progress and prosperity shoes, bags and books to students attending these
to the residents of Gadimoga, a community of schools.“We now have more class room space,”
about 20,000 fishermen and their families living says a 27-year old teacher, Ms. N. Shesharatnam
in nine villages in the midst of rivulets, creeks who teaches 30 of the 2,200 students in the
and backwaters along the East Coast of India. Gadimoga region.“It is much neater and cleaner
Nearly 1,000 of these residents are now employed than before,” says Gopalapuram-resident Ms
to maintain the basic facilities at the Gadimoga Shesharatnam who had to conduct crammed class
Onshore Terminal. RIL is also assisting many in a small room during the monsoons.
others through community service programs.“Our On a broader scale, RIL has joined a novel
company believes in sustainable development,” education scheme “Protsaham” (Encouragement),
says Mr. P. K. Verma, Production Head, KGD6. “We which was launched by the East Godavari District
have invested in education, health, sanitation and a Administration in 2008-2009. The renamed
potable water supply network,”he says. “Reliance Dhirubhai Ambani Protsaham” scheme
For the start, RIL has already spent nearly provides sponsorships to support meritorious
Rupees 70 crores (US$14.5 million) on providing students in colleges and high institutions. The
potable water to the Gadimoga Panchayat (Local scheme will be supporting 200 best students in the
Administration). All the nine villages are now current academic year, while 458 students ben-
receiving fresh water, purified through a “Slow efited from it last year.
Sand Filtration” system, on a daily basis from July
1, 2009. The water is brought through a 12-km
“Our company believes in sustainable
pipeline from the Godavari River. Mr. Appana
Babu, a 40-year old, welcomes the fresh water development, We have invested in education,
supply, saying it is a relief for the villagers, who health, sanitation and a potable
usually had been traveling a long-distance to get
water supply network,” says Mr.
drinking water. They are now getting 150-litre per
day per family of piped water. P. K. Verma, Production Head, KGD6.
RIL has also upgraded the existing school facil-
ities within the Gadimoga area. It has added new
classrooms for the pupils, and provides uniform,

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

D26 Development
The D26 field is located in approximately 1,200m seven wells using horizontal well technology,
to 1,400m of water depth in the northern area including multilaterals, as required to minimise
of the KG-D6 block, with its north boundary the coning and to maximise reservoir contact.
approximately 50-km southeast of Kakinada. It These wells will be connected to the sub-sea
is an oil-gas-condensate reservoir in the upper manifold from where well fluid would flow to the
Jurassic-lower Cretaceous fluvial-to-lacustrine FPSO through flexible risers. The well fluid will be
sandstones, in a fault-bound structural trap. processed at the FPSO. The stabilised oil and con-
Production from this field commenced on densate will be stored and offloaded to an oil tanker
September 17, 2008 in a record time of about two and the dehydrated gas evacuated through a sub-
and half years from discovery, creating history by sea pipeline from the FPSO to the OT via the CRP.
the commissioning India’s First Deepwater Oil The development concept for the D26 field, as
and Gas Production facility. selected and validated by INTEC, is shown in the
Figure.
Development Concept “Since it was a good discovery of light crude
Considering the location, the size of the field oil, we decided to develop the reserves simultane-
and technical feasibility for early production, RIL ously,” says Mr. PMS Prasad.
developed the field using an FPSO (Floating, The FPSO is capable of processing up to 60,000
Production, Storage and Offloading) based bopd of oil/condensate, along with 20,000 bopd of
facility, with oil and gas processing, oil and produced water and up to 315 mmscfd of gas. The
condensate storage, offshore offloading and crude oil storage capacity at the FPSO is about one
gas evacuation to the onshore terminal. INTEC, mmbbls. The FPSO has a turret mooring system
an independent consultant, also studied and to position itself at the desired location for discon-
validated the concept. Facilities have been nection in extreme weather conditions, without
planned for full development of the field, with causing any damage.“Considering the volatile

“Considering the volatile seas in this part of the world, we found

the FPSO-based concept the most apt for the development of the
D26 field,” says Mr. Padam Singh, Project Manager, D26 Field Development.

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CRP
D26 DEVELOPMENT CONCEPT

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Tanker FPSO 24’’ Riser & 24’’ Riser
Production Manifold SSIV Control
line 24’’ Valve

SSIV 24’’ Gas

9 x Mooring Lines Existing
KG-D6 line
30 Km 30 Km
Suction Pile
24’’ Gas
Main Umbilical
p
p KG-D6
Onshore
SDU 24’’ Valve Terminal
4 x 8’’ Export Riser Base Export
Risers Manifold

4 x 8’’ Prod Risers

p
1 x 6’’ Gas Inj Riser
GI
p p

seas in this part of the world, we found the FPSO- was built by conversion of the existing oil tanker,
based concept the most apt for the development Polar Alaska. The work took place at an accelerated
of the D26 field,” says Mr. Padam Singh, Project pace at the Jurong Shipyard in Singapore.
Manager for the D26 Project. Given the tight schedule, RIL did engineering
Production from the sub-sea wells would design in house, to be subsequently validated by
reach the FPSO through four eight-inch flexible Intec Engineering, Houston. Based on the selected
production risers. Exported gas will be transported concept and functional specifications with lump
through four eight-inch flexible risers up to an sum scope of work, including the supply, installa-
export riser base, and further through to a 24-inch tion and commissioning of entire systems, hard-
export pipeline. The control signals, power and ware, and controls from the X’mas tree to FPSO
chemicals would be transmitted to Xmas trees, production and product delivery system, tenders
production and export gas manifold through a were called in the last quarter of 2006.
multi-path umbilical. Risers and the main umbili- Aker Group of Companies was awarded the
cal will be connected to the FPSO through a turret main contract in December 2006. It worked favor-
and swivel that have a facility to disconnect as ably, as Aker was already extensively involved in D1/
required. Oil would be offloaded from the FPSO D3 subsea architecture contracts, including supply of
to the oil tankers, which would be tandem moored X’mas trees and umbilicals for the natural gas Subsea
to the FPSO. The gas will be exported to the OT infrastructure. Besides, the Aker Floating Production
through a 24-inch gas pipeline to be laid from the was already in an advanced stage, converting a Very
FPSO location in the D26 field to the CRP. Large Crude Carrier, Polar Alaska, into an FPSO.
The FPSO, christened Dhirubhai-1 at
Project Execution Singapore’s Jurong Shipyard, was anchored at the
Engineering, design and fabrication of equipment deepwater D6 field site on August 14, 2008, after
and facilities for D26 field development took place the completion of subsea infrastructure by June
at various locations. RIL leveraged several of its 2, 2008. The hook-up started on August 15, 2008,
existing contracts in the D1/D3 development project linking the FPSO with the subsea infrastructure,
with various vendors for implementation of the early including umbilicals and risers. The first well was
production system. Aker Floating Production (AFP) opened on September 17, 2008, making deepwater
was contracted for chartering the FPSO. The FPSO hydrocarbon history in India.

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Transocean and Reliance:

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Pioneering Deepwater Drilling

MUMBAI — Since 2002, Transocean and Reliance have advanced deepwater drilling in India, starting with the
customer’s first offshore discovery and more recently developing the next-generation of ultra-deepwater drillships.

hile working on Reliance’s

W Krishna Godavari (KG) field,

the world’s largest deepwater
natural gas field, Transocean’s drillships
Discoverer 534 helped Reliance set the
pace for commissioning the field in record
time and the Deepwater Frontier drilled
India’s first subsea completion wells. The
Company Profile T

campaign included an Indian deepwater

drilling record and a string of discoveries.
It came during a time of progress for
both Transocean, including a strong fleet
expansion, and for Reliance, which has
. RANSOCEAN

added significant gas reserves in India.

“With such a wide range of progress
in a relatively short period, Reliance and
Transocean have gained valuable experi-
ence and forged a strong relationship,”
said Deepak Munganahalli, Managing
Director of Transocean’s India and
Middle East Division. “We look forward
to additional successes helping Reliance
achieve its goals and further securing
India’s energy future.”

Overcoming Challenges
From the beginning, the Discoverer 534
proved successful for Reliance, drilling
the Dhirubhai discovery in 2002 and sub-
sequent finds in Block KGD6. Success
required overcoming challenges ranging
from drilling operations in deepwater,
including an Indian deepwater drilling
record early on of 5,773 feet of water Transocean’s deepwater drillship Discoverer 534 drilled a string of Block D-6 discoveries.
(1,760 meters), to strong surface currents
and complex logistics. Risk-Management Leadership as when they arrived. Supporting these
At times, surface currents approach- To ensure success, Transocean and efforts is Transocean’s on-the-job train-
ing 5 knots, the equivalent of about 60 Reliance worked closely before, during ing program, the most advanced in the
knots of wind, pushed on the rig. In addi- and after drilling operations. The team offshore drilling sector.
tion, 35-knot winds sometimes arose. developed the highest quality safety, Another contributing factor to the KG
Nevertheless, the rig’s crews adapted environmental, risk-management, opera- field success was Transocean’s extensive
to these challenging conditions using tional, logistical, materials-procurement knowledge of worldwide deepwater
Transocean’s safety and risk-manage- and other management systems. operations that includes 80 percent of all
ment tools and training, the drillship’s Both companies share the vision deepwater drilling records. This deep pool
dynamic positioning system and close of an incident-free workplace in which of expertise and experience proved useful
communications during all operations. everyone must return from work as safe during challenging Indian operations.

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Company Profile T
. RANSOCEAN
Working in India, Transocean’s ultra-deepwater drillship Deepwater Frontier became the first floating rig to drill a well with concentric riser
and managed pressure drilling.

Likewise, Transocean’s offices in Toward New Frontiers of water and drilling wells 35,000 feet.
Mumbai and supply yards on the East When the Discoverer 534 arrived in Transocean’s fifth enhanced Enterprise-
and West Coasts of India have contrib- India in 2002, it was the only rig in India class drillship, the Discoverer India is
uted by overcoming logistics challenges capable of operating in water depths expected to mobilize from the shipyard
to provide expertise, supplies and parts. greater than 3,000 feet. Moving ahead, to India in the fourth quarter of 2010.
Reliance hired additional rigs for its In addition, offshore drilling tech-
exploration efforts in mid-water and nology pioneered by Transocean and
deepwater. Transocean is pleased to Reliance in areas beside the KG basin
be a partner with RIL in these efforts includes the use of managed pressure
through long- term contracts on the drilling on the Deepwater Frontier and
drillships Deepwater Frontier (since the Actinia.
2006) and Deepwater Expedition (since “It’s always great to be recognized
2008), still working in India today, and for leadership in offshore drilling,” said
the semisubmersible rigs Actinia and C. Munganahalli, “and it’s especially mean-
Kirk Rhein, Jr. in recent years. ingful when it’s for work with a cus-
Also today, Transocean, Pacific tomer like Reliance, which has proven
Drilling and Reliance have introduced its leadership time and time again. The
to India the latest generation of ultra- results of our relationship are special,
deepwater drillships, the Dhirubhai and we are proud of everything our
Deepwater KG-1 and Dhirubhai team has achieved.”
Deepwater KG-2. With a variable deck-
load of approximately 20,000 metric
tons, these rigs can work in 10,000 to
12,000 feet of water and are outfitted to
construct wells 35,000 feet deep.
Transocean and Reliance will also
introduce the newbuild ultra-deepwater
Transocean personnel continue making drillship Discoverer India, which will be TRANSOCEAN
offshore drilling history in India. capable of working in up to 10,000 feet Web site: www.deepwater.com

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Integrated Project Teams Achieve

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Fast-Track Conclusion at KG-D6

Aggressive development schedule challenge met by Reliance, Schlumberger

rom the very start, Schlumberger

F has been involved in developing

deepwater projects, contributing
its marine seismic, data and consulting,
reservoir evaluation and wireline, drilling
and measurement, testing and other
uniquely related technologies and
services for the exploration, completion
and production phases. Based upon
RIL’s unique needs for the KG-D6
Company Profile S

development, Schlumberger has applied

several new game-changing completion
and production monitoring technologies.

Seismic to exploration well target

selection calls for new geobody model
. CHLUMBERGER

In 2001, RIL awarded the first 3D

seismic survey on the KG-D6 block to
Schlumberger’s WesternGeco business
unit, whose state-of-the-art vessel Geco
Eagle acquired some 463 miles2 of seis- The Geco Eagle acquired over 400 miles2 of seismic data over the KG-D6 block.
mic data, which revealed several areas of
interest for possible subsequent drilling. various other analyses allowed the SIS- and completions. What’s more, once drill-
The processing of this initial survey iden- RIL team to include a detailed thin-bed ing began, Reliance faced challenges in
tified a reservoir of interest among what characterization and petrophysical analysis acquiring log data in an area where wells
was described as a very laminated and from core data in a new reservoir model. had never before been drilled.
sinuous body of channel-fan complexes Using Petrel’s geobody extraction tool Anticipating a long line of similar chal-
stacked together to a gross thickness of allowed the team to complete the com- lenges, the company took special care
some 1,150 ft. plex job in only about one-fifth of the time in choosing its project stakeholders. For
Reliance needed a new approach to typically required by conventional aerial the drilling and measurements (D&M)
capture the exact vertical extent of the demarcation technology. Using Petrel and wireline (REW) work, RIL again
channel-levee complex to delineate the markedly increased the effectiveness of chose Schlumberger.
reservoir and estimate volumetrics more the team’s ability to model the reservoir Once drilling began, Schlumberger
accurately. and compute volumetric estimates. and RIL collaborated in using drilling
Reservoir modeling experts with performance measurements made
Schlumberger Information Solutions Safe, efficient well LWD with LWD tools to enhance drilling per-
(SIS) joined in a multidisciplinary team From the beginning, RIL’s main objectives formance and safety. Combining LWD
effort with RIL geologists, geophysicists at the Dhirubhai project were safe drill- data both in the field and in off-site plan-
and reservoir engineers in designing a ing and accurate formation evaluation. ning centers allowed the drilling team
new, more reliable geobody interpreta- Operating in a region widely known for to highlight formation attributes. It also
tion workflow program using SIS’ Petrel* its extremely hostile weather conditions, helped them to identify crucial problem
seismic-to-simulation software for repre- including frequent tropical cyclones areas for which drilling engineers were
senting reservoir features. (typhoons) with winds of more than 100 able to take real-time corrective drilling
The advanced Petrel technology mph, waves of up to 65 ft. (20 m) and measures, if necessary. Using real-time
provided the team with a single, inte- subsea currents of more than 4 knots, caliper data, for example, revealed hole
grated platform from which to execute the KG-D6 drilling posed challenges for shape and condition, thus making it eas-
a complete workflow. Additionally, the even the three all ocean-rated, dynami- ier to evaluate formations and to make
software’s ability to incorporate data from cally positioned drillships used for drilling appropriate completion decisions.

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InterAct carries well data globally turbidite sequences, many layers are

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Additionally, the drilling team employed thinner – in the millimeter range – than
Schlumberger’s InterACT* real-time the vertical resolution of conventional
monitoring and data delivery system to wireline-conveyed induction logging tools,
transmit well data from drilling locations which have a minimum 1-ft (0.3-m) resolu-
to reservoir engineers’ desktops at RIL’s tion, and even less than the 1.2-in. (3-cm)
headquarters in Mumbai, as well as to vertical resolution of typical porosity tools.
those in the Schlumberger network of Certain HG-D6 wells were devi-
Operation Support Centers. These cen- ated to the extent that gravity decent
ters have experts who monitor drilling wireline logging would not work. Pipe
operations in real time, 24/7. Using a conveyed logging was chosen rather
standard Web browser and intranet con- than LWD.
nections, InterACT helped to enhance One such critical tool to deliver
the collaborative abilities of both well understanding of the laminated sec-
site and off-well site specialists in India tions was the OBMI* oil-base micro-
and elsewhere around the world to imager tool. This expanded the drilling
leverage their decision making, enabling team’s understanding of the distribution
RIL to focus multiple, disparate and of the thin beds and a more accurate

Company Profile S
The EcoView* answer product assists in the
analysis of the comprehensive data suite specialized resources on both individual sand count. In addition the vertical seis-
from the EcoScope service. wells and, subsequently, well clusters. mic imaging tool (VSI) enhanced the
As identified by the LWD service, the
Schlumberger provided a full suite of formation of interest in KG-D6 is com-
LWD logs, including real-time caliper and prised of massive sands interspersed

. CHLUMBERGER
the company’s adnVISION* azimuthal with a significant number of thin beds.
density neutron service for real-time So, the drilling team combined resistiv-
neutron porosity, formation bulk density ity data from LWD with those recorded
and photoelectric factor data to charac- by Schlumberger’s wireline-conveyed
terize formation porosity and lithology HRLA* high-resolution lateralog array
while drilling, identifying and quantifying tool in combination with the rugged
potential pay zones. PLATFORM EXPRESS* logging system.
Particularly useful during LWD opera-
tions was the use of the EcoScope* mul- New logging technology identifies
tifunctional LWD service, which integrates additional reserves
a full suite of data formation evaluation in In vertical wells with thick, homogeneous
Engineer performs operational checks on
one compact single 26 ft. collar. Use of horizontal beds, standard resistivity log-
the OBMI tool before a job.
this service reduced the risk often associ- ging tools like the AIT array induction
ated with the multiple collars necessary imager tool deliver satisfactory data. In structural model and revealed rock prop-
for conventional triple combo logs in verti- some KG-D6 wells, however, gas con- erty information that could be used for
cal well sections. In addition to resistivity, tained in laminated sand-shale sequences geomechanical study, enabling RIL to
neutron porosity and azimuthal gamma might have been overlooked due to the plan for the future production phase.
ray and density, EcoScope provided while- effects of anisotropy, where the thin beds Also included in the open-hole wireline
drilling measurements of elemental cap- all exhibit higher and/or lower resistivities, logging tool combinations employed were
ture spectroscopy and sigma. i.e. where conductivity in one direction the Rt Scanner* triaxial induction service,
– say, parallel to one the Sonic Scanner*acoustic scanning plat-
layer – differs from form and the PressureXpress* (XPT) res-
that in another direc- ervoir pressure while logging tool selected
tion – say perpen- because they were judged to deliver the
dicular to an adjacent required data in the most efficient manner.
layer. What’s more, in For a deeper understanding of the
such thin sand-shale true resistivity of the laminated pay
sections, the Rt Scanner triaxial induc-
The real-time data
transited via a tion service, which measures formation
Schlumberger teleport, resistivity both perpendicular and parallel
before reaching the RIL to the direction of the laminated silt-sand
reservoir engineer’s layers (Rv and Rh, respectively) was
desktop. utilized. (Note: The tool also provides

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traditional AIT type measurements.) with 5 transmitters and 104 receivers,

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Taking measurements at multiple with a unique dipole source design that

depths of investigation in three dimen- enables it to be fired in either pulse or
sions provided a true 3-D resistivity “chirp” mode. Slowness identification
MDT packers
are inflated to
map. The enhanced hydrocarbon and using the Sonic Scanner aided the RIL-
isolate a res-
water saturation estimates computed Schlumberger drilling team in denoting
ervoir zone for
from these measurements resulted in a optimal pretest/sampling point selec- fluid sampling
more accurate reservoir model and finer tion, thereby saving considerably in and pressure
reserves estimates, particularly for the nonproductive rig time. The tool also measurements.
laminated, anisotropic formations. proved beneficial for evaluating radial
Reservoir summation results derived acoustic behavior behind cemented cas-
by the Rt Scanner demonstrated that for ing intervals.
the complete logged intervals, net pay
thickness value was 1.35 times higher In comes the MDT
than that produced by the basic AIT tool. Once initial drilling was completed, RIL Schlumberger’s PressureXpress reser-
Additionally, the Rt Scanner-derived net decided to conduct reservoir tests only voir pressure measurement tool for both
pay hydrocarbon porosity thickness was in very promising zones and integrate lower and higher mobility sands of up to
1.55 times larger than that of the cor- other, lower-priority zones with an alter- > 500 md/cp.
Company Profile S

responding AIT, which translated to a native method that would take less time
700% additional net pay. and expense. More drilling, seismic further
Working closely with Schlumberger expands KG-D6 play
Single-pass sonic tool delivers quick Data and Consulting experts, RIL chose After drilling and testing the initial wells,
formation evaluation the MDT* modular formation dynamics RIL chose WesternGeco to conduct a
. CHLUMBERGER

During drilling certain borehole sections tester, coupled with a dual packer, inter- detailed, 3D seismic survey over the
exhibited radial plastic yielding caused val pressure transient testing tool – and most promising areas covering some
by stress concentrations resulting in integrating them into a single-well predic- 1,120 miles2 in the KG-D6 acreage.
drilling-induced damages. Wireline for- tive model (SWPM) analysis to determine The high quality of the data lead to a
mation pressure and sampling testing formation parameters and estimate well detailed seismic attribute interpretation;
of such intervals resulted in lost seals or deliverability. InterACT real-time monitor- and 12 of 13 exploration wells hit the
tight pre-tests. This increased the time ing was used to transmit the test data to target structure and found commercial
to realize successful pressure and fluid RIL engineers in Mumbai. hydrocarbons.
samples at a cost proportional to expen- The interval pressure transient Meanwhile, WesternGeco returned
sive rig spread rates, far greater than the tests were conducted using the MDT’s to the block for the third time, in this
cost of the service itself. straddle packer system. The transient instance to acquire 875 miles2 of 3D data,
To evaluate the formation alteration sequences consisted of single or to cover the complete block concession
in subsequent, similar well intervals, multiple flow periods induced using a with 3D data. This was done mainly to
RIL employed Schlumberger’s Sonic downhole pump, followed by periods of identify the presence of geological fea-
Scanner tool to evaluate both far field pressure buildup. The results were then tures similar to those in which discoveries
and near field slowness. Unlike other used for the numerical single-well model already had been drilled, and to deter-
sonic tools, which to predict the commingled deliverability mine whether it was justifiable to declare
deliver mostly near of several layers. the entire block as a discovery area.
wellbore data, the The success of single-well simulation In view of the resulting signifi-
Sonic Scanner and commingled approach allowed RIL cantly higher hydrocarbon potential,
also is capable of to forecast absolute open flow potential coupled with a growing deficit in India’s
measuring deep (AOFP) for multiple zones. Well deliver- projected natural gas supply for the
formation slow- ability estimates were included using immediate future, RIL in 2006 obtained
ness at varying production tubular and choke informa- government approval to double its daily
radial depths. The tion in the simulation model. According KG-D6 gas production and to enhance
tool is equipped to RIL, this approach resulted in signifi- facilities for production, collection
cant savings in rig time/cost by provid- and handling of gas both offshore and
The Sonic Scanner
ing productivity estimates and AOFP onshore. A revised estimate of capital
tool provides the
without having to resort to conventional expenditures for the enhanced produc-
benefits of axial,
azimuthal, and radial four-point deliverability tests. tion profile rose to about US$5.2 billion.
information for near- In addition to the MDT sampling Part of the new spending for devel-
wellbore and far-field program, RIL also responded enthusi- opment of Dhirubhai 1 and 3 included
slowness information. astically to the use in specific cases of the need for special/advanced pro-

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cessing and interpretation of already of severe monsoon weather conditions. job-specific customization. It is designed

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

acquired seismic data, as well obtain- The subsea landing string system incor- to operate from dynamically positioned
ing still more 3D data. For the latter, porating SenTREE* 7 subsea test tree vessels in all subsea applications,
RIL decided to acquire high-resolution and SenTURIAN* electrohydraulic oper- including deepwater and HPHT wells, in
Q-Marine* point-receiver 3D data – the ating system provided the solution for waters as deep as 15,000 ft.
first time WesternGeco’s Q-Marine tech- efficient and safe access to the dynamic SenTURIAN is the first landing string
nology would be used off India. reservoir parameters. Schlumberger has system to use interchangeable mandrels
RIL called for Q-Marine data acquisi- been providing subsea landing string and pressure-balanced accumulators.
tion with pre-processing onboard, fol- services for over 35 years, and the evo- This allows both subsea control and
lowed by integrated onshore processing lution continued on this project with the accumulator modules to be combined in
and inversion of the acquired seismic first application of SenTURIAN. a single assembly, which is 50% shorter
data to address some of the uncer- Schlumberger introduced the than other systems, while providing
tainties in the reservoir description, SenTURIAN subsea landing string elec- the tensile strength, pressure rating,
reserves estimation, and well target trohydraulic operating system on this and hydraulic output needed for the full
selection and placement. project to deliver reliable subsea well range of water depths. The operating
WesternGeco mobilized the Geco control, with an emphasis on improved system has programmable emergency
Topaz for the job in 2007 to meet not offshore operating efficiency. It is the shutdown levels that can be configured
only the demanding geophysical chal- world’s first and only in-riser system to close all subsea test tree valves to

Company Profile S
lenges of the development survey but design and certified in accordance shut in a well and unlatch the landing
also because the Q-Marine technology with the International Electrotechnical string in less than 15 seconds.
she deployed enhanced the ability to Commission’s IEC 61508 SIL 2 reliability
maneuver in and around a crowded field specifications for safety-related sys- Reservoir illumination without
of drillships, jackup rigs and host of sup- tems. It features an innovative, modular intervention

. CHLUMBERGER
port and survey vessels. The steerable system that is much simpler to operate Because of reservoir uncertainties
streamer technology made a significant and smaller than comparable systems, with respect to zonal contribution and
impact with minimum lost time and safe allowing rig-time savings of as much inter-well connectivity, RIL called for an
passes, and, perhaps most importantly, as 50% during handling under certain advanced measurement system to be
coverage of the entire survey area with circumstances. The modularity of the permanently installed along the sand-
no gaps in data coverage. system’s design also makes it ideal for face of six of their wells. This system
Impressed with the completion of would supply real-time temperature
the 170 mile2 survey ahead of time and and pressure data as well as an array
meeting their objective for the KG-D6 temperature profile to be used for flow-
gas fields, RIL then decided to extend profiling, tracking depletion, identifying
the development survey to the 123- water breakthrough, and making other
mile2 MA oil field, which was promptly critical production and reservoir evalu-
completed in a similar fashion. ations. This system would provide an
extra dimension to the pressure interfer-
Live well operations performed safely ence testing traditionally used to map
from a dynamically positioned vessel out connectivity, which was to be used
For field development, RIL elected to in the remaining 12 wells drilled.
drill and complete 18 strategically placed To deliver on this requirement,
subsea production wells in the two Schlumberger deployed its new
KG-D6 gas fields and in the adjacent MA WellWatcher Flux* digital sensor array
oil field, each well equipped with dual system in the six designated wells with
open hole gravel pack completions. Early the goal of establishing a complete
production data would be used to delin- real-time communication chain from the
eate the reservoir and define connectiv- sandface to the RIL offices in Mumbai.
ity and compartmentalization. Petrel was Integrated into the completion, the
used to demarcate the geobodies. WellWatcher Flux system is designed
The wells were batch drilled, with to transmit data via a unique inductive
one drillship doing the lower completion coupler that links sensors on the gravel-
and a second following behind for the pack to traditional permanent gauge
upper completion. However, a major hardware on the upper completion. The
issue was how to conduct the live well sensors are miniaturized, high-resolu-
operations safely from a dynamically SenTURIAN subsea landing string electro- tion, platinum resistance temperature
positioned vessel with the added risk hydraulic operating system devices located inside a small housing.

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During manufacturing, according to sandface data showed each zone clean-

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

RIL specifications, between 15 and 25 ing up as gas displaced the completion

sensors were welded to a continuous fluid, generally progressing from the
control line to create a spoolable array for top of the well downward. But in many
each well. The arrays were designed to be wells, the sandface data showed more
clamped along joints of each sandscreen than that. Several of the wells showed
as they were run in hole. Splicing and cross-flow before being put on line,
small depth adjustments could be made with some flowing from bottom to top,
to each array during deployment if that others with zones flowing from top to
proved necessary. The sensors measure bottom, and data indicated from which
the completion temperature which, in zone the flow crossed into the other.
turn, is determined by the temperatures The sandface and gauge data was
of both the incoming and wellbore fluids. transmitted to Mumbai for real-time
The inductive coupling, through wire- visualization and analysis. Dedicated
less, allows transmission of power from THERMA* visualization/interpretation
the upper to the lower completion, as software was used for 3D display of the
well as communication between the sandface data.
completion stages. Verification runs were The power of the THERMA software
Company Profile S

made before running the upper comple- was demonstrated once the wells
tion to check integrity of the formation were put online for production. Analysis
isolation valve, take a measurement of of the data from the first well equipped
WellWatcher permanent monitoring systems
integrate the most advanced permanent
geothermal temperature and, most impor- with WellWatcher Flux data demon-
downhole gauges with surface data commu-
tantly, verify good communication across strated that gas was being produced
nication to allow remote monitoring of wells
. CHLUMBERGER

the inductive coupling. All six couplers across the extent of the sandface, with and reservoirs in real time.
worked flawlessly according to Reliance. no significant skin damage from invaded
Once the upper completion was landed, completion fluid. A quantitative flow a Schlumberger Deepwater Centre of
activation of the subsea tree penetrator profile was also obtained. Excellence at its land base in Kakinada,
brought the sandface data on line. As other wells were put onto produc- India, on the coast.
tion, however, the sandface data showed Prominent features of the base
’Side Effects’ deliver even more data something even more interesting. The include a 120-ft (36.6 m) subsea main-
With the surface test equipment in data indicated that the cross-flow was not tenance and storage tower and a 110-
place, the wells were cleaned up to just from one compartment to another, ft (33.5 m), 30-in. diameter test and
avoid any excess completion fluid being but, often from one well to another. RIL assembly well.
passed into production facilities. The engineers complemented this information There, subsea testing and comple-
with traditional pressure interference test- tion tool strings were assembled, quali-
ing and have been able to use the cross- fied and system-tested under realistic
flow information to update their geobody field conditions before being staged off-
descriptions in Petrel, significantly increas- shore. The Kakinada Centre serves RIL
ing their understanding of the compart- and in-country Schlumberger personnel
ments and connectivity across the reser- as a training and technical support base
voir. This information will be used to plan for KG-D6 operations, as well as for sim-
the next phase of the production drainage. ilar deepwater operations for all other
areas of Southeast Asia.
Commitment to SE Asia
*Mark of Schlumberger
THERMA modeling and analysis software According to joint RIL-Schlumberger
derives flow profile information by combin- estimates, more than 10,000 offshore
ing WellWatcher Flux data with reservoir, and 80,000 onshore worker hours were
fluid, well and completion properties. It also logged during the drilling and comple-
provides Flux data visualization, such as tion phase of the KG-D6 projects with-
this example from well A9 where the image out lost-time or safety incidents.
shows cold fluid ingress after opening for-
Partly responsible for giving RIL- Schlumberger Asia Services Ltd.
mation isolation valve, heating as the well is
Schlumberger project teams the ability 14th Floor, Tower C, Building No 10,
brought online, slight cooling progressively
from the top-down as the gas displaces to conduct drilling and completion activ- DLF Cyber City, Phase II,
completion fluid, a stable production temper- ity safely, on time and on budget with Gurgaon - 122 002, India
ature and finally cooling back to geothermal timely equipment arrival and utilization Phone: +91 124 3355 667 • Fax: +91 124 3026 200
after the well is shut in. has been the construction in 2007 of Email: [email protected]
Website: www.slb.com

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No guts, no glory

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Company Profile .ALLSEAS GROUP S.A.
n September 2006, Allseas was The D1 & D3 gas development Allseas’ fleet in the Indian Ocean -

I awarded the offshore installation

contract for the Dhirubhai-1 &
Dhirubhai-3 (D1 & D3) Gas development
project includes 18 wells in water
depths ranging from 600 m to 1200
m, connected to a deepwater pipeline
Lorelay, Calamity Jane and Audacia

The offshore facilities included

Project, off Kakinada on the East coast end manifold (DWPLEM) via cluster installation of 350 km of pipeline, 150
of India. It was the largest single manifolds through pipelines and infield km of umbilicals, 11 subsea structures
order Allseas had received and the umbilicals. The gas from the DWPLEM (DWPLEM, manifolds, SDAs, UDH), 45
first contract from Reliance Industries passes through a shallow water control pipeline end terminations (PLETs), 29
Limited (RIL), a new player in the E&P and riser platform (CRP) to the landfall anchor boxes and 56 jumpers. More than
industry and operator of the KG D6 point (LFP), situated 5 km from the 200 subsea connections were executed.
Block. The contract included installation onshore gas handling terminal. On March 31, 2009, the loop test
of subsea structures, pipelines, Allseas engaged specialized sub- of two 24-inch gas trunklines from the
umbilicals and subsea tie-in connections. contractors and formed various project DWPLEM to the onshore terminal was
management teams at different sites all successfully completed in order to estab-
around world. The turn-around cycle was lish the baseline integrity. On April 1, 2009,
made swifter with RIL teams co-locating the choke of the first well was opened.
with Allseas’ teams at multiple locations With Allseas as one of the major
for dynamic review and decision making. contractors, many records were set,
Offshore installation and pre-com- many milestones achieved and many
missioning was carried out from August benchmarks established. This challeng-
2007 until August 2009. The inclement ing project would not have been suc-
weather on India’s east coast reduced cessful without the extra effort every
an effective and fair weather window team member put in over the last three
for offshore installation to four months years and absolute support and com-
(from mid December to mid April). A mitment from the top management of
state of the art fleet of installation ves- Allseas and RIL.
sels was mobilized to the site. The main
installation vessels Audacia, Lorelay, Allseas Group S.A.
Tog Mor and Express were supported Route de Pra de Plan 18
by more than 80 vessels and barges, Case Postale 411
working in a limited area of 350 sq. km. 1618 Châtel-Saint-Denis, Switzerland
An effective vessel tracking system was Phone: +41 21 948 3500
utilized for meticulous planning of all Fax: +41 21 948 3599
Allseas’ Audacia installing a PLEM vessel movements. Email: [email protected]
Web site: www.allseas.com

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Fast Track Deepwater Field Development

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Under Challenging Conditions

imited initial knowledge of soil

L conditions. Absence of onshore

logistical infrastructure. Hostile
seas with an annual construction
weather window of only four to
five months. Severe supply chain
constraints. Reads like a perfect recipe
for project delays and troublesome
operations, doesn’t it? On the contrary,
Aker Solutions, which clinched the two
Company Profile A

challenging deepwater contracts: KG

D6 and MA D6 in the Bay of Bengal
India, has helped Reliance Industries
set the industry record for fast track
development. From discovery to first
. KER SOLUTIONS

gas, the KG Basin field development,

also known as D1/D3 field, has
been implemented in just 6.5 years,
significantly ahead of the average nine-
year span needed for projects of similar
scale, whereas the MA D6 field, or
known as D26 had successfully brought
the first oil onshore in a record time of
just under two and a half years.

Integrated Turnkey Solution

For the D1/D3 gas field, Aker Solutions
has provided the complete subsea pro-
duction system with 19 subsea trees,
six manifolds and associated systems,
including 180 kilometers of steel tube
umbilicals. For the D26 oil field, Aker
Solutions has provided the subsea pro-
duction system, flexible risers, and its
first Smart FPSO solution with real-time
onshore monitoring. Aker Solutions
has also set up a service base in the
town of Kakinada to provide life-of-field
service support to both the D1/D3 and Dhirubhai I FPSO is positioned over the MA D6 subsea production system. The suezmax
D26 fields. tanker was converted to a Aker’s Smart FPSO with a processing capacity of 9 million cubic
meters of gas and 60,000 barrels of oil per day.
Total Team Effort
“Never has such a complex deepwa- track approach Reliance has taken to “We have a unique partnership with
ter project been delivered quicker,” this project, and their ability to make Reliance. Both sides have kept the
explained Dave Hutchinson, Aker extremely fast decisions.” same teams in place as much as pos-
Solutions’ President for Subsea Asia Project Director Oddvar Byrne sible from day one. Such relationships
Pacific, “The pace of the entire field described some of the ingredients are important – never underestimate
development is a testament to the fast in the successes of Aker Solutions. the value of continuity.”

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

design temperature was imposed
and Rilsan material was replaced by
bi-layer PVDF material. Synthetic foam
was added to the static section of the
riser as well as the infield section. A
Pliant-Wave® riser configuration was
selected with 150 tons of distributed
buoyancy per riser to accommodate
the FPSO turret buoy in both con-
nected and disconnected modes.

Tight Weather Window

The D1/D3 and D26 fields are located
in the Bay of Bengal, which is affected
by the Monsoons from April to
September and cyclones until late
November. As a result, the offshore

Company Profile A
construction window typically ranges
from December to April. The D26
field installation was managed over
two phases. During 2008, Phase I
covered first oil upon arrival of the

. KER SOLUTIONS
Subsea umiblicals were manufactured at Aker’s Moss facility in Norway. FPSO and Phase II was performed in
the following year for full production
Global Engineering & Manufacturing Technology Challenges of the system.
As a global provider of engineering and As the Aker Solutions team learned
construction services, Aker Solutions more details about the virgin production Future Bay of Bengal Developments
called upon its resources in Norway, area, several design and procurement In late December 2009, Reliance
U.K. and Asia Pacific. The KG Basin proj- changes had to be accommodated into successfully achieved assessment
ects have been managed out of Aker the tight development schedule, includ- of the design capacity of the KG D6
Solutions’ headquarters in Oslo, Norway ing strong currents, an uneven seabed deepwater gas production facilities
and the subsea equipment was manu- and low seabed water temperatures. with a flow rate of 80 million standard
factured at Tranby and Moss, Norway; For example, the production risers were cubic meters. “The Bay of Bengal is a
Aberdeen, U.K.; and the high-tech manu- initially designed for mild operating fast-growing oil and gas region and we
facturing center in Port Klang, Malaysia. temperatures. Subsequently, stringent are well positioned to play a leading
part in its development,” said Mads
Anderson, executive vice president,
Aker Solutions.
Summarizing the project, Oddvar
Bryne points out, “I don’t think too
many contractors can deliver what
we have done all way through subsea
installation to the operations side,
from hardware delivery to manage-
ment of all interfaces.“

Aker Solutions
Regional HQ for Asia Pacific (Subsea)
Level 20, Menara HLA,No. 3, Jalan Kia Peng,
50450 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Reliance field subsea layout Tel: +603-2381 8388 Fax: +603 2164 4613

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Reliance Employs Baker Hughes Products,

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Services for KG-D6 Development

Fast, yet safe operations plan calls for field-proven, new technologies
s a global market leader in the ing accurate TVD control, and to drill the Among wireline services, RIL chose

A supply of equipment for the

deepwater market sector, Baker
Hughes was pleased to be chosen as
deepest well in the project to a vertical
depth of 20,210 ft (6,282m).
The technology deployed on this
to apply the company’s EARTH Imager™
resistivity imager. Using advanced electri-
cal conductivity measurements for oil-
one of the leading technology partners project for RIL included many of Baker based mud systems (OBM), the EARTH
for Reliance Industries Ltd. (RIL) in Hughes’ advanced LWD systems. The Imager service provides high-resolution
development of the Dhirubhai 1 and SoundTrak™ acoustic LWD service, which image logs of a quality previously available
3 discoveries in India’s Bay of Bengal. is integrated into the existing modular only in water-based mud systems. These
Baker Hughes took full advantage of tool, delivers advanced acoustic informa- high-resolution images were crucial in the
the opportunity to deliver best-in-class tion allowing for the accurate prediction thinly bedded geologies seen in the wells.
products and services for one of the of pore pressure and tie-in with the sur- Also vital to RIL’s stated goal of fast
largest and most complex endeavors in face seismic. Also deployed for various yet safe drilling and completion opera-
Company Profile .BAKER HUGHES

Indian offshore petroleum history. applications were the OnTrak™ system, tions, the company applied the Baker
Supplying both its conventional tools which is a compact integrated MWD-LWD Hughes Reservoir Characterization
and services and several of its latest platform providing resistivity, gamma ray Instrument™ (RCI) in a large number of
technologies for drilling, formation evalu- and pressure readings very close to the wells. This system was crucial in sup-
ation, well completion and production, bit, and the LithoTrak™ service, providing plying pressures and fluid samples from
Baker Hughes has been an essential accurate borehole density and porosity the wells. The RCI provides an efficient,
participant in bringing the first phases of readings in real time. In addition to the for- cost-effective method for collecting
the Dhirubhai gas and oil development to mation evaluation services, Baker Hughes quality formation fluid samples with
successful conclusion. deployed the CoPilot™ real-time drilling minimal contamination and accurate
With the many challenges posed in optimization service, which allows the drill formation pressures without need for a
the development of discoveries in water crew to accurately understand downhole time-consuming drillstem test (DST).
depths ranging between 2,297 to 5,577 ft conditions, so surface parameters can be
(700 to 1,700m), including the delineation adjusted to optimize the drilling process. Equalizing with inflow control
of producing reservoirs and placement of In the production and completions arena,
wells and production facilities in an area Timely data, simple access Baker Hughes played a key role in devel-
plagued by hostile weather, RIL was com- To tie field-specific data sets together for opment of the KG-D6 MA oil field.
pelled to balance fast, but safe, drilling decision-making, Baker Hughes also pro- The oil wells were completed using the
with highly accurate formation evaluation vided its RigLink™ Web-based commu- EQUALIZER™ reservoir optimized comple-
techniques. Due to its track record in deep nications system to keep RIL engineers tions system which, when combined with
water, Baker Hughes was chosen among and geoscientists informed with real-time the EXCLUDER2000™ premium mesh
RIL’s key service partners for the project. drilling data. The system made secure, screen technology, delivers superior sand
current data from multiple rigsites avail- control. Additionally, the system features a
Leading-edge drilling, logging able to RIL personnel both at the wellsite unique inflow-control device that helps to
In addition to specifying the use of indus- and at data centers on shore. Using extend longevity of production in long, low
try-leading drill bits from Baker Hughes RigLink’s display and reporting pack- drain-down, high flow rate horizontal wells
and optimum drilling and completion age, RIL was able to streamline internal by delaying water or gas coning.
fluid systems, RIL contracted a signifi- work processes, allowing both rig-based In addition to the EQUALIZER system,
cant number of the company’s advanced personnel and onshore experts to view Baker Hughes also provided liner hanger
directional drilling and formation services. critical data in real time. Additionally, RIL services and was a major provider of
These included the AutoTrak™ rotary users could program RigLink to notify safety valves and service screens.
steerable directional drilling system, high- them whenever certain operations or
performance drilling motors, integrated drilling parameters were met. Baker Hughes
measurement-while-drilling / logging- 2929 Allen Parkway
while-drilling (MWD / LWD) drilling pack- Imaging through OBM Houston, Texas 77019
ages and high-pressure coring services. While Baker Hughes provided much of Phone: 713-439-8135
RIL used Baker Hughes’ people and the drilling and MWD-LWD technology for Fax: 713-439-8600
services to precisely drill India’s first the project, they also participated in log- Email: [email protected]
deepwater multilateral wells, maintain- ging and completing KG-D6 wells. Web site: www.bakerhughes.com

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Bechtel Offshore’s Project Management

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Consultant services results in smooth,
fast field development
echtel Offshore, a market sector of the project’s peak, Bechtel had over 200 access by the 89 large and small vessels

B Bechtel Oil, Gas and Chemicals

(OGC), provided key Project
Management Consultant (PMC) services
individuals working in the U.S., Europe,
Middle East, India and Southeast Asia.
On-time delivery was accomplished
used to install the equipment.
Bechtel’s dedication to excellence in
safety, engineering oversight, supplier
to Reliance Industries’ KG D6 D1/D3 and from global suppliers who at times faced quality management, interface manage-
MA subsea oil field projects. The field cultural challenges, working within dif- ment, and flow assurance amongst
was one of the oil and gas industry’s ferent time zones, complex logistics and other PMC service assured that the
fastest greenfield development projects an overheated supplier
ever, only 6 ½ years from discovery market. Supplying com-

Company Profile B
to production of the D6 field. Bechtel’s ponents for the project
services included support in design truly was an international
review, schedule integration, procurement effort, with major suppli-
and expediting, flow assurance analysis, ers providing equipment
supplier quality assurance, offshore from the U.S., U.K., The

. ECHTEL
installation supervision, precommissioning Netherlands, Norway,
and start-up support. Dubai, India, Japan,
Installation of the subsea facilities Germany, Italy, Thailand,
was accomplished in less than two Singapore, and Australia.
years. The quick engineering, equipment Additionally, the subsea
deliveries and installation and commis- wellheads (valves, spools
sioning took place during difficult sea and fitting assemblies)
conditions in a hostile offshore environ- and umbilicals were
ment and challenging and hazardous assembled in Norway. Bechtel oversaw fabrication, testing and system integration
testing (SIT) of all jumpers onshore prior to offshore deployment.
subsea terrain. Subsea structures were
The PMC team was organized to assembled in Malaysia and the control project would start up free of conse-
bring together Bechtel’s experience, systems were assembled in Scotland. quences of slugging and the formation
expertise and proven track record of its In addition to the project management of hydrates that could be present due
worldwide organization of over 40 offices professionals, Bechtel supplied subject to the cold, deep waters in the field.
and 390 active projects. Bechtel took matter experts in subsea pipeline design, Successful start-up of the wells attests
the lead in a number of areas including flow assurance, cathodic protection, weld- to Bechtel’s quality of work gained from
HS&E, quality assurance, construction ing and corrosion protection. The com- the company’s experience and expertise
management, interface management, pany managed the development of the that began in the 1930s. Bechtel’s off-
and assisting in the tendering of mate- production system simulator (PSS) which shore marine commitment and heritage
rial purchase orders and contracts. At provided the magnitude of ramp-up rates spans signature projects such as the
to limit the liquid arrival at the slug catcher Hutton Field development in the North
within its capacity for a flawless start-up. Sea, Cantarell Crude Oil Expansion in
Bechtel provided support to man- the Mexican Gulf of Mexico, Thailand
age and overcome two of the greatest Transmission Pipelines, MA/KG D6 proj-
challenges the project faced, namely ect, and beyond.
logistics and weather. While the entire
project was spread across 154 sq miles, Bechtel Corporation
most of the work was concentrated 3000 Post Oak Blvd.
in smaller zones where pipelines and Houston, Texas
umbilicals cross and connect with 77056 U.S.A
well clusters on the seafloor. Bechtel Phone: (713) 235-2000
The deepwater pipeline end manifold and Reliance closely coordinated and Fax: (713) 960-9031
(DWPLEM) being installed. monitored the various zones to manage Web site: http://www.bechtel.com/

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Geohazards and geoscience expertise

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

NGI (Norwegian Geotechnical Institute) was contracted by Reliance Industries Limited to undertake a regional geohazards
study for their KG D6 Block development. Geologically, this area is characterized by rapid sedimentation from the many
large river systems into the Indian Ocean and the Bay of Bengal. The study was undertaken to assess potential unstable
conditions due to underwater sliding and other geohazards, to analyse the possibility of hazards to under water installations.
Company Profile N
. GI

Seismic section KG D6, Ref. C. F. Forsberg, A. Solheim, T. Kvalstad, R. Vaidya, and S. Mohanty. 2007. Slope instability and mass transport deposits on the Godavari River delta, East Indian margin
from a regional geological perspective. In: V. Lykousis, D. Sakellariou, and J. Locat, Submarine mass movements and their consequences. Publ. Springer, Dordrecht, The Netherlands. 19-27.

he study included review of International Centre for Geohazards (ICG). • The tools and methods for the

T available information on seabed

topography, regional geology and
soil conditions, supplemented by site
NGI also received an award for “outstand-
ing contributions in the field of offshore
geotechnical engineering” from the •
assessment of material properties
and design parameters;
The quantification of uncertainties
specific geological and geotechnical International Society for Soil Mechanics and frequency of geohazard events;
investigations. The work resulted in and Geotechnical Engineering (ISSMGE). • The assessment of the consequences
alterations to pipeline routes in order to The foundation has worldwide expe- of offshore geohazards including
minimize geohazard risks such as under- rience with development of offshore earthquake response analysis.
water sliding. The safety and soundness fields, including foundation solutions
of the planned development of the area for fixed and floating platforms, subsea The knowledge has enabled a ratio-
was also confirmed. installations, pipelines/flowlines, site nal assessment of geohazard risk and
investigations, evaluation of pipeline has provided valuable assistance for:
Offshore geotechnical pioneers routing, and geohazard evaluations. • Identification of geohazards;
NGI is a private foundation with offices NGI’s capability with these topics • Production of geohazard maps and
and a laboratory in Oslo, a branch office is based on wide expertise within the optimization of field layout to minimize
in Trondheim, and an affiliated company geosciences and the vast experience of hazard and risk;
in Houston. NGI works within the oil, gas its personnel. The foundation utilizes a • Evaluation of measures to reduce risk
and energy, building and construction, unique combination of marine geology, of damage to wells, field installations
transportation, natural hazards and envi- geophysics and geotechnical know-how. and the environment.
ronment sectors.
NGI is a leading international center for NGI combines research and
research and consulting in the geosciences. consulting activities NGI
The foundation develops optimum solu- Achievements within geohazards R&D PO Box 3930 Ullevål Stadion
tions, and offers expertise on the behavior include: 0806 OSLO, Norway
of soil, rock and snow and their interaction • The understanding of seabed Phone: (+47) 22 02 30 00
with the natural and built environment. instability mechanisms; Fax: (+47) 22 23 04 48
NGI was awarded Centre of • The modeling of mass flow and fluid E-mail: [email protected]
Excellence status in 2002 and leads the and gas transport; Web site: www.ngi.no

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Technip meets the challenges of fast track

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

deepwater development in India
n early 2007, the Technip Group they were implemented in a single project Up to six vessels worked simultane-

I was awarded the contract for the

supply of flexible risers and flowlines
for the fast track development of
that was executed in a fast track mode.
The equipment included 10 risers in Pliant
Wave® configuration; risers connected to
ously on the MA D6 field during the com-
pany’s activities. Technip’s main construction
vessel for the MA D6 installation project
Reliance Industries’ MA D6 field. an FPSO via a disconnectable turret buoy; was the Deep Constructor, which was
Additionally, the company was awarded limited available riser top tension; and high utilized for all of the lines and suction piles.
a separate contract for the engineering, temperature flexible risers. All were suc- The company also utilized its DSV Skandi
transportation, installation and pre- cessfully installed in water depths of more Achiever for the saturation diving work, addi-
commissioning of the flexible risers than 3,900 ft (1,200m). tional light construction work and surveys.
and flowlines and the umbilicals
free issued by the client. Several
challenges were presented to Technip
due to the fast track development. All

Company Profile T
were successfully met despite some
formidable obstacles.
Among the project’s challenges were:
• The first batch of 14 km flexible pipe
had to be designed and manufac-

. ECHNIP
tured in less than 12 months;
• Functional specifications during the
initial phase of the project;
• Restricted turret buoy capacity that
required a “wave” configuration for the
risers with about 150 buoyancy mod-
ules per riser to limit their top tension;
• Design and fabrication of a state-of-
the-art 60 ton subsea pulling winch Technip supplied MA D6 field’s flexible risers and flowlines. The company also was
installed on a submerged buoy and contracted for engineering, transportation, installation and pre-commissioning of the
operated by divers in saturation at risers and flowline. The equipment included 10 risers in Pliant Wave configuration.
depths between 200-328 ft (60-100 m); Technip’s scope of work on the MA D6 The Skandi Achiever was also outfitted with
• Potentially strong ocean currents Phases 1 and 2 included the fabrication laying winches as a backup to the Deep
during riser installation and diving and installation of 31 km of flexible risers Constructor for installation of the flexible
operations and limited weather and flow lines. The contract called for four flowlines and jumpers. Additionally, Technip
window; 8-in. gas export risers, four 8-in. produc- used two heavy lift vessels to transport ten
• A 42 ft (13 m) long dynamic umbili- tion risers, one 6-in. gas injection riser and flexible reels, the dynamic umbilical carou-
cal bending stiffener assembly, the six 6-in. production jumpers. Additionally, sel, three static umbilical reels, the suction
largest and heaviest assembly ever Technip installed the 170 ton gas export piles and all of the riser buoyancy modules
attached to a light umbilical. manifold and its130 ton suction anchor from Europe. Total weight of this equipment
Only 17 months elapsed between foundation as well as the single dynamic was more than 5,000 tons.
the contract award and the completion umbilical and eight infield umbilicals. Technip successfully completed this
of the Phase 1 work scope by Technip. During Phase 1 riser connection oper- fast track deepwater project thanks to
All of the typical preparatory phases of ations, Technip pulled in and connected the experience and expertise of its fully
the project were conducted simultane- four risers to the disconnectable STP integrated and dedicated project team.
ously rather than sequentially in order buoy in a water depth of approximately
to integrate all of the technical data and 500 ft (150m). During Phase 2, the com-
specifications that were progressively pany configured the heading control of
made available to the project team. the FPSO with two tugs and the direct Technip
While many of the technologies utilized pull in, connection and precommisioning 92973 PARIS LA DEFENSE Cedex
in this project have been applied in other of six risers. Total shutdown of the FPSO +33 (0)1 47 78 21 21
deepwater subsea developments, the MA during the riser connection operation email: [email protected]
D6 development was the first time that was less than four weeks. website: www.technip.com

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Venkataramanan Associates designs

Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

state-of-the-art Operations Center

oised to vault India into the The design of the Accommodation that are planted with over 100,000 trees

P league of economic superpowers,

Krishna Godavari Dhirubhai 6
(KGD6) is at once a benchmark in the
Block, based on geomorphic patterns,
takes the form of an opening triangle
that signifies growth. With 32 studios,
and shrubs of local species to mitigate
the area’s harsh climate. The design
also sought to create an environment
petroleum industry and an architectural 16 plush suites, 5 VIP suites and an of urbanity to enthuse employees and
landmark. For the main gas extraction exclusive suite for senior management, to give them a sense of pride in a place
and distribution point on the East coast the block is designed to accommodate that is iconic. A project that has been
of India, Architectural and Engineering short-stay visitors and care for every realized close to VA’s original architec-
firm Venkataramanan Associates’ (VA) need of its residents. These luxurious tural design, KGD6 was a challenge from
design brief described an integration rooms are complemented by a well- foundation to finish.
of functionality and infrastructure with equipped gymnasium
aesthetic appeal and local flavour. and indoor games
Company Profile V

The Onshore Terminal and facilities for recre-

Infrastructure Area, both comprising ation while lounges
several operational sections, are linked on every floor double
visually and functionally by an overpass. as business and lei-
Closest to the Infrastructure entrance, sure areas.
. enkataramanan Associates

the Administration & Learning Block The hub of all

hosts the Business Center and offices activity, the Control
for RIL’s senior management and faculty. Center, is the most
The block also comprises training and unique structure on
multi-purpose areas as well as a state- campus. Designed
of-the-art auditorium. In keeping with without any fenestra-
RIL’s ethos, the offices for senior man- tion, it can withstand
agement on the top floor are elegant virtually any form
and emphasize a flat organization. of stress including
The minimalist design of the build- high levels of natural Reliance Industries’ main gas extracting and distribution operations
ing exteriors is exemplified in the disaster. Placed in the center of the KGD6 development also includes administrative,
geometric centre of
training, residential, recreational and medical facilities.
simple lines and colonnade design of
the Pipeline Control Center. Following the campus, the Control Center is the
The Onshore Terminal includes
the same design sense, the Operations focal point of KGD6.
the Plant, main Control Center, Fire
office also takes full advantage of the RIL’s values are reflected in the
Station, Cafeteria, Laboratory and
intensity of the sun in the region. Lit by master plan and design. The impor-
associated services. The Infrastructure
sunlight through the day, it is softened tance of the employee within the
Area includes the Pipeline Control
by lush landscape that surrounds the organization is visible, captured through
Center, Administration and Learning
structure while a pebble court inside images that line the corridors of the
Center, Core House, Occupational
forms a relaxing break-out space in the Control Centre. They feature concise
Health Center, Food Court, Departure
midst of continually running operations. captions and real situations on the rig
Lounge, Operations Office, Pipe
The Food Court, inspired by RIL’s logo, and present glimpses of the experi-
Shop, Warehouse and the Recreation
has the most unique design on campus. ence of building KGD6. The design
and Accommodation buildings.
As the logo cradles a flame, the Food also extends to the smallest details
Court creates a space of comfort for the including Braille markings in disabled
employees on campus. The Recreation friendly elevators, strobe lights in the
Building close by comprises a badminton alarm system and wheelchair ramps.
court, an auditorium and a gym apart To care for its employees and provide Venkataramanan Associates
from several other activity spaces, also free medical facilities, the campus also 10/2, O’Shaughnessy Road, Langford Gardens
for the employees. The structure’s design houses a comprehensive hospital, the Bangalore 560025, INDIA
serves to draw the eye towards the Occupational Health Center. Phone: +91 80 4030 3050
Accommodation Block as they together, The campus is set among ample Email: [email protected]
create a sense of an urban space. water bodies and landscaped expanses Web site: http://www.vagroup.com

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Reliance Industries Ltd. DHIRUBHAI 1 & 3

Company Profile INDEX
Company Profile Index
COMPANY PAGE

Aker Solutions 40

Allseas Group S.A. 39

Baker Hughes 42

Bechtel Corporation 43

NGI 44

Schlumberger 34

Technip 45

Transocean 32

Venkataramanan Associates 46

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