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9ED<;H;D9;;N>?8?J?ED
9th Annual • November 2 – 4, 2010
Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center
Galveston, TX • www.deepwateroperations.com

Ef[hWj_edWb;nY[bb[dY[#
:[[fmWj[h9^Wbb[d][iWdZH[jkhdi

• 93% of exhibitors got new sales leads at Deepwater Operations 2009

• 80% of exhibitors rated the cost/benefit analysis as good to excellent
• 86% of exhibitors indicated they will exhibit at Deepwater Operations 2010
Source: Deepwater Operations 2009 Independent Survey

Want to join them? Contact your sales representative.

For more reasons to Exhibit or Sponsor please contact;

“...Deepwater Operations attracts the types of individuals
Sue Neighbors, Kristin Stavinoha, our company looks for when we participate in an event, the
Exhibit Sales and Exhibit Sales and true decision-makers.”
Sponsorship Manager Sponsorship Manager
-Bruce W.
Phone: +1-713-963-6256 Phone: +1-713-963-6283
Fax: +1-713-963-6212 Fax: +1-713-963-6212 Stallion Offshore
Email: [email protected] Email: [email protected]

Owned & Produced By: Flagship Media Sponsors: Hosted By:

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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

May 2010

World Trends and Technology for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations

Deepwater to lead
global growth

Dual gradient vs.

conventional drilling
Jules Verne study
seeks subsea innovation

E : rds
o
S ID rec ster
IN ater t po
p
e pw nce
De co
&

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SenTURIAN
ELECTROHYDRAULIC
OPERATING SYSTEM
*Mark of Schlumberger. Measurable Impact is a mark of Schlumberger. © 2010 Schlumberger. 10-TS-0074
Photograph of the Discoverer Enterprise courtesy of Transocean.

Protect your
deepwater wells.

In the first-ever deepwater well completed offshore India, Schlumberger used

the SenTREE* and SenTURIAN* systems from a dynamically positioned vessel
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access to subsea wells, and our SenTURIAN electrohydraulic operating system
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During deepwater operations, reach a better basis for your decisions and be certain.
www.slb.com/SenTURIAN

Global Expertise | Innovative Technology | Measurable Impact

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____________

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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
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End-to-End Subsea. We’ll make the right equipment
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recommendations, offer cost-effective system integration
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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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International Edition
Volume 70, Number 5
May 2010

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

INTERNATIONAL Subsalt brings more drilling

E&P REPORT in HP/HT environments ....................... 74
Improved logging and drilling techniques con-
Global overview of offshore oil tribute to the significant and growing success
& gas operations for 2005 – 2009 ...... 32 rate of finding deep and subsalt reservoirs
Deepwater and ultra deepwater discoveries around the world. This trend brings to the
are becoming the dominant source of new forefront the need for high-pressure/high-
reserve additions, accounting for 41% of total temperature (HP/HT) hardware.
new reserves based on a statistical evaluation
of discoveries between 2005 and 2009.
ENGINEERING,
Reloading the Gulf .............................. 40 CONSTRUCTION,
Gulf oil production is expected to peak in 2011, & INSTALLATION
followed by the beginning of a steady decline. Using dimensional
The good news is industry continues to make
healthy discoveries, albeit not the size of
Thunder Horse, but perhaps large enough to
40 control to mitigate risk
for ATP Titan installation .................... 78
Mitigating installation risk with dimensional
upright the forthcoming decline. Asia-Pacific energy demand drives control makes a lot of sense when the stakes
offshore exploration, development ... 60 are so high. Here is how Bluewater Industries
Brazilian activity sets pace for Latin With an estimated capex of over $97 billion did it for ATP Oil and Gas Corp. (ATP) on the
America’s petroleum industry............ 44 from 2009 to 2013, Asia is expected to witness Titan MinDOC project earlier this year.
These days coverage of E&P activity across an increase of 77% in terms of capex when
Latin America starts in Brazil and includes a compared to the previous five-year period.
Light-weight topsides
discussion of presalt/subsalt discoveries off- for heavy-weight projects .................. 84
shore in deepwater. A quick look at the most GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS Designing and fabricating topsides that mini-
recent drilling results gives a strong indication mize the number of modules required – thus
of the reason behind all the attention. 3D surface related multiple elimination
in the presence of complex water-bot- reducing weight – is proven to minimize costly
tom geometry...................................... 64 offshore hookup and commissioning of a new
Frontier exploration, pipelay dominate A fully 3D multiple attenuation algorithm suc- installation.
activity in northern Europe ................. 48 ceeded on a survey acquired offshore Nigeria.
There was an upsurge in frontier region explo-
The objective of the survey was to guide place- SUBSEA
ration last year, notably west of the Shetlands,
ment of development wells.
bringing deepwater oil and gas discoveries for Jules Verne – The Field
OMV (Tornado); DONG (Glenlivet); and for of the Future ....................................... 88
Hurricane Exploration (Lancaster), the first Toward the integration The ultimate goal of three-phase separation
planned exploration well on a basement target of electromagnetic and on the seafloor is the cornerstone of “Jules
on the UKCS. seismic surveys .................................. 68 Verne – The Field of the Future” and is built
Acquiring EM survey data using a towed upon the successful implementation and adop-
streamer and source could facilitate a common tion of the preceding technologies: standard
Angola continues to develop; platform for EM and seismic operations and
Ghana grows in importance ............... 52 production systems, full well stream boosting,
lead to improved efficiency. A test by Petro- water/hydrocarbon separation, and gas/liquid
Angola is set for significant expansion of offshore
leum Geo-Services of Norway indicates it is separation.
oil and gas developments in the short- and me-
possible to develop such a system.
dium-term. Meanwhile, Ghana is fast becoming
one of the E&P bright spots for offshore Africa. Subsea boosting and
DRILLING & COMPLETION processing developments .................. 90
Operators chasing further Dual-gradient drilling promises The relentless depletion of onshore and shal-
reserves in established/emerging to change the face of deepwater ....... 70 low water fields has compelled oil companies
offshore Middle East plays ................. 56 Nearly 10 years after a joint industry project to focus on deepwater areas where a combina-
Deepwater drilling is set to dominate coming certified it a field-proven technology, post-BOP tion of floating and subsea production units is
activity offshore Turkey. In January, the dual-gradient drilling has been taken off the used to extract hydrocarbons.
Ocean Rig semisubmersible Leiv Eiriksson shelf and, if its proponents have their way,
arrived at the port of Sinop, ahead of a three- promises to change the face of deepwater.
year, $630-million deepwater campaign in the
Black Sea for Petrobras.
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 2010 by
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Get connected like you’re drilling across the street.

At CapRock, the quality of our offshore satellite communications rivals that of
many terrestrial communications providers. Thanks to superior quality of service,
reliability, customer service and responsiveness, CapRock stands alone in offshore
communications. In fact, our satellite services can help make your business
operations so efficient, you’d think you were drilling right across the street.

With CapRock, you have a wealth of resources working for you — more than
28 years of experience, the most expertise in offshore energy applications, 24/7
support around the globe and a full range of services to meet your every need.

All to ensure that your employees communicate like they were face to face —
even if they are worlds apart.

w w w.c a p ro c k .c o m
_______________ RELIABILIT Y TO THE E XTREME™

©2010 CapRock Communications, Inc. All rights reserved.

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International Edition
Volume 70, Number 5
May 2010

COVER: ATP has first production

from its Telemark Hub in the Gulf of
Mexico deepwater. The field produces
through MinDOC ATP Titan - the first
deepwater US-built, multi-column, deep-
draft, floating, drilling, and production
platform in the GoM. The re-usable plat-
form has capacity to process 25 Mb/d of
oil and 50 MMcf/d of natural gas. Many
innovative techniques were used to bring
the platform on stream, including di-
mensional control, which minimized risk
during installation. Read the full report
beginning on page 78. Photo by Coles
Hairston.

FLOWLINES & PIPELINES

Single-run in-line pipeline inspection on an unprecedented scale.......................... 94
An in-line inspection run of the world’s longest subsea natural gas pipeline was completed suc-
cessfully in the last half of this past year.

NOIA
A view from Washington – The winds of change ...................................................... 98
A teachable moment ................................................................................................ 102
NOIA represents all phases of offshore energy ....................................................... 104
NOIA Officers, Board of Directors, and Executive Committee ................................. 105
NOIA Membership ..................................................................................................... 106

FRANCE
GEP/AFTP merger set to foster innovation in France and overseas ...................... 110
Pipeline monitoring system improves buckling detection and analysis................ 112
Joint industry programs strive to improve
management of hydrates and waxy crudes ............................................................ 116
Tender-assist semi speeds rig-up operations ......................................................... 118
Eiffel in hunt for West Africa platforms ................................................................... 120

D E P A R T M E N T S

Comment ............................................. 10 Vessels, Rigs, & Surface Systems ...... 25

Data ..................................................... 12 Drilling & Production .......................... 28
Global E&P .......................................... 14 Geosciences ........................................ 30
Offshore Europe .................................. 18 Business Briefs ................................. 124
Gulf of Mexico ..................................... 22 Advertisers’ Index............................. 127
Subsea Systems ................................. 24 Beyond the Horizon .......................... 128

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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

  
continual-refinement process.
      
      
     Discover how Tactical Technology™ can raise productivity
Drilling           and lower your anxiety. Visit weatherford.com or speak with a
    
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you look at all your service needs.
 
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Intervention *      weatherford.com

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PennWell
1455 West Loop South, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77027 U.S.A.
Tel: (01) 713 621-9720 • Fax: (01) 713 963-6296

VICE PRESIDENT and

GROUP PUBLISHER
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[email protected] Available at
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[email protected]
Offshore-mag.com
MANAGING EDITOR TECHNOLOGY EDITOR,
David Paganie SUBSEA & SEISMIC OTC coverage
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[email protected] Stay tuned to www.offshore-mag.com for daily news, interviews, and analy-
EDITOR-EUROPE
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[email protected]
Offshore magazine
PRESENTATION EDITOR
Josh Troutman Browse the current issue’s headlines and past issues.
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CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Submit an article

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Operations, KBR, addresses the challenge
Tel: (713) 963-6220 of choosing the floating platform that best
PRODUCTION MANAGER matches reservoir and site characteristics
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8 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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_______________

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ENGINEERING PLASTIC SOLUTIONS COMMENT Eldon Ball • Houston

LEADING Technology still opens new frontiers

THE WAY
This time last year in our comments about the annual Offshore Technology Confer-
ence in Houston, we noted that the industry had cut back on some spending, but at the
same time the development of new technology and equipment had not diminished.
That still remains true. The result is reflected once again in the pages of this – and
every – issue of Offshore. Here’s some of what’s waiting for you in this issue:
ENGINEERING POLYMER
Dual-gradient drilling promises
SOLUTIONS FOR THE to change the face of deepwater
OFFSHORE INDUSTRY Nearly 10 years after a joint industry project certified it a field-proven technology,
post-BOP dual-gradient drilling has been taken off the shelf and, if its proponents have
their way, promises to number the days when constructing a deepwater well will require
a long riser filled with pressure-inducing, but otherwise inactive, drilling fluid.
“This is game-changing technology and was quite the buzz in the late 1990s and early
2000s when it was first developed,” says Ken Smith, dual-gradient drilling project imple-
mentation manager for Chevron North America. “Dual-gradient technology will allow
us to remove the impact of water depth on well design.”
Since late 2001, the game changer Smith refers to had been on the sidelines, but a
confluence of economic and operational realities has since inspired the industry to take
another look. Contributing Editor Jim Redden gives the details, beginning on page 70.

Jules Verne Project – future technology now

Named for the visionary French author, the Jules Verne study was commissioned
Typical applications: last year by the DeepStar joint industry technology project to evaluate the technical
iPipe-in-Pipe Centralisers maturity of an all subsea process development in the deepwater regions of the Gulf of
Mexico. The study consisted of a series of vendor interviews and open conversations
iROV Components with operating company personnel to determine the current state of the art in subsea
iPiggy-Back Clamps processing, as well as the technology needed to bring the subsea processing compo-
nents to a project-ready status.
iThruster Nozzles
The ultimate goal of three-phase separation on the seafloor is the cornerstone of the
iBundle Spacers project and is built upon the successful implementation and adoption of standard pro-
iPulley/Sheaves duction systems, full well stream boosting, water/hydrocarbon separation, and gas/
liquid separation. As operating companies continue to move into the deepwater regions
iWear-Pads around the globe, their reliance on these subsea processing technologies will increase.
iBushes In this issue, Tim Lowry and Chuck Horn of Technip bring us up to date on the proj-
ects progress and its promise for the future, beginning on page 88.
iRollers
Using dimensional control
to mitigate risk for ATP Titan installation
The client is a small independent that just made a $600 million bet on a new deepwa-
ter floating platform to develop a Gulf of Mexico field the majors considered too small
to develop themselves. Get it right and the client doubles production next year. Get
it wrong…well, do not go there. Mitigating installation risk with dimensional control
makes a lot of sense when the stakes are so high. Here is how Bluewater Industries
did it for ATP Oil and Gas Corp. on the Titan MinDOC project earlier this year. Tom
Greaves, Spar Point Group; Robert Shivers, ATP Oil & Gas Corp.; Jose Vasquez
and Roy Cottrell, Bennett & Associates; and Ian Mackie and Keith Medley, Intertek
Hi-Cad put it together for you, beginning on page 78.
Nylacast Ltd (UK)
t: 0044 (0) 116 276 8558 International E&P review & forecast
f: 0044 (0) 116 274 1954 As we do every year in the May edition, this month’s issue leads off with a global re-
e: [email protected]
w: www.nylacast.com view and forecast of offshore exploration and production activity worldwide. As the glob-
al overview by IHS reports, deepwater and ultra deepwater discoveries are becoming
Nylacast LLC (USA) the dominant source of new reserve additions, accounting for 41% of total new reserves
t: 001 717 2705600 based on discoveries between 2005 and 2009. Their report, plus a region-by-region anal-
f: 001 717 2709760 ysis of offshore activity worldwide by the editors of Offshore, begins on page 32.
e: [email protected]
w: www.nylacastusa.com

Nylacast South Africa (PTY)

t: 00 2711 3977077
f: 00 2711 3977017 To respond to articles in Offshore, or to offer articles for publication,
e: [email protected] contact the editor by email ([email protected]).
w: www.nylacast.com

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A New Wave of Opportunity

Fluor Offshore Solutions and Global Industries

have joined forces, through an exclusive consortium
agreement, to pursue offshore oil & gas projects in the
Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.

Combining Global Industries’ state-of-the-art vessel

technology with Fluor Offshore Solutions’ extensive
project management and engineering skills delivers the
essential teamwork necessary to embrace the world’s
toughest challenges in the ever-changing offshore,
subsea, and deepwater markets.

For a New Wave of Opportunity in the MENA region,

look no further than Fluor Offshore Solutions and
Global Industries for all your offshore needs.
For more information, please visit us at
www.fluor.com/offshore and www.globalind.com
e-mail: offshore@fluor.com

© 2009 Fluor Corporation. All rights reserved. Fluor Offshore Solutions is a service mark of Fluor Corporation.
© 2009 Global Industries, Ltd. All rights reserved. ADHO055309

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G L O B A L D ATA

Worldwide day rates

Active rig fleet, April 2010
Year/Month Minimum Average Maximum
Floaters Drillship
Jackups 2009 April $125,000 $363,478 $594,000
2009 May $120,000 $359,875 $594,000
Far East
4 (-1) 2009 June $125,000 $369,903 $594,000
30 (+1) 2009 July $125,000 $367,335 $594,000
2009 Aug $125,000 $376,325 $600,000
North Sea
38 (0) 2009 Sept $125,000 $379,294 $600,000
34 (+1) 2009 Oct $125,000 $379,750 $600,000
East 2009 Nov $125,000 $384,193 $600,000
Atlantic 2009 Dec $125,000 $385,621 $600,000
3 (0)
1 (0)
2010 Jan $125,000 $386,468 $630,000
US GoM 2010 Feb $125,000 $387,498 $630,000
35 (-2) L. America SE Asia 2010 Mar $125,000 $387,401 $594,000
49 (-1) 60 (+2)
19 (0) Jackup
13 (0)
49 (-1)
2009 April $35,000 $148,905 $330,000
Mex GoM 2009 May $35,000 $147,084 $330,000
4 (-1) M. East 2009 June $27,000 $146,682 $330,000
29 (0) 1 (0)
S. Asia 2009 July $27,000 $144,971 $330,000
114 (+1)
W. Africa 13 (+1)
28 (-2) 31 (-3) 2009 Aug $27,000 $140,463 $330,000
22 (-1) 2009 Sept $28,000 $139,523 $330,000
Source: Rigzone.com 2009 Oct $28,000 $136,578 $360,000
2009 Nov $28,000 $134,088 $360,000
2009 Dec $28,000 $132,327 $375,000
GoM drilling permits issued 2010 Jan $28,000 $129,282 $375,000
2010 Feb $28,000 $127,108 $398,000
100 2010 Mar $28,000 $124,053 $398,000
90 Semi
80 2009 April $38,400 $339,223 $647,000
2009 May $38,400 $339,492 $647,000
Drilling permits

70
2009 June $38,400 $343,405 $647,000
60 2009 July $80,000 $349,094 $650,000
51
50 2009 Aug $80,000 $352,143 $650,000
40 37 2009 Sept $80,000 $352,947 $650,000
33 31
30 30 30 2009 Oct $80,000 $352,156 $647,000
2009 Nov $80,000 $357,426 $647,000
20
13 2009 Dec $80,000 $364,104 $647,000
10 2010 Jan $83,000 $369,365 $647,000
0 2010 Feb $83,000 $365,123 $647,000
Sept. Oct. Nov. Dec. Jan. Feb. Mar. 2010 Mar $83,000 $366,459 $647,000
Source: US Minerals Management Service Source: Rigzone.com

Worldwide rig utilization (>1,000 ft water depth) Worldwide rig utilization (<1,000 ft water depth)
100 100

95 95

90 90

85 85
Percent

Percent

80 80

75 75

70 70 Jackups
Drillships
Source: _____

Source: _____
Rigzone.com

Rigzone.com

Semisubs
65 65

60 60
Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar
2009 2010 2009 2010

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

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The NEW name in Offshore.

Edward Horton
President of Horton Wison Deepwater, Inc.

A NEW name with DEEP roots…

Ed Horton is both the President and a Board » Patented the original TLP
Member of Horton Wison Deepwater. He is one of
the most recognized inventors in the offshore
» Patented the original production Spar
business, having invented two of the industry’s » Developing the next generation of deepwater
standard deepwater concepts. Over the past 30 drilling and production facilities
years, more than 2 billion barrels of oil have been
produced through facilities that depended on his
» Solving the industry’s riser performance issues
with innovative solutions
patents. For his contributions to deepwater
technology, Ed will be inducted into the ASCE Hall » Unlocking the world’s next energy sources
of Fame during the 2010 Offshore Technology through the application of deepwater oil and gas
Conference.
experience

1 4 0 0 B r o a d f i e l d | S u i t e 5 0 0 | H o u s t o n , Te x a s 7 7 0 8 4

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GLOBAL E&P Jeremy Beckman • London

South America (128-acre) shipbuilding, repair, and conversion yard in Baku. The
Petrobras has completed formation tests on its fourth well in the SOCAR-Keppel Shipyard will be able to handle a range of vessels,
Tupi Assessment Area of the Santos basin, with positive results. Well including offshore support ships.
3-RJS-662A spudded last November in 2,115 m (6,939 ft) of water, 18
km (11.2 mi) northeast of the Tupi discovery well in block BM-S-11. Southeast/West Africa
Although the test equipment capacity limited flow to around 5,000 Anadarko has encountered further gas pay while delving deeper
b/d of light oil, Petrobras believes the well could potentially deliver into its Windjammer discovery offshore Mozambique. The newly in-
30,000 b/d, confirming the high productivity noted from the earlier tersected objective, drilled by the Belford Dolphin, lifted total net pay
Tupi Sul well and an extended well test on the field. to 555 ft (169 m). Windjammer is 30 mi (48 km) east of the coastline
The company recently started another extended test on the post- in the Rovuma basin in 4,800 ft (1,463 m) of water. Anadarko plans
salt, shallow water Tiro and Sidon deposits discovered last year in to move the drillship 50 mi (80.5 km) southeast to drill its next pros-
Santos basin southern block BM-S-40. The two-year program is be- pect, named Collier.
ing conducted from the semisubmersible Atlantic Zephyr, with pro- •••
duction, at around 10,000 b/d, stored on the FSO Avare and offload- Lukoil, Vanco, and GNPC report a significant accumulation in
ed to shuttle tankers. Petrobras estimates recoverable reserves the Dzata structure in Ghana’s Cape Three Points deepwater block.
from these fields at 150 MMboe, with upside from other prospects Dzata-1, drilled to a subsurface depth of around 4,500 m (14,763 ft),
in the area. It is also drilling another structure to the east in block tapped a 94-m (308-ft) thick hydrocarbon column, with gas and light
BM-S-12 to test pre-salt potential. oil in the primary reservoir sandstone. The partners plan a detailed
In the Sergipe-Alagoas basin, Petrobras is lining up eight explo- appraisal program.
ration wells this year for what it claims will be its widest-ranging
campaign to date off northeast Brazil. Part of the program will focus
on shallow water structures close to producing fields such as Pir-
anema, but the company also has targets in the virtually unexplored
deepwater areas.
•••
BP has picked up a range of licenses offshore and onshore Brazil,
after paying Devon Energy $7 billion for a package that also com-
prised interests in the US Gulf of Mexico and Azerbaijan. The trans-
action brought BP stakes in eight shallow/deepwater blocks in the
Campos and Camamu-Almada basins, including the pre-salt Wahoo
and Itaipu finds.
•••
Tullow Oil is hoping to prove analogies off the northern coast
of South America with the productive deepwater basins offshore
Ghana. The company and its partners Shell and Total are reviewing
data from a recently-acquired six-month 3D survey over the Guyane
Maritime block off French Guiana. Their focus is on high-risk, po-
tentially high-impact stratigraphic traps formed in Upper Cretaceous
turbidite fans in the southeast of the block. A deepwater rig could be
brought in to drill the first of these targets towards year-end. Tullow
may also look to drill Upper Cretaceous/Tertiary stratigraphic trap
prospects in its Georgetown block offshore neighboring Guyana.

Black Sea/Caspian Sea

Transocean’s new drillship Deepwater Champion, under con-
struction in Ulsan, Korea, will tackle ExxonMobil’s initial deepwa-
ter exploration campaign in the Turkish Black Sea next year. The
double-hulled, dual-derrick vessel will be equipped for simultane- Map locates the Windjammer gas discovery offshore Mozambique.
ous operations, and will be able to maintain station in open water in
waves of up to 9 m (30 ft) and winds up to 60 knots (70 mph). Exx- •••
onMobil will jointly explore prospects in three licenses with Turkish SBM Offshore has contracted Keppel Shipyard to convert the
national oil company TPAO. VLCC M/T Bauhinia into an FPSO for use off Equatorial Guinea.
••• The floater will be assigned to Noble Energy’s Aseng oil field devel-
The BP-led ACG partnership proceeds with development of the opment in block I. The scope of work, due to be completed in the
Chirag oil field in the Azeri sector of the Caspian Sea, according second half of 2011, includes refurbishment works, accommodation
to partner Statoil. The $6-billion project involves adding a new pro- block extensions, installation and integration of topsides modules,
duction, drilling, and living quarters platform in the Chirag-Deep and construction/installation of an internal turret and a flare tower.
Water Gunashli (DWG) area, in 170 m (558 ft) of water. The facility, •••
capable of processing 185,000 b/d of oil, will be the sixth production Perenco has picked up a new offshore exploration permit in Cam-
installation on the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields. Produced oil and eroon’s Douala/Kribi-Camp basin. Under the initial three-year PSC
gas will be processed at the onshore Sangachal terminal, with start- for the Elombo block, Perenco will acquire and interpret 300 sq km
up scheduled for 2013. (116 sq mi) of 3D seismic, and drill at least one well. The program
State oil company SOCAR, one of the ACG partners, has part- could be extended by two further terms, and two more exploratory
nered with Keppel Offshore & Marine to develop a new 52-ha wells, incurring a total outlay of $50 million.

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

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GLOBAL E&P
ENGINEERING BY WJM
ALL MUSCLE Middle East
Saudi Aramco has contracted J. Ray McDermott to upgrade
crude-gathering and power supply facilities in the offshore Safa-
niya field. The work will involve use of J. Ray’s new pipelay barge

NO BULK
With a growing track record of history-
LB328 and other vessels from the company’s fleet. The program
should be completed in 2013.
•••
UAE company Dana Gas has finished detailed engineering for a
platform for the Zora gas field offshore Sharjah. Conceptual engi-
neering is also complete for the onshore gas processing plant, which
making projects, WJM practices will receive Zora’s well stream via a new 25-km (15-mi) subsea pipe-
line.
engineering as a calling, not a •••
commodity. We specialize in Iran has proposed a joint development of the Arash oilfield in
the Persian Gulf with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. NIOC managing
turning visionary ideas into director Mahmoud Zirakchianzade says the cooperation could take
industry innovations. If you the form of joint investment, production, and management of the
field which extends across the countries’ offshore median lines.
need a team that’s quick Zirakchianzade also stated recently that a European company was
off the line, confident looking to participate in development of the giant Lavan gas field
in the Iranian sector.
in the curves and
comfortable in the India
ONGC has ordered four new wellhead platforms for Phase II of its
winner’s circle, Mumbai High North (MHN) redevelopment project. Mumbai High
contact WJM. has been in production since 1974, and ONGC is implementing vari-
ous schemes to improve reservoir recovery. Larsen & Toubro will
perform engineering out of Bangalore, Chenna, and Faridabad, with
its yards in Hazira and Sohar, Oman building the 23,000 metric tons
(25,353 tons) of topsides and jackets. Each platform will feature 12
well slots, with remote operation from the NQ/MHN process com-
plex.

Asia-Pacific
Vietnam’s government has approved construction of the country’s
largest gas trunkline. The Block B Gas Pipeline Project will trans-
port 18.3 MMcm/d (646 MMcf/d) from blocks 52/97 and B48/95
off southwest Vietnam to power and fertilizer plants and other con-
sumers in the country’s southwest region. Around 246 km (153 mi)
of the 398-km (247-mi) trunkline will be subsea. Signatories to the
joint venture were PetroVietnam, Chevron, Mitsui, and PTTEP.
Keppel Shipyard in Singapore has won a contract from Bumi Ar-
mada Berhad to convert a Suezmax tanker into an FPSO for deploy-
ment on the Te Giac Trang (TGT) development in Vietnam’s Cuu
Long basin. The facility, due to be delivered by mid-2011, will be
able to produce up to 45,000 b/d of oil and to store 1 MMbbl. The
Hoang Long joint operating company, comprising PetroVietnam,
SOCO, PTTEP, and OPECO, is responsible for the development.
In the Hanoi Trough off northern Vietnam, London-based Sala-
mander Energy is set to acquire operatorship of block 101-104, cur-
rently co-owned by Santos and Singapore Petroleum Vietnam Song
Hong. Over 500 sq km (193 sq mi) of 3D seismic has been acquired
over the license, and a first well is due to be drilled next year on the
Cat Ba oil prospect.
•••
London-based Primeline Energy Holdings signed agreements
with CNOOC concerning development of the Lishui 36-1 gas field
in East China Sea block 25/34. The parties sanctioned the overall
development program in 2009, and have since compiled related
documents for submission to China’s government for approval of
the project. One purpose of the new agreements is to transfer op-
eratorship of development and production to a new subsidiary of
CNOOC, which can procure services and equipment via its long-
term cooperations with various contractors.

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

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GLOBAL E&P

•••
Petrofac and partners PetroVietnam and Kufpec have commis-
sioned a front-end engineering design study for a second-phase devel-
opment of block PM304 offshore Malaysia. The Cendor oil field within
the license averaged production of 14,400 b/d last year. The partners
have drilled numerous successful near-field appraisal wells, and are
aiming to submit a development proposal in the second half of 2010.

Australia
Subsea 7 has completed installation of subsea facilities for Santos’
VIC/P44 Stage 2 development project in the Otway basin offshore Vic-
toria. The company’s rigid reel lay vessel Seven Navica performed the
work, supported by the DSV Rockwater 2. The scope included instal-
lation of a 21.7-km (13.5-mi), 12-in. (30.5-cm) pipeline and four rigid

The Seven Navica at Subsea 7’s Crib Point spoolbase in Victoria, Australia.

spool pieces connecting subsea production trees in 56-72 m (184-236

ft) of water at the Henry-2 and Netherby locations; and a 22-km (13.7-
mi) electro-hydraulic umbilical from Casino-4 to Pecten East. Subsea 7
was also involved in the original Casino development in 2005.
•••
Magellan has won a petroleum exploration permit for Area NT09-1 off-
shore Australia’s Northern Territory. The 6,305-sq km (2,460-sq mi) con-
cession is in the Malita graben of the Bonaparte basin, 220 km (137 mi)
northwest of Darwin, in water depths ranging from 10-170 m (33-558 ft).
The permit is in a region with proven gas-prone Early-Mid Jurassic (Plo-
ver formation) source and reservoir rock, and also adjoins fault-bounded
gas accumulations. Magellan says a commercial gas find could be fac-
tored into a nearby methanol conversion scheme at Evans Shoal/Caldita.
•••
Mustang is to provide independent assessment and verification
of readiness for the North Rankin B platform installation program.
The company says this project will set world records as the heaviest
topsides (23,600 metric tons [26,015 tons]) to undergo a floatover
installation on a steel jacket; and the deepest open-water floatover for
a steel jacket, in 126 m (413 ft) of water. The platform will be bridge-
linked to the existing North Rankin A facility to form the NR2 central
processing complex. Woodside Energy awarded Mustang the con-
tract on behalf of the North West Shelf Venture partners.
•••
Shell has signed two contracts with the Technip/Samsung Heavy
Industries consortium for the Prelude floating LNG project off West-
ern Australia. The first covers front-end engineering design, taking
into account gas composition, meteorological conditions, and other
factors. The second contract sets out the terms under which a floating
LNG facility would be built, assuming the project goes ahead. Last
July, the three parties signed a master agreement concerning design,
construction and installation of multiple floating LNG facilities over a
____________________
period of up to 15 years for location directly over offshore gas fields. 

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OFFSHORE EUROPE Jeremy Beckman • London

Laggan/Tormore to harness WoS gas at peak, and 93,000 boe/d including condensates. Total had tried to
Total and partner DONG have sanctioned Britain’s first gas-gath- persuade other operators of stranded gas fields in the region to share
ering system west of the Shetlands. Development of the Laggan and the costs of a wider-ranging scheme. None came forward, although
Tormore fields in blocks 206/1a, 205/4b, and 205/5a will incur in- according to field analysts BritBoss, there is sufficient spare capac-
vestments of almost $3.83 billion, and also will be the UK’s deepest- ity in the pipelines to accommodate gas from Chevron’s Lochnagar/
water project to date, in 600 m (1,968 ft) water depth. Rosebank fields close to the Faroe Islands median line and BP’s Clair
The two fields have combined reserves of 230 MMboe of gas and Ridge project, a short distance northwest of Shetland.
condensates. Both will be developed via subsea wells, with produc-
tion sent through two 140-km (87-mi) mul- Ekofisk development
tiphase pipelines to a newly built process Gas field Tobermory heads south
terminal at Sullom Voe on the main Shet- Total operated acreage
Another big spender is ConocoPhillips
land island. From here, the processed Proposed gas processing plant
(COP), which is set to commit to two ma-
gas will head south through another new jor new projects in the Norwegian and UK
Proposed pipeline
230-km (143-mi) trunkline connecting to sectors.
Total’s Frigg UK pipeline, and onwards The company’s latest plan to broaden
to the company’s gas terminal at St Fer- development in the Greater Ekofisk Area
gus, north of Aberdeen. Corus Tubes in involves adding two large wellhead plat-
Hartlepool, northeast England will supply forms, one each to the Ekofisk and Eldfisk
over 150,000 metric tons (165,347 tons) of fields. The proposed 36-slot Ekofisk 2/4 Z
pipes in diameters of 18-in. and 30-in. (45.7 Laggan would be bridge-linked both to existing in-
cm and 76 cm) for the three export lines. Tormore stallations at the Ekofisk field center and to
Start-up is scheduled for 2014, with the a new accommodation platform, 2/4 L. The
two fields delivering 500 MMcf/d of gas 2/4 Z platform would produce reserves
from Ekofisk’s southern extent, and may be
The Laggan/Tormore project Sullum Voe
supported by subsea water injector wells.
will provide the UK’s first Sembcorp Marine Singapore already has
0 15.5
dedicated offshore gas Miles Shetland Isles picked up the $550-million contract for the
trunkline system 0
Km
25 10,000-metric ton (11,023-ton), 552-man ac-
west of Shetlands. commodation block for 2/4 L, and associ-
ated bridges, with construction due to start

________________________________

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Right people, Rigorous execution,

Reputable partners, Robust technology –
Keppel Offshore & Marine delivers superior
solutions across 20 yards in 16 countries.

      

    
       

Builder of distinction

Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd 50 Gul Road Singapore 629351 Tel: (65) 6863 7200 Email: [email protected] ___________ www.keppelom.com Co Reg No. 199900642R
Keppel Offshore & Marine Technology Centre A member of Keppel Offshore & Marine Limited 31 Shipyard Road Singapore 628130 Tel: (65) 6591 5450 Fax: (65) 6265 9513Email: [email protected]

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OFFSHORE EUROPE

this summer. Aker Solutions and Mustang performed front-end engi-

neering design for the new facilities.
In the UK central North Sea, Worley Parsons is working on FEED
definition for COP’s Jasmine Area gas/condensate development.
WorleyParsons describes this as its first major platform award in the
region. Jasmine, a high-pressure/high-temperature field discovered
in 2006, will likely be the UK’s largest new project since Nexen’s
Buzzard.
Hardware should include a wellhead platform connected to an
accommodation platform, with production exported to a new riser
platform with separation facilities linked to COP’s Judy complex.
Other reserves from BG’s prospective structures north of Jasmine
could further extend the scope of the development.

Statoil sets to work on smaller fields

Over the past few years, Statoil’s exploration focus on the Nor-
wegian shelf has shifted increasingly to near field drilling of small,
prospective structures. The success rate has been high, and the
company now is looking to monetize four of these finds with com-
bined reserves of over 140 MMboe as satellite tiebacks, with start-
ups during 2012-13.
The fields and the proposed host platforms are Katla to Oseberg
Sor, Vigdis Nordost to Snorre, Pan/Pandora to Visund or Gullfaks
– all in the North Sea – and in the Norwegian Sea, Gygrid to either
Njord or Shell’s Draugen complex. Staale Tungevik, the company’s
head of reserves and business development, says Statoil’s goal on
fields in this category is to halve the time taken from discovery to
production, and to cut development cost for these types of projects
by 20-40%, compared with current levels.
Statoil also looks to up the tempo and performance of its pro-
duction drilling, according to Geir Slora, senior VP for drilling and
wells. The company has made progress of late, he claimed, lifting
drilling progress from an average of 60 m/day (197 ft/d) in 2007 to
85 m/d (279 ft/d) currently, and rig utilization time over the same
period from 80 to 85%.
But there is room for further improvement in operational effi-

S ince 1936, Hamanaka Chain has combined

industry-leading experience, know-how
and technology in steel manufacturing and
ciency and well operations quality, he added. This means in part
striving for greater rig, drill installation and well service availability;
recovering old wells to free up slots for new wells at some fixed drill-
ing installations; and design changes prior to decisions on new wells
in order to reduce costs and increase efficiency.
chain fabrication. The result: Hamanaka Chain
delivers the world’s best offshore mooring Newcomers lead exploration effort
Mid-size companies are driving much of Norway’s wildcat explo-
chains. Made from the highest quality special ration at present. Among the latest efforts, BG has proven oil with
its first well on North Sea permit PL 374 S, awarded under the APA
steel to the highest quality standards, 2005 licensing round. The semisub Borgland Dolphin was success-
Hamanaka’s R4 and R5 chains are the lifeline ful drilling the Cook formation, one of two Lower-Upper Jurassic
targets. The location is in 387 m (1,269 ft) of water, 25 km (15.5 mi)
of your crew and project. northeast of the Snorre field.
In the Norwegian Sea, Centrica Resources appears to have found
hydrocarbons in the potentially large Fogelberg prospect while drill-
For quality, reliable chain contact ing through the Mid-Jurassic Garn formation. According to partner
Faroe Petroleum, the structure looks similar to Statoil’s Morvin oil
[email protected] and gas field, 10 km (6.2 mi) to the southwest, which is due on-
stream towards the end of this year. Fogelberg is in license PL 433,
in 280 m (918 ft) of water, 10 km north of the Aasgard complex.
Hamanaka Chain  Det norske oljeselskap was due to conduct a production test on
Hamanaka International, Inc. the oil zone of its recent appraisal well on the Draupne field. The
well in North Sea license 001 B identified a 57-m (187-ft) hydrocar-
ISO 9001 & 14001 Certified bon column in the same reservoir interval intersected in the 2008
Made in Japan 100% discovery well, and also “non-movable” oil in deeper Triassic forma-
tions. Draupne could form part of a new hub development in this
region centered on Lundin’s Luno field. 

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

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GULF OF MEXICO David Paganie • Houston

Shell hits oil in deepwater Central lease sale results

Shell has made an oil discovery at the Appomattox prospect in Central Gulf of Mexico Oil and Gas Lease Sale 213 attracted $949.3
Mississippi Canyon block 392. Transocean’s semisubmersible Deep- million in high bids, up year-over-year, but still well short of the highs
water Nautilus drilled the well. seen in 2007 and 2008. The sum of all bids was $1.3 billion. Seventy-
The discovery was drilled in 2,200 m (7,217 ft) of water depth seven companies submitted 642 bids on 468 tracts comprising over
to TD of 7,643 m (25,077 ft) and encountered 162 m (530 ft) of oil 2.4 million acres offshore Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama.
pay. A follow-up appraisal well was drilled to 7,910 m (25,950 ft) and MMS Gulf of Mexico Regional Director Lars Herbst concluded
encountered 116 m (380 ft) of oil pay. A second sidetrack was under- from the lease sale results that while strength in deepwater contin-
taken and further drilling in the area is planned for later this year to ues, there was increased interest in shallow waters. A total of 151
confirm the field’s resource potential. Partner Nexen says the well tracts in water depths of less than 656 ft (200 m) received bids. This
results exceed pre-drill estimates. is up about 59% from last year’s Central Gulf lease sale. It also rep-
Appomattox is the third discovery in the area following early resents 32% of all tracts receiving bids, an increase of 5% from last
discoveries at Shiloh (Shell 80%, Nexen 20%) and Vicksburg (Shell year. McMoRan continues to lead the deep-shelf push by scooping
75%, Nexen 25%), which were drilled in 2003 and 2007, respectively. 17 shallow-water leases for $9.5 million.
Development planning for Appomattox is under way, and may in-
clude Vicksburg located about 10 km (6 mi) east of the discovery in
DeSoto Canyon block 353. Shell operates Appomattox with an 80%
Central US GoM lease sale statistics (2005-2010) Source: MMS.
working interest and Nexen holds the remaining 20%. 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005
Meanwhile, delineation of the Vito discovery continues, with the Total acres offered (MM) 37 34.6 29.8 28.7 21.4 21.4
first appraisal well encountering more than 600 net ft (183 m) of Total acres receiving bids (MM) 2.5 1.9 3.3 3.9 2.1 2.13
“high-quality” oil pay in subsalt Miocene sands, partner Anadarko Total blocks offered 6,958 6,458 5,569 5,359 4,040 4,063
says. The sidetrack, drilled to 31,000 ft (9,449 m) TD in 4,050 ft Total blocks receiving bids 468 348 615 723 405 428
(1,234 m) of water, is in Mississippi Canyon block 940, more than Total number of bids 642 476 1057 1428 707 651
1 mi (1.6 km) from the discovery well in Mississippi Canyon block Bids per block 1.4 1.4 1.7 2 1.8 1.5
984. The discovery well was drilled in mid-2009 and encountered Total money exposed ($MM) 1,300.1 933.6 5,740 5,245.6 978.3 540.3
more than 250 net ft (76 m) of oil pay, Anadarko reports. Total high bids ($MM) 949.3 703 3,677.7 2,904.3 588.3 354
A second appraisal well is planned for later this year. Vito, esti- Highest bid ($MM) 52.6 65.6 105.6 90.5 42.8 21.2
mated to hold greater than 200 MMboe, could be developed as a
stand-alone project, pending further resource evaluation.
Anadarko holds a 20% working interest in the block and was the The highest bid received on a tract was $52,560,000 submitted by
initial operator of the Vito discovery. Shell operates Vito with a 55% Anadarko and Mariner Energy for Walker Ridge block 793. Anadar-
interest and Statoil holds the remaining 25%. ko exposed the greatest sum of high bids totaling about $128 million.
In other GoM deepwater news, Chevron has signed a letter of in- The company was the apparent high bidder on 48 deepwater tracts,
tent with Pacific Drilling for the drillship Pacific Santa Ana. The ves- most of which are near its Miocene and Pliocene plays. Several are
sel will apply dual gradient drilling technology, Pacific Drilling says. considered to be on trend with the company’s Lucius and Vito fields.
The vessel, under construction in South Korea, is to be capable Rounding out the top high bidders include Maersk ($97 million), Shell
of drilling in 12,000 ft (3,658 m) of water and to more than 35,000 ft ($89 million), Chevron ($79 million), and Mariner ($62 million).
(10,668 m) of well depth. The next lease sale is scheduled for Aug. 18. 

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

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DEEPWATER,
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CONNECTIONS ARE
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SUBSEA SYSTEMS Gene Kliewer • Houston

umbilical, installation of a subsea cable, and

4.8 km (3 mi) of insulated flexible flowlines.
Engineering and procurement are under
way and offshore installation is expected in
3Q 2011.
Dai Hung oil field is in block 05-1A, approx-
imately 250 km (155 mi) offshore Vietnam, in
a water depth of about 110 m (360 ft).

New multi-phase flowmeter

from Baker Hughes
A multi-phase flowmeter that combines
downhole sensors and neural network ca-
pability for real-time flow rate estimate from
wells on electrical submersible pump pro-
duction is available from Baker Hughes.
The Neuraflow meter has an accuracy rate
of more than 90% compared to actual flow rate
measures, says Baker Hughes, when cali-
brated and maintained. The meter is installed
in the ESP surface variable speed drive and
Fitted to the aft of the Panther XT is the Reson SeaBat multi-beam sonar and fiber optic gyro. uses existing standard downhole measure-
ments plus system measurements and learn-
Saab work ROV added The Panther XT comes with fiber optic ing algorithms to infer a flow rate based on
to Shark inventory video and data multiplexing, an automatic known reservoir and fluid properties.
Romanian-based subsea services compa- pilot for depth and heading, and control in
ny, Shark SRL has purchased a Saab SeaEye all directions through six brushless thrust- Total brings FMC to Angola
Panther XT electric work ROV for use with its ers, each with velocity feedback. Total Exploration and Production Angola
Reson SeaBat 7125 multi-beam sonar system. The 1,500-m (4,921-ft) rated Panther XT has awarded FMC Technologies a $65-mil-
Shark expects more accurate pipeline has evolved from the proven Panther work lion project to manufacture and supply sub-
surveys with the electric ROV rather than ROV concept and is designed to take on the sea production equipment for block 17 with
the hydraulic work vehicles because of less majority of the tasks previously undertaken deliveries to begin in 1Q 2011.
acoustical interference. by hydraulic work ROVs, such as drill sup- FMC will supply subsea trees, controls, and
It comes as a complete survey ROV, equipped port, salvage, and IRM. associated equipment from its Dunfermline,
with a pair of three-function hydraulic camera Saab says the Panther XT weighs less Scotland; Kongsberg, Norway; and Luanda,
booms fitted with Seaeye cameras and LED than a quarter of the hydraulic equivalent, Angola, facilities.
lights to provide high-quality video images. Also and the deck space needed is 63 sq m (678
fitted are an Ixsea Octans Gyro, a Doppler Veloc- sq ft) compared with 150 sq m (1,615 sq ft) Plexus to supply Sonangol
ity Log, Sound Velocity Probe, and a Digiquartz for a typical hydraulic system. A smaller off Angola
Depth Sensor. launch and recovery system means it can be In another project offshore Angola, this time
The accuracy of the SeaBat sonar, which installed on smaller vessels and requires a in block 2, Sonangol Pesquisa e Produção has
can detect a target as small as a tennis ball, smaller crew for faster mobilization. agreed to purchase Pos-Grip wellhead systems
makes it ideal for high-resolution seafloor Shark Subsea is a Romanian offshore sur- and services.
survey work, says Shark. vey, diving, and ROV services company and Sonangol will use the 15,000-psi, high-tem-
“It’s more than just about sonar,” says sonar the only member of the Diving, ROV, and perature/high-pressure, 18.75-in. (47.63-cm)
manufacturer Reson’s product lifecycle man- Survey Divisions of IMCA in the western wellhead system for gas exploration and well
ager, Rich Lear. “To get the best usable acoustic Black Sea area. testing.
data needs an ROV that can do the job, with an
easy bolt-on interface and the right payload.” Asia first for McDermott TDW isolates Statoil
Working with Saab Seaeye engineers, he PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp. pipeline remotely
says, made the task of integrating the sonar has awarded a subsea infrastructure, umbili- Statoil has contracted TDW Offshore Ser-
system with the ROV straight-forward: cals, risers, and flowlines (SURF) contract vices (TDW) for pipeline pressure isolation
For pipeline surveys, the Panther XT can op- to McDermott International. The customer services and equipment using remotely op-
erate either free-swimming with its auto altitude is PetroVietnam Exploration & Production. erated SmartPlug technology.
feature or with a detachable wheeled skid. This marks the first ever SURF award to The operations on Statoil’s Norwegian
For other tasks, Shark has chosen to equip the J. Ray McDermott SA subsidiary in the North Sea assets will support scheduled main-
the Panther XT with a detachable five- and Asia-Pacific region. tenance throughout the year. TDW has isolat-
six-function, heavy-duty manipulator, along The scope of work includes engineering, ed designated sections of a pipeline attached
with an anvil cutter, rotary disc cutter, water procurement, construction, and installation to the Draupner platforms, a hub in Norway’s
jet, and cleaning brush. of new production and export lines, umbili- submarine gas trunklines network, and gas
Like the SeaBat, fitting additional tooling cal, and subsea cable. Also covered are tie- transport system to continental Europe. Late
is made straightforward by the simplicity of in, testing, and pre-commissioning of two 2.2 this spring, TDW planned similar services on
Saab Seaeye’s innovative plug-and-go inter- km (1.37 mi) flexible flowlines, replacement a gas pipeline attached to the Statfjord B pro-
face concept. of 2.3 km (1.43 mi) of export flowlines and duction platform. 

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

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VESSELS, RIGS, & SURFACE SYSTEMS David Paganie • Houston

Transocean drillship assigned to Black Sea

ExxonMobil Exploration and Production Turkey will use Trans-
ocean’s new drillship Deepwater Champion, for its deepwater explora-
tion program in the Turkish sector of the Black Sea.
The sixth-generation drillship is under construction at the Hyun-
dai Heavy Industries shipyard in Ulsan, South Korea, but should be
ready to drill its first well in the Turkish Black Sea in the first half of
2011. It will be able to drill to subsurface depths of 12,190 m (40,000
ft), in up to 3,660 m (12,000 ft) of water.
The vessel’s drilling derrick contains two drilling stations equipped
for simultaneous operations. The derrick has two removable sections
to assist transit under the bridges spanning the Bosphorus Strait at
Istanbul. The double-hulled vessel is self-propelled and is designed
to maintain station in open water in 9-m (30-ft) waves and 60-knot (70-
mph) winds.
In November 2008, ExxonMobil and Turkish national oil com-
Transocean’s new ultra deepwater drillship Discoverer Inspiration is on
pany TPAO agreed to jointly explore Black Sea deepwater prospects
a five-year contract for Chevron in the US Gulf of Mexico. The DP, en-
in the Samsun block of the AR/TPO/3922 exploration license and hanced Enterprise-class drillship has Transocean’s patented dual-activ-
the eastern portion of AR/TPO/3921 exploration license. This past ity drilling technology, an enhanced top drive system and high-pressure
January, ExxonMobil also signed an accord with TPAO and Petro- mud system, and variable deckload of more than 20,000 metric tons
bras to acquire a 25% interest in the Sinop, Ayancik, and Carsamba (22,046 tons). It can drill to 40,000 ft (12,192 m) TD in up to 12,000 ft
sub-blocks of the AR/TPO/3922 license. (3,658 m) of water. Chevron says the rig, with its enhanced features, can
reduce its drilling costs by 5-15% over a conventional, single activity
COSCO wins Sevan Brasil build contract rig. Photo courtesy of Transocean.
COSCO (Nantong) Shipyard Co. Ltd. has won a $500-million engineer-
ing, procurement, construction, and installation contract for a deepwater Keppel’s scope of work includes refurbishment and life extension
DP-3 semisubmersible drilling rig to be named Sevan Brasil. work; accommodation block extensions; fabrication and installation
Block fabrication for the rig is under way. The new rig is based on of a flare tower, an internal turret, and topside module supports; and
the design of the Sevan Driller and is scheduled for delivery to Sevan installation and integration of topside modules.
Drilling Ptd Ltd. in 1Q 2012. The work is expected to begin in the second quarter of this year
COSCO Shipyard Group says this award makes it the first ship- and is scheduled for completion in 3Q 2011.
builder in China to have secured a full EPCI contract to construct a
deepwater DP-3 semi drilling rig. SBM Atlantia set to deliver three semis
SBM Offshore has updated progress on three new DP semisub-
Jurong Shipyard contracted mersible drilling rigs, all under construction in Abu Dhabi.
for Roncador floater All are TDS2000Plus or TDS2500 designs, ordered in late 2006
Jurong Shipyard has won a S$130-million ($93-million) order from and early 2007. They are capable of operating in water depths from
Petrobras Netherlands for pre-conversion of a VLCC to the FPSO P62. 2,000-2,400 m (6,562-7,874 ft), and drilling to 7,500 m (24,606 ft) sub-
The scope of work involves renewal of the hull structure steel; fabrica- surface. SBM Atlantia in Houston is managing each of the programs
tion and installation of new steel work; blasting and painting works; reno- under an engineering, procurement, and construction contract.
vation, fabrication, and installation of piping; and refurbishment of the Construction of the Lone Star TDS2000Plus rig for Queiroz Galvao
accommodation module. The vessel is due to be completed in 2Q 2011. Perfuracoes (QGP) has been completed, with commissioning start-
P62 is part of the fourth phase of the Roncador field develop- ing late last year. The rig was to undergo sea trials and handover to
ment. It will be installed in 1,600 m (5,249 ft) of water. The FPSO QGP offshore Abu Dhabi.
will be equipped to process more than 180,000 b/d of oil, inject over The Norbe VI TDS2000Plus rig was still under construction, with
250,000 b/d of water, produce 6 MMcm (212 cf) of gas, and store commissioning start imminent. Sea trials and handover to client
over 1.6 MMbbl of oil. It is designed to remain on station for up to 25 Odebrecht should follow this summer.
years without drydocking. Delba III is a TDS2500 design ordered by Delba Drilling Inter-
national Cooperative. SBM says the rig was floated out of dry dock
Keppel scores FPSO conversion work towards the end of last year, and equipment installation was well
Bumi Armada Berhad has contracted Keppel Shipyard to upgrade advanced. The sea trials and handover to Delba should take place
and convert a Suezmax tanker into an FPSO. off Abu Dhabi late this year.
Keppel’s scope of work includes refurbishment and life extension
works; fabrication and installation of accommodation blocks, turret McDermott adds new pipelay vessel
support structure and topside modules; upgrading of auxiliary sup- J. Ray McDermott has added shallow-water capacity to its con-
port systems; and installation of owner supplied equipment. struction fleet with the new pipelay vessel, LB32.
When completed in 2Q 2011, the FPSO will have capacity to pro- The vessel, designed to S-lay pipe of up to 60 in. (152 cm) diameter,
cess 45,000 b/d of oil and to store 1 MMbbl of oil. The Hoang Long is equipped with pipe tensioning of up 120 metric tons (132 tons), both
Joint Operating Co., comprising Petrovietnam, Soco International, rigid and buoyant stingers to enable it to work in water depths from 2.5
PTTEP, and OPECO, will deploy the converted FPSO on the Te Giac to 300 m (8.2 to 984 ft), and the company’s Automatic Welding System.
Trang field in the Cuu Long basin offshore Vietnam. At presstime, LB32 was being completed by Kim Heng Shipbuild-
Keppel also picked up a contract from Single Buoy Moorings to ing & Engineering Pte Ltd. shipyard in Singapore for a mid-March
convert the VLCC M/T Bauhinia into an FPSO for the block I field delivery. The vessel then was to mobilize to the Middle East for final
offshore Equatorial Guinea. outfitting before beginning a project in the Gulf. 

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

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DRILLING & PRODUCTION Jim Redden • Houston

Party gets jump started

in East Africa, finally
While many in the industry are justifiably gushing over Anadar-
ko’s recent deepwater gas discovery off Mozambique, others are
wondering why it took so long.
You can count among the questioners Bruce Bullock, director
of the Maguire Energy Institute at the Cox School of Business at
Southern Methodist University (SMU) in Dallas, Texas. Bullock,
who has studied the potential of East Africa, is quick, however, to
forgive operators for being late to the party. If anyone has been tar-
dy, he says, it’s the countries along the East African coastline.
“We’ve long known there is potential in Mozambique, especially
with the onshore work that has been done there,” Bullock says.
“The problem is the institutions, the infrastructure, and the legal
mechanisms in East Africa did not catch up to those in West Africa
until around 2000. That was when Mozambique decided to reform
its laws quite a bit and offered some incentives. They really looked
at what West Africa had done and said we can do that too.”
And, those incentives appear to be paying dividends. In what is
being called the first significant deepwater discovery off the east
First oil is offloaded in early March from the Apache Van Gogh develop-
coast, Anadarko says it found more than 550 net ft (168 m) of natural
ment. Courtesy of Apache Corp.
gas pay in its Windjammer exploration well. The well was drilled to
16,930 ft TD (5,160 m) in 4,800 ft (1,463 m) of water in the previously duction from the Crosby, Ravensworth, and Stickle wells, which is
unexplored Rovuma basin. Anadarko says it will drill Windjammer being processed through an FPSO with production capacity of ap-
another 4,100 ft (1250 m) before moving the Belford Dolphin drillship proximately 96,000 b/d. Apache owns a 28.57% interest in Pyrenees
to another prospect 50 mi (80 km) south. and operates Van Gogh with a 52.5% stake.
Bullock is among those who agree the Anadarko discovery has Van Gogh, which started production in February, likewise, is em-
the potential to open the floodgates all along the eastern coast, but ploying an FPSO with the capacity to process 150,000 b/d of liquids,
says the optimism has to come with a couple of caveats. including 63,000 b/d of oil, and to store another 540,000 b/d of oil.
“We’ll have to see how it plays out. I think the big questions are Apache says its share of Van Gogh and Pyrenees will be 40,000 b/d.
not so much the size of the reserves, but how extensive they are This year, the company plans to invest nearly $1 billion in Australia
up and down the coast. Also, in that part of the world you have to for exploration, as well as development work on its Macedon, Rein-
consider what the market’s going to be if it’s primarily gas they find deer, and Julimar/Brunello discoveries.
and if the global market for LNG develops as fast as anticipated.”
Nevertheless, The Woodlands, Texas-based operator is going full Current study old news at Big Foot
steam ahead off East Africa with plans to drill as many as four wells In January, the US Minerals Management Service (MMS) re-
in the Rovuma basin over the coming year. Anadarko controls 2.6 leased the results of a two-year study analyzing the severity of sub-
million acres in the frontier basin, which, surprisingly, is more than sea currents in the Gulf of Mexico and their impact on E&P opera-
the total leases it holds in its Gulf of Mexico back yard. Anadarko tions. FloaTEC LLC, for one, didn’t require a government report to
says it has identified more than 50 additional “leads and prospects” let it know that designing a drilling and production structure to with-
off East Africa. stand a seemingly non-stop vortex is a technically taxing endeavor.
Bullock says its proximity to one of the world’s biggest markets FloaTEC is in the homestretch of a front-end engineering and de-
also is one of the reasons East Africa is so tempting to international sign (FEED) contract for the extended tension leg platform (ETLP)
operators. for Chevron’s Big Foot development on Walker Ridge block 29 in
“On that side of the world, you are closer to the Asian market, 5,000 ft (1,524 m) of water. Early in the process, the offshore engi-
which we all know is fast, fast growing. So, there are some built-in neering and construction firm saw first-hand how the subsea cur-
advantages, but it will depend on the global growth in natural gas rents in the deepwater GoM can completely disrupt an E&P strategy.
and how much condensate is down there.” Chevron initially was looking at a spar to produce the field which
When compared to its neighbor on the other side of the continent, is located at the Sigsbee Deep escarpment where the subsea topog-
there’s also the matter of a more stable political structure, he says. raphy drops suddenly and sharply. With the currents constantly
“What’s always been somewhat puzzling is that when you look at swirling upwards, FloaTEC Director of Business Acquisition Mar-
Kenya and some of the other countries up and down the coast they cus Smedley says the original plan had to be scraped.
traditionally have always been a little more stable. But, you go where “The currents were so severe and deep that we had to go with
you find the oil, which essentially is what happened in West Africa.” the TLP instead of the spar. It really was the only solution we had,”
he says.
Apache continues to count barrels in Australia The FEED process should be completed by the end of the sum-
It appears to be business as usual for Apache Corp. offshore Aus- mer, after which Chevron is expected to officially sanction the Big
tralia, where it recently added another 40,000 b/d to its production Foot development.
portfolio Down Under. Though the MMS study focused on the Eastern GoM, it reported
Historically one of the most active operators in Australia, Apache strong currents and eddys are prevalent near most drilling and pro-
saw its production swell in early 2010 when its high-profile Van duction operations. Consequently, it concluded, many operations
Gogh development came onstream, followed late in the second have to be suspended or amended – a deduction that probably drew
quarter with a share of the BHP Billiton-operated Pyrenees, both collective yawns from any number of operators, service companies,
in the Exmouth basin. On Pyrenees, BHP is initiating phased pro- and contractors. 

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

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𰀥𰁒𰁘𰁍𰁇𰁍𰁔𰁅𰁘𰁍𰁓𰁒

𰀨𰁖𰁍𰁐𰁐𰁍𰁒𰁋𰀄 𰁍𰁒𰀄 𰁈𰁉𰁉𰁔𰀄 𰁛𰁅𰁘𰁉𰁖𰀄 𰁛𰁅𰁗𰀄 𰁓𰁒𰁇𰁉𰀄 𰁅𰀄 𰁌𰁙𰁋𰁉𰀄 𰁇𰁖𰁉𰁛𰁗𰀄 𰁅𰁒𰁈𰀄 𰁓𰁒𰁉𰀄 𰁓𰁊𰀄 𰁘𰁌𰁉𰀄 𰁍𰁒𰁈𰁙𰁗𰁘𰁖𰁝𰂫𰁗𰀄 𰁑𰁓𰁗𰁘𰀄
𰁋𰁅𰁑𰁆𰁐𰁉𰀒𰀄𰀄𰀥𰀄𰁖𰁓𰁐𰁐𰀄𰁓𰁊𰀄𰁘𰁌𰁉𰀄𰁈𰁍𰁇𰁉𰀒𰀄𰀄𰀥𰀄𰁗𰁔𰁍𰁒𰀄𰁓𰁊𰀄𰁘𰁌𰁉𰀄 𰁇𰁓𰁑𰁔𰁖𰁉𰁌𰁉𰁒𰁗𰁍𰁚𰁉𰀄𰁘𰁖𰁅𰁍𰁒𰁍𰁒𰁋𰀄𰁔𰁖𰁓𰁋𰁖𰁅𰁑𰁗𰀒
𰁛𰁌𰁉𰁉𰁐𰀒
𰀥𰁗𰁗𰁉𰁘𰁗𰀐𰀄 𰁔𰁉𰁓𰁔𰁐𰁉𰀐𰀄 𰁔𰁉𰁖𰁊𰁓𰁖𰁑𰁅𰁒𰁇𰁉𰀒𰀄 𰀭𰁘𰂫𰁗𰀄 𰁅𰁐𰁐𰀄𰀄
𰀦𰁙𰁘𰀄𰀴𰁖𰁍𰁈𰁉𰀄𰀭𰁒𰁘𰁉𰁖𰁒𰁅𰁘𰁍𰁓𰁒𰁅𰁐𰀄𰁌𰁅𰁗𰀄𰁘𰁅𰁏𰁉𰁒𰀄𰁅𰀄𰁐𰁓𰁘𰀄𰁓𰁊𰀄𰀄 𰁇𰁓𰁑𰁍𰁒𰁋𰀄𰁘𰁓𰁋𰁉𰁘𰁌𰁉𰁖𰀄𰁘𰁓𰀄𰁍𰁑𰁔𰁖𰁓𰁚𰁉𰀄𰁝𰁓𰁙𰁖𰀄𰁇𰁌𰁅𰁒𰁇𰁉𰁗𰀄
𰁘𰁌𰁉𰀄𰁖𰁍𰁗𰁏𰀄𰁓𰁙𰁘𰀄𰁓𰁊𰀄𰁘𰁌𰁉𰀄𰁔𰁖𰁓𰁇𰁉𰁗𰁗𰀐𰀄𰁇𰁌𰁅𰁒𰁋𰁍𰁒𰁋𰀄𰁅𰁒𰁜𰀑 𰁓𰁊𰀄𰁗𰁙𰁇𰁇𰁉𰁗𰁗𰀄𰁛𰁌𰁉𰁒𰀄𰁈𰁖𰁍𰁐𰁐𰁍𰁒𰁋𰀄𰁓𰁊𰁊𰁗𰁌𰁓𰁖𰁉𰀒
𰁍𰁉𰁘𰁝𰀄𰁘𰁓𰀄𰁅𰁒𰁘𰁍𰁇𰁍𰁔𰁅𰁘𰁍𰁓𰁒𰀒𰀄𰀄𰀻𰁉𰂫𰁖𰁉𰀄𰁈𰁓𰁍𰁒𰁋𰀄𰁍𰁘𰀄𰁛𰁍𰁘𰁌𰀄
𰁗𰁓𰁔𰁌𰁍𰁗𰁘𰁍𰁇𰁅𰁘𰁉𰁈𰀄𰁒𰁉𰁛𰀄𰁈𰁖𰁍𰁐𰁐𰁗𰁌𰁍𰁔𰁗𰀐𰀄𰁉𰁜𰁔𰁉𰁖𰁍𰁉𰁒𰁇𰁉𰁈𰀄 𰀴𰁖𰁍𰁈𰁉𰀞𰀄𰀄𰀭𰁘𰂫𰁗𰀄𰁅𰁐𰁐𰀄𰁇𰁓𰁑𰁍𰁒𰁋𰀄𰁘𰁓𰁋𰁉𰁘𰁌𰁉𰁖𰀒𰀄 www.prideinternational.com

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GEOSCIENCES Gene Kliewer • Houston

A selection of methods published by Statoil A 3D reprocessing and imaging project in the

Technology advances and used in Statoil’s quantitative seismic anal- eastern Mediterranean is one of the first to use
sustain industry growth ysis will complement the existing functional- the full capabilities of the software. Spectrum
With the Offshore Technology Confer- ity in RokDoc modules. In addition, the proj- will reprocess and depth image the project.
ence upon us and bringing new tech- ect also allows Statoil to link proprietary code Spectrum also uses the new 3D Kirchhoff
nologies to the fore, it is time to look at to RokDoc using the newly released RokDoc PSDM software to process seismic surveys
some of the most recent developments external interface. from India and the Middle East, and multi cli-
in the geology and geophysics world. “Statoil has always been a world leader in the ent surveys from the Gulf of Mexico and India.
field of rock physics and 4D seismic, and we are
Saudi Aramco patents very excited to be working with them to imple- Schlumberger acquires
interpretation algorithm ment this leading edge technology into the Nexus Geosciences
A move by Saudi Aramco gives it a US pat- RokDoc system,” says Hargrave. “The external Schlumberger has acquired Nexus Geo-
ent on a method to improve geoseismic data interface, which was developed in collaboration sciences Inc., a provider of integrated seis-
interpretation with a new algorithm that Ar- with Statoil, will form a key part of the project mic software and services for rapid imaging,
amco says minimizes distortion during pro- as it allows companies to deploy proprietary modeling, and interpretation. It will become
cessing. According to the patent, the method technology throughout their organizations us- part of the WesternGeco business unit.
gives more accurate gradients that were pos- ing the familiar RokDoc user interface.” Nexus has proprietary technologies for
sible before, especially with the volume of fast imaging and modeling, enabling oil and
data coming in for interpretation these days. Stingray offers integrated gas companies to rapidly build, update, and
“A few digital formulations describing the gra- permanent monitoring tool validate velocity models.
dient operator exist in the scientific community Stingray Geophysical Ltd. has a new ap- “Our customers are exploring in areas of
and in the industry,” says geological specialist proach to integrated seismic permanent res- increasing geological complexity while under
Yuchun E. Wang, one of the inventors, “but, they ervoir monitoring (PRM). In addition to main- considerable time pressures,” says Maurice
all introduce distortion in varying degrees and taining a core team of experts with a range Nessim, vice president of WesternGeco Geo-
adversely affect the bottom-line quality.” of skills, Stingray draws upon its network of Solutions. “The combination of Nexus proven
“Our invention produces the least amount of trusted partners worldwide to assemble pur- imaging and modeling expertise with West-
inaccuracy when applying it to seismic data,” pose-built teams with the key competences ernGeco advanced imaging solutions and
says co-inventor Mohammed N. Faraj of Geo- required to meet the specific challenges of global reach will allow us to help our custom-
physical Technical Services. “It is almost purely each project and deliver complete customer ers meet these challenges more effectively.”
isotropic, meaning that it sees the same thing solutions, according to Stingray.
irrespective of the angle it’s looking from.” Clair field has a complex seabed environ- Hampson-Russell sells
The invention, holding U.S. Patent No. ment, with geophysical and field infrastruc- rights to GLI3D
7,653,258, is software formulated as an al- ture constraints to the installation of perma- CGGVeritas owned Hampson-Russell Soft-
gorithm and encoded in the form of a com- nent seabed systems. Stingray and its partners ware & Services has sold full commercial
puter subroutine. were asked to identify how high data quality rights of its GLI3D refraction statics software
might be obtained in such conditions in a rea- to GeoTomo Llc. GeoTomo creates and dis-
Well Tie 1.0 arrives from Ikon sonable time using low-risk installations. To tributes surface and downhole seismic mod-
RokDoc-Well Tie 1.0 from Ikon Science reduce the need for power and space offshore, eling and imaging software products.
is designed to simplify the job of connect- the study considered how to control and “The decision to sell GLI3D ownership further
ing well data and seismic data. The module monitor subsea equipment without recording supports the focus of Hampson-Russell Software
is workflow driven, says Ikon, and incorpo- equipment on the platform. & Services on our Reservoir Characterization
rates cascaded workflows enabling users to In the other study, on the Schiehallion suite of software products,” says Dan Hampson,
see the effects on the tie-in of changes in any field, surface seismic data acquisition is president of Hampson-Russell GP Inc. “It is also
part of the process including wavelet estima- made difficult by an FPSO, shuttle tankers, clear that GLI3D is an excellent match with the
tion, and stretch and squeeze log editing. drilling rigs, and construction vessels. This, strategy and direction of GeoTomo.”
The workflow-driven approach has user coupled with the congested seabed and the Jie Zhang, president of GeoTomo, says:
help and guidance. For example, unrealis- probability of field expansion, creates a com- “GLI3D is an industry-standard software solu-
tic changes in interval velocity as a result of plex environment for a permanent array. tion for refraction statics problems. With the in-
trying to stretch and squeeze data are high- The study examined using FosarDeep con- clusion of GLI3D in the GeoTomo near-surface
lighted automatically to enforce the laws of cepts to introduce a PRM system under the solution package, TomoPlus, GeoTomo is able
physics on system users. The program is FPSO and in obstructed wellhead areas. to offer users a complete suite of near-surface
available as a plug-in to Petrel. solutions in addition to the current high-end
“The science of tying well data to seismic is Spectrum adds traveltime and waveform tomography technolo-
recognized by everyone as a fundamental task 3D anisotropic PSDM gies in TomoPlus.”
that all interpreters need to do,” says Martyn Spectrum has upgraded its seismic data pro-
Millwood Hargrave, CEO of Ikon. “This … cessing technology with Tsunami’s 3D aniso- Statoil signs Aker
package is aimed at geoscientists who do not tropic Kirchhoff Pre-Stack Depth Migration for subsurface consultancy
need to be familiar with RokDoc or rock phys- (PSDM) and 3D grid tomography model build- Statoil has signed a three-year frame agree-
ics but who need a fast, accurate, and easy- ing software. The new software enhances seis- ment with Aker Solutions for subsurface con-
to-use way to ensure that their well data and mic data processing in response to the demand sultancy services, starting this past March
seismic data are accurately tied.” for 3D pre-stack depth imaging services. with options to for two one-year extensions.
Elsewhere, Statoil chooses Ikon Science The Tsunami software suite will be available The services relate to Statoil’s worldwide
to implement bespoke exploration and reser- to Spectrum’s seismic processors through a production/exploration geology and reser-
voir geophysics methodology into RokDoc. multi-core license. voir technology. 

30 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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OI N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T
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Global overview of offshore

oil & gas operations for 2005-2009
Alex Chakhmakhchev Offshore contract area, shelf and deepwater at beginning of year
Peter Rushworth
IHS 14 million 12,000

A
12 million
10,000
Contract area (sq km)

Number of contracts
paucity of new giant discoveries in mature on- 10 million
shore petroleum provinces and restricted ac- 8,000

cess to new business opportunities in major oil 8 million

and gas producing countries are pushing the 6,000
6 million
industry to explore offshore locations and es-
pecially frontier deepwater and ultra deepwater basins. 4,000
4 million
IHS data indicates that, in the last 10 years, more than
2,000
half of new global oil and gas reserves were discovered 2 million
offshore. Deepwater and ultra deepwater discoveries
0 0
are becoming the dominant source of new reserve ad- 1990 1995 2000 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010
ditions, accounting for 41% of total new reserves based
Shelf Deepwater Number of contracts
on a statistical evaluation of discoveries between 2005
* Shelf - water depth <= 200 m (656 ft), Deepwater - water depth > 200 m (656 ft)
and 2009. Despite all recent challenges such as the
global economic downturn, credit crises, fluctuation of oil prices, holding of offshore positions of both the western and northeastern
and increased capital costs; this trend will likely continue, making US. However, the opening of Federal areas off the southeastern US
offshore and particularly deepwater, key contributors to new supply coast and eastern portion of the Gulf of Mexico in late March 2010
growth. should increase potential exploration areas. In addition, a number
The analysis presented in this paper is based on the IHS interna- of countries are negotiating with respect to drilling and exploration
tional E&P databases and the IHS Global E&P Reporting Service. activity in the arctic region.
There are many definitions frequently used for dividing and analyz- Despite limited technology and infrastructure, the first phase of
ing trends by water depth. In this paper, we used the following defi- offshore exploration continued from the 1940s to 1982. The year
nitions: shallow water (SW) <= 400 m (1,312 ft), 400 m < deepwater 1982, was a peak year for new field discoveries. In the 10 years prior
(DW) <= 1,500 m (4,921 ft), and ultra deepwater (UDW) > 1,500 m; to 1982, the number of offshore fields discovered per year more than
all related to bathymetric depth. doubled to 198. The pace and number of offshore fields increased
rapidly in the latter part of this first phase of offshore development.
Phases of offshore development Some significant finds of this era expanded regions of the Persian
and licensing activity Gulf, the Bombay High, and identified the giant fields in the North
Although the first offshore well may have occurred as early as Sea. Smaller, but equally significant finds were made in China and
the late 1890s, by and large, significant offshore activity was not Australia.
forthcoming until after World War II. From inspection of available, The second phase of offshore development may be viewed as the
contracted areas, it is possible to delineate phases of offshore explo- time period from 1983 to 2005. During this time, the number of new
ration. At present, nearly all countries with coastlines have an offer- fields fluctuated dramatically from a low of 116 new offshore fields
ing for offshore exploration. Some exceptions exist such as the with- in the years 1993 and 1994, to the largest number of offshore fields
discovered in the year 1990 (192 discoveries), never reaching the
Global discovery volumes by terrain previous high noted in 1982. This span of time is notable for a large
30,000
increase in inventory of offshore contract area as the number of

25,000 Average discovery size

180
20,000
160
MMboe

15,000 140

120
MMboe

10,000 100

80
5,000
60

0 40
2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
20

0
Ultra deepwater Deepwater Shallow water Onshore Onshore Shallow water Deepwater Ultra deepwater

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

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countries offering acreage spiked from 95 in 1985 to 133 in the year of offshore exploration is underway. Nearly all countries with offshore
2005. There was an increase of valid contract area inventory from offerings are in play. However, the larger available area for consider-
I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

about 5.5 million sq km (2.1 million sq mi) in 1995 to 9.2 million sq ation in exploration does not transform non-optimal geological terrains
km (3.6 million sq mi) in 2005. In 1985, the number of contracts for into prime areas for elephant-hunting. Similarly, the risk environment
offshore acreage was about 2,300. In 2005, at the end of Phase Two, for a poor or marginal situation onshore does not necessarily make a
just over 12 years later, the number of contracts exceeded 8,500. similar offshore target of that same country a better opportunity. The
During this second phase, Brazil found traction with deepwater basis for careful analysis, surveys, geologic, and engineering evaluation
fields such as Albacore Leste and Roncador. West Africa, the North rises with increasing risk and potential for reward, or failure.
Sea, the Caspian region, and Australasia all noted significant contri- Phase Three of offshore development represents an increase in
butions in new offshore discoveries. offered acreage mainly due to the increase in new deepwater and
While it may be premature to call a trend short of the historical data ultra deepwater areas. At the start of 2010, valid contracted areas
providing an unambiguous definition, it seems likely that a third phase approached nearly 12 million sq km (4.6 million sq mi). In addition,
New discovery locations map (2009)

Discovery volumes by country (2009)

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

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8QLYHUVLW\RI:LVFRQVLQ
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To: Valued KONG Customers SUHVVXUHGXHWRWKH
From: Clark Orr Jr. — ORR Safety Corporation .21**ORYH´
VP KONG, Marketing and Strategic Planning
I would first like to thank you for your support of the KONG Glove Project! ³7KH.21**ORYHV
ORR Safety has been working with the major oil and gas companies and UHGXFHGWKHSUHVVXUH
contractors since July 2007 to produce gloves that will prevent hand injury. H[SHULHQFHGE\WKHWHVW
After multiple prototypes and over 80,000 hours of field testing, KONG Gloves started shipping KDQGVVXEMHFWHGWRWKH
in October 2008. Over the past 17 months I have received numerous field reports about
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specific instances where KONG has drastically reduced what could have been a serious hand
injury. In some cases, KONG prevented an injury all together. It is encouraging to hear these DQG7KLVSURYLGHV
stories because it confirms that KONG Gloves are helping the effort to eliminate injuries and DFOHDUSURWHFWLYH
increase productivity. YDOXHDVWKHVWDWLFORDG
To reinforce what the field users are telling us, ORR Safety and Ironclad contracted the DSSOLHGWRWKHJORYHLV
University of Wisconsin’s Ergonomic Department (one of the top ergonomic departments in GLVWULEXWHGDQGOHVVHQHG
the world) to conduct independent lab tests on KONG. After 6 months of testing, we are close EHIRUHLWLVH[SHULHQFHG
E\WKHKDQG´
to having the full report that we will publish in the near future. The initial test results prove
without a shadow of a doubt that KONG greatly reduces the likelihood of an injury when a 
hand is subjected to forceful impact.
In recent months I have seen numerous competitors to KONG enter the market – some good
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When evaluating gloves please consider the facts…ORR Safety has distributed nearly 300,000
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Sincerely,

Clark Orr Jr.


 ZZZRUUVDIHW\FRPNRQJ ____________________________________

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more than 10,300 valid contracts for offshore acreage were in Global offshore drilling count
place at the start of 2010. While new deepwater production Ultra deepwater
I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

3,000
is masked by the greater volumes of new and ongoing shelf 114
Deepwater
production, the balance is tilting towards the critical point 108 128 Shallow water
2,500 416 102
where deepwater and ultra deepwater will dominate. This 370
422
404
third phase of offshore exploration was ushered in during 148

Number of wells
2006, with the Tupi discovery in Brazil, which was a forerun- 2,000
397
ner of a number of significant discoveries dominated by oil
and liquids. 1,500
2,324 2,268 2,176 2,075 1,731

New reserve additions 1,000

via exploration efforts 2005-2009
The five-year history of reserves additions shows that on- 500
shore exploration efforts are running out of steam. In con-
trast, deepwater (DW) and ultra deepwater (UDW) combined 0
are becoming the predominant source of new oil and gas dis- 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009
coveries. From 2005 through 2009, giant and significant deep-
water discoveries of oil and gas (41 Bboe, 2P reserves) were
made in Brazil, the US, Angola, Australia, India, Nigeria, Ghana, and in sub-salt Cretaceous deposits of the Santos basin. Another signifi-
Malaysia. According to IHS, 2P reserves (proven plus probable) cant oil discovery (3 Bboe, 2P) was made in the Santonian turbidite
represent a 50% confidence level that the reported level is in-place sands of the Cote d’Ivoire basin in Ghana. A significant natural gas
and recoverable. A number of countries recently joined the “Deep- discovery of 6.3 tcf, 2P was made in a Lower Miocene structure in
water Club,” including Ghana, China, Russia, Mexico, Trinidad and the Levantine basin in Israel. Other new deepwater plays were estab-
Tobago, Mozambique, Cameroon, Libya, and Cuba. In 2009, the av- lished in the North Luconia Province (Malaysia), South Makassar
erage new discovery size in DW and UDW was about 150 MMboe basin (Indonesia), Faridpur Trough (India), More basin (Norway)
that is considerably higher than that onshore (about 25 MMboe, 2P and the Campeche Deep Sea basin (Mexico).
reserves). The economic threshold is forcing DW and UDW opera-
tors to focus on relatively large prospects and, fortunately, they were 2009 exploration success
able to find these big-scale opportunities. From 2005 to 2009, a num- Global exploration activity in 2009 located nearly 500 new fields out-
ber of new plays were discovered in DW settings worldwide. These side of the inland US and Canada, and more than 160 of these were
new plays were not known either on- or offshore prior to 2005, and offshore. Not surprisingly, the largest and most prolific offshore pro-
represent new concepts of hydrocarbon accumulation in deepwater. ducing regions are often adjacent to and/or extensions of onshore
In Brazil, almost 20 Bboe, 2P reserves were reported discovered petroleum systems. For example, the GoM is a world-class producing

___________________

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_________________

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region with significant activity by two adja- North Sea. In UDW and DW of the GoM, six discov-
cent countries, the US and Mexico. However, In 2009, DW and UDW accounted for about eries with reserve sizes in the range from
exploration activity in Cuba and the eastern 45% of total new discovery volume (about 24 200 MMboe to 600 MMboe, 2P, added more
Gulf has yet to impact resource forecasts. Bboe, 2P reserves) including onshore (35%) than 2 Bboe, which was primarily oil. Sig-
Most finds from 2009 are categorized as and shallow water/shelf (20%). Brazil contin- nificant gas discoveries were made in Aus-
“appraising” by IHS, meaning that further ues to surprise the world by adding reserves tralia (DW), Israel (UDW) and Venezuela
drilling is needed to define and target produc- in sub-salt Cretaceous deposits (4 Bboe, 2P). (SW), totaling more than 4 Bboe, 2P of gas.
ing horizons, and these efforts are ongoing. These finds inspired global interest in basins Countries with a longer heritage of offshore
More than 50 countries had new offshore with evaporite deposits, especially those with production such as Norway, Angola, China,
field discoveries in 2009 for both oil and gas. pre-salt oil and gas accumulations. Although the UK, and a relatively new player, Ghana,
Natural gas offshore continues an upward the Brazilian discoveries represent a new play added between 300 Bboe to 900 Bboe, 2P.
movement of overall energy contribution with type in the Santos basin, this geologic setting
new and developing trends in Australia and is not unique. Globally, about 30 Bboe were Offshore drilling activity
Israel, along with longtime contributors in the discovered in sub-salt Cretaceous reservoirs. The 2008 global recession has had a strong
impact on offshore drilling activity, including
a slowing of the drilling rate in shallow wa-
ter and shelf drilling. However, this decline
TC trend in SW started earlier and was caused
O 8 by various factors including the utilization
at 43

TETRA
of new technology, higher drilling success
s # 9
t u th
rates, and higher flow rates in deviated wells.
s i Also, shallow water/shelf production in some
Vi B o o countries approached an advanced stage of
development and does not require extensive
drilling programs. DW and UDW diverge
considerably: exploration and development
drilling trends do not show any indication of
a reduction. In fact, 2009 became a record
year for UDW drilling, totaling 150 wells. A
preliminary well count also suggests strong
DW and UDW drilling rates in 2010. On aver-
age, through 2005 and 2009, the drilled depth
offshore increased from 3,100 m to 3,600 m
(10,171 ft to 11,811 ft) and the average water
depth from 450 m to 600 m (1,476 ft to 1,969 ft).

Summary
Deepwater and ultra deepwater discover-
ies will become more important contribu-
tors toward maintaining production levels in
the face of increasing global demand, espe-
cially for liquids. As this exploration effort
continues to push the boundaries of existing
technology, this same effort could result
in international tensions where offshore
boundaries overlap and/or fall in dispute. As
new technology improves for the high-risk/
high-reward prospects of these deep waters,
it is likely that older prospects, those closer
in and possibly already in areas of developed
infrastructure, will be reexamined and reap-
praised with these new technologies.
Drilling and exploration activity in the off-
shore environment is slower to respond to
TETRA Offshore Services safely provides a range of changes in commodity prices than those same
well abandonment and decommissioning solutions. endeavors onshore. Over time, the fluctuations
of price do, however, influence the decision to
 Project Engineering and Management enter into these substantial investments. De-
 Rigless and Subsea P&A spite the wild ride, the recent rapid changes
in commodity prices demonstrated continued
 Wireline interest in the offshore environment. 
 EOT Topside & Subsea Cutting
 Heavy Lift Vessels About the authors
 EPIC Diving & Marine Alex Chakhmakhchev, Ph.D., is senior manager of the
Data Advisory Group, IHS. Peter Rushworth is a GIS
 Inland Workover and P&A Rigs workflow advisor at IHS.
 Land P&A

tetratec.com
A

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Reloading the Gulf

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

Recent discoveries could fuel the next wave of projects

U
S domestic oil production last year David Paganie
posted its first increase since 1991, Managing Editor
thanks to a handful of deepwater
projects, most notably a full year of
production at Thunder Horse, which December 2009. Ensco 8500 drilled the well
accounted for an estimated 200 Mb/d or 26% to 20,000 ft (6,096 m) TD and encountered
of the growth. The BP-operated project also more than 200 net ft (61 m) of pay in sub-
was a major contributor in increasing Gulf salt Pliocene and Miocene sands. A recent
of Mexico output by over 30%. The field cur- appraisal well was drilled up-dip to 20,600 ft
rently accounts for 15% of all GoM supply. (6,279 m) TD, approximately 3,200 ft (975
However, Gulf oil production is expected to m) due south of the discovery well. It hit
peak in 2011, followed by the beginning of a about 600 net ft (183 m) of oil and gas pay.
steady decline. Lucius is 7.5 mi (12 km) east of Chevron’s
The good news is industry continues to make 2009 Buckskin discovery on Keathley Can-
healthy discoveries, albeit not the size of Thun- yon block 872. There, Buckskin No. 1 was
der Horse, but perhaps large enough to upright drilled in 6,920 ft (2,109 m) of water to 29,404
the forthcoming decline. We reported in the ft (8,962 m) deep and encountered more than
January edition of Offshore (www.offshore-mag. 300 ft (91 m) of net pay. Commercial viability
com/index/current-issue/offshore/volume-70/ is yet to be determined. Chevron plans to drill Shell starts
issue-1.html) that the 2009 discoveries, an-
_______ an appraisal well on Buckskin in the first half production at Perdido
nounced through the end of November, rep- of this year. Shell has first oil from Perdido - the
resented nearly 1.4 Bboe, the most found in a Following work on Lucius, Anadarko will world’s deepest spar in about 2,450 m
single year in the GoM since 2002. Meanwhile, move Ensco 8500 to the Heidelberg discov- (8,000 ft) of water, and the first Paleo-
others are firming up previous finds. ery for an appraisal program. The company gene production ever in the Gulf of
There are a number of factors that dictate also plans to drill a second appraisal well on Mexico, the company says. The facility
the timing and selection of projects to move its 2009 Vito discovery, which is estimated produces from the Great White, Silvertip,
forward, but for now, here are some possi- to hold greater than 200 MMboe. Field op- and Tobago fields, requiring up to 35
bilities. erator Shell is targeting FEED by next year, wells over the life of the fields. The Toba-
with an estimated startup post-2014. See go subsea completion in 2,900 m (9,600
New discoveries, appraisals page 22 in this issue for more details. ft) of water holds the world depth record
for a completed subsea well. In addition,
The resource estimate from a new discov- Anadarko also continues development at
all Perdido subsea fields will use subsea
ery on the Lucius prospect and subsequent Caesar/Tonga. There, three of the four devel-
separation and boosting. The develop-
appraisal work has the field partners consider- opment wells have been drilled, and conversion
ment is expected to ramp up to 100,000
ing development options. Industry sources es- work continues on the topsides of the host plat- boe/d. Photo courtesy of Shell.
timate the field to contain recoverable resourc- form, Constitution. First production is expected
es of about 150-200 MMbbl of liquids/oil and in 2Q 2011. Anadarko says it expects to bring
about 1 tcf of natural gas. Operator Anadarko online six new “mega projects” by 2016. on its Knotty Head discovery in Green Can-
says it will continue appraisal work in the area Shell has made a discovery at the Appo- yon block 512, with results expected in the sec-
this year. Development options under consid- mattox prospect on Mississippi Canyon block ond quarter of this year. Ensco 8501 is drilling
eration include a subsea tieback to the Red 392. Development planning, which could in- the well. One development scenario under con-
Hawk cell spar or standalone development. clude a new hub according to partner Nexen, sideration is an early production system for a
Lucius, in Keathley Canyon block 875 in is under way. See page 22 for more details. number of subsea wells tied back to an existing
7,100 ft (2,164 m) of water, was discovered in Meanwhile, Nexen continues appraisal work platform in the vicinity. The other option is full

North America offshore summary of projected field developments 2010-2014 © INFIELD SYSTEMS 2010
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North America 58 110 5,218 9,145 421 1 3 3 2 0 245 276 6 7,743 129

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

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USA Phone: (281) 561-5600

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www.clovertool.com
Visit us at OTC Booth #385 [email protected]

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OI N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T
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field development immediately with water in- with production starting in 2011. 230 in 20 ft (6 m) of water. The well was
jection. First production is expected post-2014. BP has confirmed an extension of its 2006 deepened to 29,000 ft (8,839 m) TD in Febru-
A second deepwater rig, Ensco 8502, is Kaskida discovery. An appraisal well to test ary. Logs indicated 200 net ft (61 net m) of
expected to arrive in the middle of this year a western extension of the Kaskida field has hydrocarbon-bearing sands in four zones of
for Nexen. The company plans to use both confirmed oil in Lower Tertiary reservoirs the Wilcox section of the Eocene/Paleocene.
rigs to drill up to four GoM exploration wells, 5 mi (8 km) west of the discovery well. The McMoRan believes Davy Jones could be one
including prospects Kakuna, Angel Fire, Soli- well, drilled to TD of 32,500 ft (9,906 m), is in of the largest shelf discoveries in the GoM
tude, and non-operated Catalina. Keathley Canyon block 291. in decades. The field is estimated to cover
ERT has hit oil and gas pay at the Jake Appraisal work will continue with a wide- 20,000 acres, extending across four blocks.
prospect on Green Canyon block 490. azimuth, towed-streamer seismic acquisi- Pending the timing and results of the sched-
The discovery well, drilled by Ocean Amer- tion survey and a well test in 2011. Prior to uled flow test and offset well, first production
ica to 13,504 ft (4,116 m) TD in 3,740 ft (1,139 the field extension confirmation, Kaskida from Davy Jones is anticipated in 2011.
m) of water, encountered 134 ft (41 m) of net was estimated to hold 3 Bboe in place. Proj-
oil and gas pay in a single sand interval. De- ect start-up is expected by 2015. Possible project sanctions
velopment options include a potential joint In September of last year, BP announced Final investment decision is expected by
project with a recent nearby discovery. First its second discovery in the Lower Tertiary, the end of this year for the development of
production is anticipated in mid-2011. Tiber, which is said to be in the same class the Chevron-operated Big Foot and Jack/St.
Mariner Energy has made a discovery at as Kaskida in terms of resource potential. Malo projects. Both projects entered FEED
its Wide Berth prospect on Green Canyon Tiber, in Keathley Canyon block 102, is 50 last year.
block 490. The discovery well encountered mi (80 km) west-northwest of Kaskida. Chevron opted for FloaTEC’s extended
approximately 130 ft (40 m) of net pay. The Tiber discovery well, in 4,132 ft (1,259 tension leg platform (ETLP) for the Big Foot
LLOG Exploration has hit 120 ft (37 m) net m) of water, struck oil in multiple lower tertia- development on Walker Ridge block 29 in
TVD of oil pay at the Mandy prospect on Mis- ry reservoirs. It was drilled to 35,055 ft (10,685 5,000 ft (1,524 m) of water. “A dry-tree devel-
sissippi Canyon block 199. The discovery well m) TMD, making it the deepest well drilled opment scenario with a full platform drilling
was drilled in 2,500 ft (762 m) of water to 7,500 ever, according to BP. Transocean’s semisub- rig was selected for the proposed Big Foot
ft (2,286 m) TVD. A follow-up well on Mandy mersible Deepwater Horizon drilled the well. project as it will enable in-well artificial lift
had similar results, striking more than 100 ft BP said it would drill an appraisal well on field and timely intervention capabilities,” Chev-
(30 m) net TVD of oil pay, LLOG confirms. to determine its size and commerciality. ron tells Offshore. “Also, all wells, producers,
The field’s pre-drill estimate was about 10 On the shelf, McMoRan Exploration Co. and injectors can be drilled from a single drill
MMboe. Mandy could be developed as a two- has made a deep well discovery at the Davy center. The ETLP is well suited for a dry-tree
well subsea tieback to existing infrastructure, Jones prospect on South Marsh Island block scenario and its mooring system allows opti-

$W?X$*B$Z?B[;$#\X]Z^B][$<Z<]_B`\

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________________

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I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T
mal placement of the drill center in the chal- Dog Phase 2, Na Kika Phase 4, Atlantis Phase leases. ConocoPhillips will retain operatorship
lenging seafloor conditions such as the one 3, Stones, and Cardaman Deep. Shell says and a majority working interest in the leases.
found in the deep waters of the GoM.” Stones could hold up to 5 Bbbl of oil in place. Initial drilling on the leases is expected in 2012.
KBR secured the contract for topsides FEED. The company is looking at early production Statoil has contracted Fugro-Geoteam to
Chevron also initiated FEED of a new hub options, with a project start-up post-2014. Shell acquire and QC process data from a 2,400-sq
to develop the Jack and St. Malo discover- said recently that its discoveries at Appomattox, km (924-sq mi) 3D marine seismic program
ies. The semisubmersible platform, with West Boreas, Vito, and Stones, “underpin the around the company’s leases in the Chukchi
capacity to process 120,000-150,000 b/d of potential for four new production hubs.” Sea. The survey is planned for early August
oil and 37.5 MMcf/d of gas, and provision into October of this year.
for a future 200,000 b/d of water injection, Alaska
will be moored in 7,000 ft (2,134 m) of wa- The MMS has approved, with conditions, Canada
ter. Mustang won the contract for topsides Shell Gulf of Mexico’s exploration plan to In Goldboro, Canada, preparations contin-
FEED, with completion expected in the sec- drill three exploratory, information-gather- ue for the upcoming Deep Panuke construc-
ond quarter of this year. ing wells in the Chukchi Sea of Alaska. tion program. Acergy is scheduled to begin
Meanwhile, Enbridge has been contract- Shell proposes activities using one drill- offshore installation of the infield flowlines in
ed to extend the GoM’s deepwater pipeline ship, one ice management vessel, an ice-class the second quarter of this year. Meanwhile,
grid to transport oil from Big Foot and natu- anchor-handling vessel, and oil spill response Nova Scotia’s first subsea tree was installed
ral gas from St. Malo, Jack, and Big Foot. vessels. The closest proposed drill site is in late February at the Deep Panuke disposal
Other projects that could get sanctioned more than 60 mi (97 km) offshore Alaska. well. Hydrogen sulphide and carbon dioxide
this year include Tubular Bells, Mars B, Atlan- “Our approval of Shell’s plan is condi- from the field’s natural gas will be disposed in
tis Phase 2, Galapagos, Na Kika Phase 3, Horn tioned on close monitoring of Shell’s activi- this well during production.
Mountain Phase 2, and Tahiti 2. Last year BP ties to ensure that they are conducted in a First production from Deep Panuke ini-
was considering a new hub as one of several safe and environmentally responsible man- tially was slated for late this year, but delays
development options for its Tubular Bells and ner,” says Ken Salazar, US Secretary of the in the construction of the field’s MOPU has
Kodiak discoveries. The company appointed Interior. “These wells will allow the depart- pushed startup into 2011. The SBM-supplied
AMEC to evaluate the development options, ment to develop additional information and platform is being assembled at Gulf Piping
with the aim of advancing the preferred solu- to evaluate the feasibility of future develop- Corp. in Abu Dhabi. Fabrication of the plat-
tion into FEED. Mars B is in feasibility stage ment in the Chukchi Sea.” form legs is being done in the Netherlands,
for a possible TLP with about 1,000 boe/d po- Meanwhile, Statoil has increased its acre- with CMP in Dunkerque supplying the riser
tential. Start-up is expected post-2014. age in the Chukchi Sea through acquisition caisson, and Aecon Fabco in Pictou, Nova
Projects on the drawing boards include Mad of a 25% working interest in 50 ConocoPhillips Scotia, providing the flare tower. 

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A

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Brazilian activity sets pace for

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

Latin America’s petroleum industry

Gene Kliewer carbonate reservoirs, according to Petrobras.
Technology Editor, Subsea & Seismic • Back in Campos, Petrobras has hit pay with exploratory well 6-BR-
63A-RJS.

T
• Campos basin exploration well 3-MA-32A hit 30-m (98-ft) thick
hese days coverage of E&P activity across Latin America reservoirs of good porosity and permeability, Petrobras reports.
starts in Brazil and includes a discussion of presalt/subsalt In the Papa Terra Joint Venture between Petrobras and Chevron,
discoveries offshore in deepwater. A quick look at the most J. Ray McDermott won a project for the P-61 tension leg wellhead
recent drilling results gives a strong indication of the reason platform.
behind all the attention: Chevron says Papa Terra will cost $5.2 billion and recover an
• BG Group reports a drillstem test on the Tupi North-East well estimated 380 MMbbl of heavy oil. Papa Terra is 70 mi (110 km)
3-BRSA-755A-RJS in 2,115 m (6,939 ft) of water in the BM-S.11 ap- offshore in 3,900 ft (1,190 m) of water in block BC-20 of the Campos
praisal area of the Santos basin presalt, which flowed at a rate of basin. The project will have the first TLP offshore Brazil.
5,000 b/d of 28º API oil. Petrobras has awarded FMC Technologies a four-year subsea
• OGX Petróleo e Gás Participações reports an oil-bearing interval tree frame agreement. FMC’s scope of supply includes the manu-
in the Albian section of well 1-OGX-6-RJS, drilled by the Diamond facture of up to 107 subsea trees and related tools for use offshore
Offshore rig Ocean Quest in Campos basin shallow-water block Brazil in water depths of 6,500 ft (2,000 m).
BM-C-41 block. Petrobras has awarded Subsea 7 a $200-million engineering, pro-
• That followed an oil find by OGX at the 1-OGX-5-RJS well in block curement, installation, and commissioning (EPIC) contract for the
BM-C-43 in the shallow waters of southern Campos basin. Roncador field, offshore Brazil. Subsea 7 will engineer, procure, fab-
• Well 1-OGX-2A-RJS in Campos basin block BM-C-41 encountered ricate, install, and commission a 12-in. (30-cm) diameter gas export
oil in Upper Cretaceous reservoirs, according to OGX. line totaling 38.7 km (24 mi) and a 12-in. (30-cm) diameter oil export
• Anadarko Petroleum’s Wahoo No. 2 (also called Wahoo North) line totaling 42 km (26 mi). The pipelines will connect the P-55 plat-
appraisal/exploration well in the Campos basin encountered more form to the PRA-1platform.
than 90 ft (295 m) of high-quality net oil pay in the same pre-salt
interval as the original Wahoo discovery, the company says. Political play in the subsalt
• Petrobras has begun extended well testing following the installa- Proposed legislation in Brazil would create production-
tion of the semisubmersible platform SS-11 Atlantic Zephyr in ex- sharing contracts with Petrobras for all oil and gas from subsalt
ploratory block BM-S-40 in the Santos basin’s Tiro e Sídon areas. layers and in “strategic areas.”
• Two formation tests on well 4-RJS-647 (4-BRSA-711-RJS) in the The idea is to use proceeds from subsalt hydrocarbons for
Santos basin’s Tupi area have proved high productivity of presalt social and economic development without infringing on the
rights of private companies now active offshore. In an area still
divided over the nationalization of oil and gas assets in Venezu-
Camamu-
Almada ela, and in a country where Petrobras was once thought of as
Statoil operator “a government within a government,” the legislation has myriad
rival interests and is likely to take months to resolve. The bills
Statoil partner did go to Congress “with urgency” in an effort to maintain exist-
Bids won in eighth round,
Jequitinhonha ing schedules for subsalt hydrocarbon developments.
pending award The main beneficiary of the new legislation as it stands now
would be state-owned Petrobras. The national oil company
would be the official operator of all subsalt hydrocarbons with
B R A Z I L some considerations that allow private participation.
Espirito- The federal government, for example, would be free to hire
Santo Petrobras exclusively for subsalt E&P if it wishes, or to conduct
public bids with the free participation of any company, accord-
ing to Petrobras. In areas subject to public bids, Petrobras will
Peregrino have a minimum interest of 30%, with the additional right to
participate in bidding processes to increase its interest in those
R
Rio de Janeiro
areas. The new rules would be similar to existing ones, except
Petrobras would be the operator.
New ideas in the proposals would bring some of the most
significant changes in the regulatory structure since the mas-
Campos sive liberalization reforms that broke the Petrobras monopoly
upstream. Two of those concepts are defined by Petrobras as:
1. “Profit oil” refers to production from a certain field, after
deduction of costs and expenses related to oil production
2. “Cost oil” corresponds to costs and investments made by
the contracted party for exploration and production activities.
Santos Another change would be the idea of a subscription bonus
Peregrino is 85 km (53 mi) off the coast of Brazil in a water depth of up defined on a case-by-case basis by CNPE. Royalty payments
to 100 m (328 ft). This map also indicates the general vicinity of Brazil’s likely would continue to follow the terms of Law No. 9,478 of
offshore basins. Aug. 6, 1997.

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

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O © 2010 Swagelok Company

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Simulated computer modeling, dimensional testing, and electron scanning

of raw materials – you name it, we’ll go to any lengths to ensure that if it’s

We don’t have a department from Swagelok, it’s top quality. Because Quality isn’t just one of our values.
It’s our attitude. It’s the focus of every associate, affecting everything from
dedicated to quality. We have our services to our products. And by using the same disciplines, practices,
and technologies through every office in every country, that focus is constant.
a company dedicated to it. We know that quality isn’t just a well-made product, it’s customers served
beyond what they were expecting. To see what that attitude can do for you,
visit swagelok.com/quality.

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Latin America offshore summary of projected field developments 2010-2014 © INFIELD SYSTEMS 2010
I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

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Petrobras has signed a $500-million frame agreement with Cam- Operators in Brazil are not resting on their wildcatting success.
eron for 138 subsea trees for projects offshore Brazil. Installation ION Geophysical has acquired an additional 28,000 km (17,398 mi)
will be supported by 18 sets of running tools. Initial delivery is of regional seismic data covering Brazil’s southern Santos, Pelotas,
scheduled to begin in 2011. and northeastern Equatorial basins.
Petrobras has awarded FMC Technologies a $90-million contract to The BrasilSPAN program, which contains 42,000 km (26,097 mi), of-
supply a subsea separation system for the Marlim field in the Campos fers the first contiguous dataset of Brazil’s coastline, the company says.
basin. FMC’s scope of supply consists of a subsea separation and pump- Pelotas dataset, in combination with ION’s CongoSPAN program
ing system. The subsea separation module will separate heavy oil, gas, offshore Angola, should provide geoscientists with a deeper under-
sand, and water in a water depth of approximately 2,950 ft (900 m). standing of the continental break-up between Brazil and Africa by
According to FMC, this is the first deepwater deployment of sub- highlighting potential conjugate ties in the southern Atlantic, the
sea separation technologies in a mature field, and the first separa- company says.
tion of heavy oil and water in a subsea environment in the world. It
will also be the first separation system to include subsea re-injection Peru
of water into a reservoir to boost production. BPZ Resources has completed the 19D well offshore Peru with a
Petrobras also has awarded Aker Solutions a contract to supply sustained initial production rate of approximately 1,700 b/d of oil. At
three PLETs, two rigid jumpers, tools, and accessories for the P-55 last report, the company is drilling the next Corvina field well, 17D,
platform on the Roncador field. targeting a proved undeveloped location.
Additionally, Subsea 7 has awarded Aker Solutions a contract for The company has applied for an extended well testing (EWT)
two sets of 12-in. (30-cm) PLETs, one set of 12-in. (30-cm) ILT (t- permit for the first five Corvina field wells, not including 19D and
shaped pipeline), tools, and accessories for the platform. 17D. BPZ has ordered reinjection equipment for the CX11 platform
Aker Solutions also has a $37-million contract to supply eight and plans to transition the field out of the EWT and into commercial
Mobo subsea boosting systems and one emergency valve (ESDV) production by May 31.
for the Jubarte field in the Campos basin, offshore Brazil. Also offshore Peru, BPZ has completed the A-14XD well on the Alba-

Wind, Temperature, Humidity, Precipitation, Solar Radiation, Atmospheric Pressure, Wind

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cora field with an initial production rate of 2,300 b/d of oil from an oil
zone lower than any of the oil zones tested in the discovery well drilled

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T
by Tenneco in 1972. The well produced consistently with no apparent
increase in its gas-oil-ratio and with no formation water.
BPZ is installing processing facilities at the platform, and has shut-
in the A-14XD well and suspended drilling of the A-15D well until work
is complete. Installation of the facilities is estimated to take approxi-
mately four weeks, at which time A-15D drilling is expected to restart.
SCAN Geophysical has completed acquisition of 1,251 mi (2,013
km) of 2D data over block Z34 offshore northern Peru for Gold Oil
using the seismic vessel M/V SCAN Stigandi. An initial assessment
of data indicates the presence of sedimentary sections that corre-
late with the same producing layers containing crude oil reserves
in the neighboring Z2B block, according to Gold Oil.

Venezuela
Venezuela has taken a step back in history with the nationaliza-
tion of its petroleum operations. Late last year, Cardón IV S.A., a joint
operating company of Eni and Repsol, has made a gas discovery with
the Perla 1X well, offshore Venezuela. The well reportedly encoun-
tered a 240-m (775-ft) hydrocarbon column.
According to the company, Perla is the largest gas discovery in
Venezuela. The field has a reserve potential higher than the 6 tcf (1
Bboe) previously estimated.
During production testing, the well produced high quality gas
with a capacity of 600,000 cu m/d (approximately 3,700 boe/d) and
500 b/d of condensate. Normalized gas production per well is ex-
pected to increase to over 1 MMcm/d (6,000 boe/d).

Argentina
Some exploration work has been organized within the last few
months. ION Geophysical has completed the data processing and
interpretation for its ArgentineSPAN basin-scale seismic program
offshore Argentina.
ArgentineSPAN contains approximately 11,800 km (7,332 mi) of
new, regional data off the Argentine Southern Atlantic margin from
the international boundary between Argentina and Uruguay to the Is your international medical
southern tip of the Argentine mainland offshore Tierra del Fuego.
The program provides high-resolution images of prospective insurer looking out for you?
targets in all of the basins offshore Argentina and offers a new
understanding of the petroleum systems and prospectivity of the
offshore oil and gas potential for Argentina, the company says.

Mexico
Mexico’s state oil company Pemex is in a political box that has re-
sulted in continuing decline in offshore oil and gas production from the Maritime medical insurance
GoM. Pemex is required to be the operator in the country. For opera-
tions, Pemex will have to get technical assistance from IOCs. That re-
that’s not on the rocks.
quires some amending of the political climate in the country. The Cape of Good Hope or the Suez Canal.
Nevertheless, Pemex hopes new deepwater production will help
Wherever you are. We’ve got you covered.
Mexico sustain about 3.3 MMb/d of production. It is estimated that
over half of Mexico’s potential petroleum resources (29.9 Bboe) You’re just a phone call away. Our 24/7
are in deepwater and Pemex has contracted five deepwater rigs. multilingual helpline is ready and waiting.
Pemex has awarded GX Technology a three-year contract to To get you to the nearest centre of medical
provide seismic data processing and imaging services for multiple expertise. As soon as possible.
offshore projects. The scope of services includes velocity model
building and pre-stack depth migration using beam migration and
reverse time migration.
Pemex also has hired CGG Veritas for a five-year, $464-million deep-
water seismic survey contract. The deal is one of the largest explora-
tion contracts in the history of the company, with more than 75,000 sq Bupa International
km (28,958 sq mi) of 3D seismic data to be acquired. Healthcare. Everywhere.
The survey will set the stage for Pemex to begin new deepwater
GoM exploration and production projects, where some 30 Bbbl are +44 (0) 1273 322 087
thought to exist, or more than half of the country’s total petroleum www.bupa-intl.com
reserves. Pemex already had awarded Fugro and Constructora
Subacuatica Diavaz (CSD) a $15-million contract for a multi-site
high resolution geophysical and geotechnical survey. 

www.offshore-mag.com • May 2010 Offshore 47

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OI N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T
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Frontier exploration, pipelay

dominate activity in northern Europe

V
arious surveys at the turn of the year Jeremy Beckman platform linked to the existing Judy complex.
painted a gloomy picture of the E&P Editor, Europe Another hub project could soon have lift-off
prospects on the UK shelf. Wood in blocks 20/1N and 20/1S in what operator
Mackenzie pointed to the fall-off in Nexen calls the “Golden Eagle Area,” combin-
companies able, or willing, to finance ing a three series of discoveries with potential
exploration and appraisal drilling in the sec- of Shetland. The Clair Ridge project will call gross resources of 275 MMboe.
tor. Deloitte added that the total of new well for two new giant platforms delivering pro- Independents have found finance constraints
starts in the final quarter of last year was duction of up to 120,000 b/d, with associated squeezing their smaller-scale projects, but there
the lowest since 2003. In February, industry gas probably heading through spare ullage have been exceptions. Ithaca Energy is pursuing
association Oil & Gas UK warned of a de- in the Laggan/Tormore system. Chevron’s development of its Athena oil field in the central
cline in the volume of reserves both under Rosebank/Lochnagar fields close to the sector, with a letter of intent for the FPSO BW
development and in production, and urged Faroe Islands could also ship gas through Carmen. Farther north, Antrim Energy is evalu-
intervention from the UK government in the this network. Last year, the US major com- ating floaters for its heavy oil Fyne field, while
form of lower production taxes. missioned Intecsea and Norway’s Sevan Ma- Premier Oil may opt this year for an FPSO for its
But there have been chinks of light. There rine for platform/subsea evaluation studies Huntington project.
was an upsurge in frontier region explora- for what would be the UK’s deepest-water Some significant subsea projects are also
tion last year, notably west of the Shetlands, development to date. in prospect. BP is looking to tie back its large
bringing deepwater oil and gas discoveries Things are also stirring in the UK central Devenick gas-condensate accumulation to
for OMV (Tornado); DONG (Glenlivet); and North Sea. ConocoPhillips recently awarded a Marathon’s east Brae platform. BP has also
for Hurricane Exploration (Lancaster), the contract to Saipem for engineering, transport, been studying potential application of subsea
first planned exploration well on a basement and installation in 2011-12 of three platforms processing on its developed Foinaven oil field
target on the UKCS. with a total weight of over 30,000 tons (27.215 west of Shetland. Apache plans to further ex-
In January, the UK Treasury announced it metric tons) for the high-pressure, high-tem- tend the life of its Forties A platform through
would extend its new field tax allowance to perature Jasmine gas-condensate field devel- tieback of the 2005 Bacchus discovery facili-
West of Shetland gas discoveries, to incen- opment in 80 m (262 ft) water depth. One of ties. And Fairfield, the new operator of the
tivize investment in development infrastruc- these structures will be a new riser/separation decommissioned North West Hutton field,
ture in this hostile environment. Not aims for a re-development via its Dun-
long afterwards, Total committed to lin platform.
a subsea development of its Laggan
and Tormore gas fields in this region, Mixed picture
under a near $4-billion scheme involv- off Norway
ing construction of long-distance un- Last year a record 65 explora-
dersea trunklines to Shetland and the tion and appraisal wells were drilled
Frigg export system in the northern offshore Norway, according to the
UK North Sea. Norwegian Petroleum Directorate
BP has also revealed plans for a $6 (NPD). This activity led to 19 discov-
billion second-phase development of eries in the Norwegian Sea and 21 in
its Clair field, 75 km (46.6 mi) west the North Sea. The Barents Sea was
totally overlooked, although two or
Computer-aided image of the Ekofisk three wells are forecast in this region
2/4 L accommodation platform, one of during 2010.
two large Norwegian construction con- Interest in the sector remains strong,
tracts issued recently to Far East yards. with 42 companies gaining interests in

Europe offshore summary of projected field developments 2010-2014 © INFIELD SYSTEMS 2010
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Eastern Europe 24 1 7,487 24,060 14 0 0 0 0 0 6 0 1 2,378 0

Southern Europe 38 8 332 228 21 3 2 0 0 2 17 0 0 1,279 18.5

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

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Photo: Øyvind Hagen / Statoil

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38 new licenses across the shelf earlier this year late. Statoil and partners Marathon and GDF Ireland, Denmark revival
under Norway’s latest Awards in Pre-Defined Suez have approved a $1.17 billion plan for Off the Faroe Islands, Eni is preparing to
I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

Areas licensing round. A similar number of the 132 MMboe, high-pressure, high-temper- drill the Anne Marie prospect in License 005
respondents have nominated 307 blocks for ature Gudrun field in the North Sea, discov- this spring. The Faroese government reports
inclusion under the country’s forthcoming 21st ered in 1974. Aker Verdal won the first major two other new commitment wells in its waters,
licensing round. contract, for the 16-slot platform’s 7,100-met- one to be drilled by Statoil in either license
Many of last year’s finds were relatively ric ton (7,826-ton) steel jacket. Production 006, 009, or 011. This follows the recent exten-
routine near-platform pickings for the sec- will be exported following part-processing to sion of the latter three licenses through 2013.
tor’s leader Statoil. Others were the result the Sleipner complex to the south. Serica Energy discovered oil while search-
of high-profile wells in frontier regions, but This success for Aker offset the disap- ing for gas last June in the Slyne basin off
with disappointing results. For instance, To- pointment of missing out on the FPSO for western Ireland. Although the find was non-
tal’s appraisal well on the complex Jurassic the Goliat field in the Barents Sea, which commercial, the company is stepping up its ac-
gas discovery Victoria in Norwegian Sea operator ENI awarded to Hyundai Heavy In- tivities in the region, focussing on a prospective
license 211 B appears to have downgraded dustries under a NOK 6.9 billion ($858.5 mil- deepwater gas structure named Muckish in its
recoverable reserves to 20-60 bcm. In the lion) contract. More recently, a $550 million newly awarded FEL 1/09 exploration license in
same region, Statoil’s appraisal well on the order for a 10,000-metric ton (11,023-ton) the Rockall basin. Only three wells have been
northern part of the Ormen Lange field topsides consignment also went east, this drilled to date in this frontier basin, including
found a gas-water contact at a shallower time to Sembcorp Marine in Singapore, for the 2002 gas-condensate discovery Dooish.
level than the rest of the structure, raising ConocoPhillips’ new 2/4L accommodation In the north Celtic Sea basin off southern
doubts over its long-term producibility. platform for the Ekofisk South development. Ireland, Providence Resources has been
Shell found gas in Upper Cretaceous hori- Saipem’s S7000 will install this and the re- awarded a licensing option over the undevel-
zons while drilling the Gro prospect in Nor- lated 2/4Z wellhead platform in 2012-13, in oped Baltimore heavy oil field in 100 m (328
wegian Sea license 326. The water depth of water depths of 70-80 m (229-262 ft). ft) water depth. Providence hopes to apply
1,376 m (4,514 ft) was the deepest to date Among other ongoing projects, ENI re- new development techniques which Statoil
for a Norwegian well, but the outcome was cently contracted FMC for a subsea produc- is pioneering on other similar fields in the
uncertain, with preliminary estimates in the tion system for the 30-km (18.6-mi) tieback Norwegian and UK North Sea.
range 10-100 bcm. Elsewhere, there were of the Marulk field in the Norwegian Sea to Two Dublin-based companies, San Leon
lower-key oil find successes in the North Statoil’s Norne FPSO. Statoil has awarded Ai- Energy and Island Oil and Gas, plan to merge,
Sea for Marathon (near the Alvheim FPSO), bel a FEED contract for topsides and living with the aim of monetizing various small gas
Petro-Canada, Talisman Energy (Grevling, quarters for a platform on the Valemon field. fields in the Celtic Sea through the Kinsale
close to Varg), and Wintershall (Grosbeak). And Sevan Marine is working on potential ap- production facilities, and also stepping up seis-
Development activity slowed down mark- plications of its cylindrical FPSOs for Statoil, mic acquisition on the Irish Atlantic Margin.
edly on the Norwegian shelf in 2009, but as BG Norge, and Det norske oljeselskap for the The Dutch House of Representatives passed a
in the UK, there has been a sudden upturn of Froy field re-development in the North Sea. proposal last September for a marginal offshore
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Castoro Sei was due to start laying the is progressing to plan, with a new process-
Nord Stream gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea ing platform set to start service in 2011.

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T
last month. Due to the slowdown in global LNG de-
mand, Gazprom, Total, and Statoil decided
field tax incentive. This was designed to to defer until 2011 final investment deci-
simulate development of certain categories sions on facilities for the Shtokman project
of reservoirs offshore the Netherlands. in the Barents Sea off northern Russia.
Analysts Wood Mackenzie calculated that First exports of gas through a pipeline to
the incentive – if enacted – could add 44% Europe are now set for 2016, followed by
to the net present value of a marginal 15 bcf the start up of the LNG scheme onshore
field. But this would not be enough to stem northern Russia in 2017.
the decline of production from numerous Laying was due to begin in April of the
small Dutch fields expected from 2011 onwards, dles two licenses, and could contain 250MMboe first of the 48-in. (122-cm) diameter, 1,224-km
Wood Mackenzie predicts. recoverable with substantial upside, according to (760-mi) Nord Stream pipelines taking gas
As ever, a few players continue to drive the partner Noreco. Also in the western sector, Win- from Russian fields through the Baltic Sea to
Dutch offshore E&P sector. Among the ma- tershall found further oil with an appraisal well markets in Europe. Saipem’s semisubmers-
jors, Total is developing its K5CU gas field in on the 1986 Ravn discovery. ible Castoro Sei has started its program in the
the K5-B area via a new unmanned satellite DONG rectified subsea structural issues Swedish Exclusive Economic Zone, 60 km
platform linked to the existing K5A riser plat- which halted production from its Siri facilities, (37.3 mi) off the island of Gotland. Eventually
form. Subsea 7 is due to install connecting then added further volumes from the newly two parallel pipelines will be laid between the
gas and di-ethylene glycol pipelines this sum- onstream Nini East platform. DONG also an- start-point of Vyborg, Russia, and the end-
mer. Wintershall plans to develop the Wing- nounced its intention to appraise Svane, the point of Lubmin, northern Germany.
ate field in the UK southern gas basin via a deepest discovery on the Danish shelf to date Gazprom, which is providing the gas, aims
tie-back to its D/15-FA1 platform in Dutch at 6,000 m (19,684 ft) sub-surface, and possi- to send further supplies to southern Europe
waters. And Petro-Canada has reportedly is- bly Denmark’s largest undeveloped gas field. via the South Stream pipeline system, includ-
sued tenders for single-well subsea tiebacks Work on the high-pressure, high-temperature ing a 900-km (559-mi) stretch through deep-
of its Van Nes and Van Ghent discoveries to reservoir will be costly, however – DONG and water in the Black Sea. Another construction
the De Ruyter platform. partner Bayerngas have earmarked up to $164 program recently under way off the Russian
The picture looks brighter offshore Den- million for appraisal drilling. Black Sea coast is the 159.5-km (99-mi) off-
mark. Over the past year Maersk has had ex- Hess, another established production op- shore section of the new Dzhuba-Lazarevs-
ploration successes drilling the Mid-Jurassic erator in the sector, has launched the FEED koye-Sochi gas pipeline. The C-Master barge
sandstone structures Luke, in the far west of the process for two new wellhead platforms to ex- is laying the mid-depth offshore portion, with
Danish North Sea, and on Gita, 10 km (6.2 mi) pand its South Arne complex. Maersk says ex- the Bigfoot 1 barge handling the shallow-wa-
south of the producing Harald field. Gita strad- pansion of its Halfdan field expansion program ter stretch. 

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

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Angola continues to develop;

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

Ghana grows in importance

Gene Kliewer
Technology Editor, Subsea & Seismic Angola’s upcoming oil projects
Peak production Expected

T
Project Location Operator (total liquids) start-up/peak
here are some parallels between West Africa and Latin Amer- Negage Block 14 Chevron 75,000 b/d 2010+
ica when it comes to oil and gas operations. West Africa has a Pazflor Block 17 Total 200,000 b/d 2011
hot area of success – off Angola, much like Brazil is in Latin PSVM (a) Block 31 NE BP 150,000 b/d 2011
America. West Africa has a traditional petroleum activity area Kizomba D Block 15 ExxonMobil 120,000 b/d 2011+
of Nigeria in decline due to operations issues where Latin CLOV Block 17 Total 150,000 b/d 2011+
America has Venezuela. Other Block 31 Block 31 BP 300,000 b/d 2012+
There is another interesting area in which the two success ex- PCC (b) Block 18 BP 100,000 b/d 2012+
amples of Angola and Brazil may have a common ground – geology. Other Block 32 Block 32 Total 120,000 b/d 2012+
There are studies on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean investigating a) Plutão, Saturno, Vênus and Marte b) Platino, Chumbo, Cesio
the prospects of the Brazilian producing strata stretching over to Source: EIA
West Africa. The two areas were joined in Pangea, according to geo-
logic logic, before they drifted apart with their respective tectonic Major projects listed in this table represent a combination of tie-ins to sup-
plates. Angola, Equatorial Guinea, and some fledgling exploration port existing developments and new developments under way off Angola.
areas are the targets of this theory.
Eni has a 35% working interest and is the operator in block 15/06;
Angola Sonangol E&P is the concessionaire. Other partners include So-
Angola is set for significant expansion of offshore oil and gas devel- nangol Pesquisa e Produção (15%), SSI Fifteen (20%), Total (15%),
opments in the short- and medium-term, according to a recent country Falcon Oil Holding Angola (5%), Petrobras International Braspetro
briefing by the US Energy Information Administration (EIA). Member- (5%), and Statoil Angola Block 15/06 Award (5%).
ship in OPEC plays a role in the production volumes realized over time. The Gardenia-1 well in block 17/06 has hit pay, according to Total
Angolan production capacity could peak at 2.5-3 MMb/d of oil by subsidiary TEPA (Block 17/06) Ltd. The Gardenia-1, the first on
2015 based on existing discoveries, the EIA says. In December 2009, the offshore Angola block, discovered hydrocarbon reservoirs in
Angolan officials said total country reserve numbers could be as high the Miocene and the Oligocene. The well produced 4,000 b/d of 25°
as 13.1 Bbbl. Other estimates put the reserves in the 9.5 Bbbl range. API oil during tests on the Miocene interval, the company reports.
Angola’s membership in OPEC has kept the country’s rate of Operator BP has hit oil with the Tebe discovery in ultra deepwater
growth in oil production below the rate of growth in oil production block 31. This is the nineteenth find in the block. The discovery is in
capacity, despite continued discoveries offshore and evident pres- the southern portion of block 31, southeast of the Hebe discovery. It
sure to surpass OPEC limits. was drilled in a water depth of 1,752 m (5,748 ft) and reached 3,325 m
Like its analog Brazil, Angola continues to have strong exploration (10,909 ft) TVD below sea level. Well results confirmed the capacity of
and drilling results. Some of the most recent finds are as follows: the reservoir to flow in excess of 5,000 b/d under production condi-
The Cabaça Norte-1 well, offshore Angola, has hit pay, according tions, the company says.
to operator Eni Angola. It is the second discovery in block 15/06. The
well reached TD of 2,830 m (9,285 ft) and produced more than 6,500 Nigeria
b/d of oil during production tests limited by surface equipment. While unrest and logistics problems held back the pace of developments
After delineation, the well could become the largest discovery in in Nigeria, there still were successes and new plays joining the action.
the block to date, the company says. Eni and its partners plan fur- Afren, Oriental Energy Resources and Energy Equity Resources
ther drilling in the vicinity to accelerate the development of a second are teaming to explore and develop the OML 115 concession off
production hub in the block (the Northeastern Hub). The company southeast Nigeria. The permit is adjacent to the Ebok and Okwok de-
has drilled four exploration wells on the block, with three (Sangos, velopment area where Afren and Oriental are already in partnership.
N’Goma, and Cabaça Norte) resulting in discoveries. Under the terms of the farm-in agreement with EER, Afren will
The Northwestern Hub, centered upon the Sangos and N’Goma acquire a 32.5% interest in the license as technical advisor for an up-
discoveries, is currently in the pre-development phase -- ongoing front cash cost of $6 million. Eventually, Afren’s effective economic
studies and appraisal drilling are under way. interest will be between 32.5 and 40.625% of field revenues. Afren

West Africa offshore summary of projected field developments 2010-2014 © INFIELD SYSTEMS 2010
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West Africa 186 58 6,172 10,931 515 19 1 0 0 2 155 7 0 6,072 519

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

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Jubilee offshore Ghana gives all the indications of being a huge producer.
COTE D’IVOIRE

GHANA

Deepwater Tano West Cape Three Points

D2 southern lobe, encountered a gross oil column
I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

P10 of 107 ft (32.6 m).

60 km (approx.)

The result has led Afren to upgrade volumes in

West Cape

Mahogany-2 Deepwater
Tano
Three Points

the D2 structure to 135 MMbbl. Around 23 MMb-

P90

ndary
bl is thought to be recoverable, lifting the total 2P

tional Bou
Jubilee Unit Area
Hyedua-2 Ebok recovery estimate to 116 MMbbl.

Interna
Gulf of Guinea
Mahogany-1 Mahogany-4 0 Miles 15.5
Total’s Owowo South B-1 exploratory well
Jubilee Field 0 Km 25

Development
earlier this year off Nigeria was an oil discovery,
partner Nexen has confirmed. The well was drilled in the southern

0
Area Phase 1 Mohogany-3

P5
Hyedua-1
portion of Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 223, in a water depth of
Mahogany Deep-2 670 m (2,198 ft), 20 km (12.4 mi) northeast of the Usan field. The
well reached a total depth of 2,227 m (7,306 ft) and encountered sev-
License/Block eral oil-bearing reservoirs containing light oil, according to logs and
Tullow operated Mahogony Deep other analysis.
Tullow non-operated
0 Miles 3.1
Oil discovery Ghana
0 Km 5 Ghana is fast becoming one of the E&P bright spots for offshore Africa.
An appraisal well on the deepwater Tweneboa discovery found a large
will fund drilling of one exploration well on the license at an estimat- hydrocarbon column, according to operator Tullow Oil. Tweneboa -2
ed cost of $30 million, which could spud in the second half of 2010. was drilled by the semisub Atwood Hunter in the Deepwater Tano block
OML 115 is in the prolific offshore eastern Niger Delta, also close to to an interim subsurface depth of 3,860 m (12,664 ft), in a water depth of
the Zafiro complex offshore Equatorial Guinea. The southern portion 1,321 m (4,334 ft). The location is around 6 km (3.7 mi) southeast of the
of the Okwok structure, Okwok South, extends into OML 115. Afren Tweneboa-1 discovery. Analysis of drilling, wireline logs, and reservoir
says further prospects are delineated within the channelized Qua Iboe fluids confirm this is a major oil and gas-condensate field, Tullow says.
system. It estimates a potential gross un-risked resource of 270 MMbbl. The well encountered a gross reservoir interval of 153 m (502 ft)
Following recent appraisal drilling on the Ebok field, Afren has con- containing 32 m (105 ft) of net hydrocarbon pay in stacked reservoir
firmed a 116 MMbbl development with upside to 182 MMbbl, rising to sandstones: this comprised a 17-m (56-ft) oil bearing zone below a
304 MMbbl with Okwok included. Afren/Oriental also see potential for 15-m (49-ft) gas-condensate bearing zone.
a production hub around a joint Ebok/Okwok/ OML115 development. Tullow adds that a combined hydrocarbon column of at least 350
This would offer cost synergies including joint storage and export op- m (1,148 ft) has been established between the lowest known oil in
erations and shared services. Tweneboa-2 and the top of the gas-condensate at Tweneboa-1, prov-
Afren’s latest appraisal well on the Ebok field exceeded expecta- ing a highly prospective and extensive turbidite fan system which
tions. Ebok-6, drilled by Transocean’s jackup Adriatic IX on the Ebok will need to be evaluated through further wells.

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Following completion of logging operations, Tweneboa-2 will be covery on the West Cape Three Points block, according to operator

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T
deepened to test added exploration potential beneath the Tweneboa Kosmos Energy. Results of drilling, wireline logs, and reservoir fluid
structure. samples show the Odum-2 well penetrated net hydrocarbon-bearing
The rig will next mobilize to drill an exploration well in the nearby pay of 20 m (66 ft) in high-quality stacked sandstone reservoirs over
West Cape Three Points block, east of the Jubilee field. Tullow (49.95%) a gross interval of 182 m (597 ft), the company reports. The well
operates the Deepwater Tano license, in partnership with Kosmos En- is northeast of the Odum-1 well and east of Kosmos’ Mahogany-1
ergy (18%), Anadarko Petroleum (18%), Sabre Oil & Gas (4.05%), and exploration well and the Jubilee oil field.
the Ghana National Petroleum Corp. (GNPC) (10% carried interest). Odum-2 encountered oil pay in two intervals that appear to be in
The Mahogany Deep-2 appraisal well offshore Ghana has con- static pressure communication with the Odum-1 well, the company
firmed the down-dip extent of the main Jubilee reservoirs and in- says. The Odum-2 well encountered an oil/water contact 58 m (190 ft)
tersected two new light oil accumulations, Kosmos Energy says. below the lowest-known oil in the Odum-1 well, extending the known
Mahogany Deep-2, drilled 3 km (1.86 mi) from Mahogany-3, is the oil column beyond the deepest oil seen in the Odum-1. Reservoir fluid
furthest down-dip Jubilee well in the West Cape Three Points license. samples recovered indicate an oil gravity of approximately 18-19° API.
The company reports that results of drilling, wireline logging, and The Atwood Hunter drilled Odum-2 to TD of 2,506 m (8,222 ft) in
samples of reservoir fluid indicate that the well encountered good 816 m (2,677 ft) of water. Following the drilling of the well, the rig
quality hydrocarbon-bearing reservoir sandstones in three zones. will moved to the adjacent Deepwater Tano block where it will drill
An interval of 12 m (39 ft) net pay has proved an extension of the the Tweneboa-2 well.
main Jubilee reservoirs. In addition, a new shallower accumulation The deepwater Jubilee field development offshore Ghana is on track
with 2 m (7 ft) net pay was encountered and supports exploration to deliver first oil late in 2010, according to partner Tullow Oil.
prospects in undrilled areas to the south and east.
In total, the well intersected 53 m (174 ft) of net reservoir sand- Cameroon
stones, 20 m (66 ft) of which were in the Mahogany Deep section. A subsidiary of Bowleven has awarded Plexus Holdings a con-
These were found to be water bearing, but are not connected to the tract for the supply of POS-GRIP wellhead systems and drilling ser-
Mahogany Deep accumulation at Mahogany-3. vices, offshore Cameroon.
The well also encountered a new reservoir in a deeper strati- Bowleven has a rig to drill its Etinde permit offshore Cameroon.
graphic level beneath the Mahogany Deep section. An oil sample Once a contract is final, the program should start as planned in
was recovered from a 1-m (3-ft) zone, which has not been encoun- April/May with the IE field appraisal well (IE3).
tered in any other wells in the license to date. Bowleven has determined locations for both IE-3 and the MLHP-5
Kosmos Energy plans to evaluate the new accumulations discov- exploratory wells. The location and timing of the IF-2 well will de-
ered by the well using recently reprocessed high resolution 3D seis- pend on a review of additional seismic acquisition over MLHP-7.
mic data. The company expects to drill further potential extensions Currently, existing 3D seismic over the permit is being re-pro-
of the Jubilee field and associated prospectivity in early 2010. cessed, and tendering is under way for the acquisition of new seis-
The Odum-2 appraisal well has confirmed the 2008 Odum oil dis- mic data. 

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2010 Offshore 55

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Operators chasing further

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

reserves in established/emerging
offshore Middle East plays

D
eepwater drilling is set to dominate com- Jeremy Beckman ration and development of the Nakhichevan
ing activity offshore Turkey. In January, Editor, Europe prospect, 50 km (31 mi) offshore.
the Ocean Rig semisubmersible Leiv Ei- Progress on the giant Kashagan field off-
riksson arrived at the port of Sinop, ahead shore Kazakhstan remains slow. According
of a three-year, $630-million deepwater ACG expansion to analysts Wood Mackenzie, the first phase
campaign in the Black Sea for Petrobras. Pre- In the western portion of the Caspian Sea, development program, operated by ENI, is
paratory works were performed at the Westcon offshore Azerbaijan, the BP-led ACG part- unlikely to deliver first oil before 2013. The
shipyard in Olen, Norway, including dismantling nership has agreed to expand development ultra shallow water field, with reserves of
of the upper part of the derrick to allow the rig to of the Azeri-Chirag-Gunashli fields with a over 10 BBoe, will be exploited via artificial
pass under two suspension bridges crossing the sixth production platform, this one capable drilling islands. Close to the maritime medi-
Bosporus Strait. of handling 185,000 b/d of oil. The facility an line with Russia, Lukoil may develop the
The exploration program covers the Sinop, will be in the Chirag-Deep Water Gunashli Khvalynskoye gas-condensate field in 25 m
Ayancik, and Carsamba sub-blocks of the Area. BP and Azeri state company SOCAR (82 ft) water depth. This follows the signing
AR/TPO/3922 license. State-owned compa- also have signed a Memorandum of Under- last October of a Heads of Agreement, form-
ny TPAO and ExxonMobil are partners in the standing (MOU) to jointly explore and de- ing the basis for a development partnership
program, and this duo also will explore jointly velop the Shafag and Asiman structures, 78 with Kazakh company KazMunaiGas, Total,
the Samsun block in the same license, and mi (125 km) southeast of Baku. The deepwa- and GdF-Suez. Produced gas would be ex-
the eastern portion of the 3921 block, where ter concession, in 650-800 m (2,132-2,624 ft) ported to Russia market.
water depths reach 2,000 m (6,500 ft). Exx- has not been drilled. Offshore Turkmenistan, Dragon Oil’s
onMobil, as operator, expects to drill the first Total expanded its presence in the area by overhaul of the Cheleken Contract Area
well on these permits, in the first half of 2011, signing a development and production-shar- fields has lifted production to over 50,000
using Transocean’s new drillship Deepwater ing agreement with SOCAR for the Absher- b/d. The company plans to add two further
Champion, currently under construction at on offshore block in 500 m (1,640 ft) of water wellhead and production platforms over the
the Hyundai yard in Ulsan, South Korea. 100 km (62 mi) from Baku. More recently, next two to three years, and also hopes to
In the shallow water Akcakoca sub-basin Germany’s RWE Dea – a newcomer to the finally harness the fields’ associated gas
of the Black Sea, TPAO discovered further Azeri sector – drew up an MOU for explo- via a multi-phase pipeline for commercial
gas last fall via a well on the West Ayazli use at a new onshore processing plant.
structure, west of the producing Ayazli In January, Dragon decided to expand
gas field. This summer, a new platform its drilling program by commissioning a
LEBANON
and pipeline are due to be added under Cyprus new jackup from a consortium headed by
the South Akcakoca Phase 2 develop- Yantai Raffles Offshore, due to be deliv-
ment, with first gas due late this year. ered in late-2011. The all-weather rig is a
Elsewhere, local company Extrem En- Friede & Goldman Super M2 design.
ergy has won an extension through Oc- Haifa RWE Dea also targets gas from its new-
tober 2012 for its Candarli Bay license in Tamar ly awarded license for Turkmen block 23,
the Aegean Sea, near the Aliaga refinery Dalit adjacent to the coast. The company aims
in southwest Turkey. Exploration drilling to transfer shallow water drilling exper-
must start by next April. Prospective re- Mediterranean Sea Tel Aviv tise from its long-standing operations on
sources in the license area are estimated the Mittelplatte field in the tidal waters
at up to 780 MMbbl. around northern Germany.
Last summer, Iran inaugurated its first
Mari-B deepwater drilling semisubmersible, NI-
Field
Noble Energy at work on gas supply OC’s Iran-Alborz, designed to operate in
contracts for its two recent water depths of up to 1,030 m (3,379 ft) in
ISRAEL
discoveries offshore Israel. EGYPT the Iranian sector of the Caspian Sea. The
rig was scheduled to drill its first deep-

Middle East offshore summary of projected field developments 2010-2014 © INFIELD SYSTEMS 2010
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Middle East 55 3 89,964 1,231 21 0 3 0 0 0 192 2 18 7,843 126

56 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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water well in southern block 6. Iranian news four main contract packages for Karan, the ing gas needs in Abu Dhabi. The contract
I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

service Shana also reported that Petronas first non-associated gas field development off- was awarded last year by Abu Dhabi Marine
Carigali was interested in acquiring seismic shore Saudi Arabia. Saudi Aramco’s project Operating Co. (ADMA-OPCO), and involves
over various Iranian Caspian blocks. is designed to produce 1.8 bcf/d, and will in- drilling additional wells and installing a new
volve extracting raw sour gas via four produc- processing platform at Umm Shaif. Following
South Pars developments tion platforms connected to a tie-in platform, dehydration, the gas will go to Das Island via a
In the Persian Gulf, Iranian contractor around 100 km (62 mi) northeast of Jubail. new 38-km (23.6-mi), 46-in. (117-cm) pipeline.
Kish Global Petrotec Co. was due to start Produced gas will head through a 110-km In neighboring Dubai, the government
development drilling recently on the South (68.3-mi) subsea pipeline to new facilities at has reported discovery of a new offshore oil
Pars Phase 16 project. Reportedly, work is Khusaniyah, 160 km (99.4 mi) north of Dhah- field, Al Jalila. The location is said to be east
also under way or about to start on phases ran. The main contractors are J. Ray McDer- of the small Rashid field 70 km (43 mi) off-
20, 21, 27, and 28, although the future of the mott, Hyundai Engineering and Construction shore. Dubai’s Oil Affairs Department was
contentious Phase 11 remains unclear. Ac- Co, Petrofac, and GS Engineering. J. Ray is quoted as stating that Al Jalila could be in
cording to Shana, original development op- also building the new STP-20 tie-in platform production within a year.
erator Total has been supplanted by China for a crude upgrade/power supply program UAE company Dana Gas says it has com-
National Petroleum Corp, but the French on Aramco’s Safaniya field. pleted detailed engineering design for a gas
company may still have a role to play. Expansion of the Al Shaheen field contin- platform for its Western Offshore Concession
Iran has also approached its neighbors for ues off Qatar. In its 2009 annual report, op- in Sharjah. It is preparing to issue manage-
joint offshore development projects. Among erator Maersk Oil said that 95% of the 2005 ment, engineering, procurement, construction,
these are NIOC’s $10-billion program for development plan had been completed, includ- and installation contracts.
the giant gas/condensate Kish field in the ing 15 new platforms, as had 126 out of 160 Last year, RAK Petroleum increased its
Persian Gulf, which could deliver 3 bcf/d of planned wells. Investments in this program interest in block 8 offshore Oman to 50%,
gas in two phases, some for use as LNG in through 2011 should exceed $5.6 billion. Last following its acquisition of Eagle Energy
Oman. Further gas cooperation discussions summer, another European company, GDF (Oman). The block includes the West Bukha
are under way with Qatar. Suez, became operator of Qatar’s prospective field which came onstream in February
The Al-Basrah oil terminal, 40 km (25 mi) offshore block 4, after buying out Anadarko’s 2009, and which currently produces around
off the coast of Iraq, exports three-quarters of 60% equity stake. Germany’s Wintershall plans 10,000 b/d of oil and 25 MMcf/d of associat-
the country’s daily production, at 1.5 MMb/d. to start exploration drilling this year on block ed gas. The nearby Bukha gas/condensate
Foster-Wheeler is performing basic engineer- 4N, close to the giant North field. field, however, has been temporarily shut in.
ing to increase this capacity by 1.8 MMb/d, In the UAE, National Petroleum Construc- UK-based Circle Oil recently issued ten-
via an offshore manifold platform, two 48-in. tion Co. is working on a $402-million EPC der documents for the acquisition of 5,000
pipelines, and three single-point moorings. program for ADNOC’s Integrated Gas De- km (3,107 mi) of commitment 2D marine
Last October, construction started of the velopment project, designed to satisfy grow- seismic for Omani offshore block 52. The

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areas to be surveyed are aimed at forming had originally been drilled into the Arous its evaluation of the 1967 oil discovery Ham-
up leads mapped from first-phase 2D seis- Al-Bahar prospect in 2008 in area 54, 35 mi mamet West. The company’s latest review
mic acquired by TGS in 2007. (56.3 km) offshore in the Sirte basin, in 2,807 suggests the field contains over 200 MMbbl
ft (855 m) of water. Hess later re-entered and of in-place oil, with contingent resources of 49
Fast-track for Tamar perforated the well over a 300-ft (91.4-m) MMbbl.
The major breakthrough in the eastern carbonate interval, using the DP drillship Following processing of newly acquired 3D
part of the Mediterranean last year was No- Stena Forth. The company planned further seismic, Cooper aims to drill an appraisal well
ble Energy’s deepwater Tamar and Dalit gas appraisal drilling 7 mi (11.3 km) to the north- to delineate the Birsa and Abiod formations.
discoveries in the Levantine basin offshore west. ExxonMobil also has drilled its first Development would likely involve a small, nor-
Israel. Noble estimates Tamar’s gross mean deepwater exploration well in the Sirte basin mally unmanned platform exporting oil and
resources at 6.3 tcf, and targets first produc- in Contract Area 20, northeast of the port of gas onshore via a multi-phase pipeline, a simi-
tion in 2012. The company and its partners Misrata, using the Noble Homer Ferrington. lar concept to ENI’s Maamoura field develop-
have signed letters of intent with interested In the Gulf of Hammamet offshore Tunisia, ment 10 km (6.2 mi) to the southwest, which
purchasers in Israel. Dalit has resources Australian company Cooper Energy continues also produces oil from the Abiod formation. 
rated at around 500 bcf. Late last year, Noble
acquired further 3D seismic over 1,600 sq
km (618 sq mi) in the region where it has
identified numerous other leads. It plans to
resume exploration drilling later this year,
prior to development drilling at Tamar.
Last November, Toronto-based Bontan
Corp acquired control of two drilling licens-
es and one exploration permit near the two
discoveries. The company has completed 2D
and 3D seismic acquisition over its conces-
sions. Closer to the Israeli mainland, AMG
Oil, another Canadian company, picked up
the shallow water Yitzhak license, where oil
was discovered in 1970 at the Delta-1 well.
In the Gulf of Suez offshore Egypt, BP is
progressing its development of the NS377 and
NS385 oil fields via extended wells drilled from
the shore. Production is due to start by June.
Last year, Egypt General Petroleum Corp. in-
vited bids for eight exploration blocks in the
Gulf of Suez sedimentary basin. Recently,
Greek company Aegean Energy acquired op-
eratorship of the East Magawish block in this
area from previous owner Thani Egypt East
Magawish. A first exploratory well should be
drilled on the license later this year.
Also in the Gulf of Suez, Eni was granted a
further 10-year extension to its license through
2030 for the giant Belayim oil field in the Sinai
area. It has committed to a $1.5-billion invest-
ment program spread over five years to sus-
tain and optimize production.
GDF Suez recently achieved its second
discovery in the West El Burullus concession
in Egypt’s shallow water offshore Nile Delta
region. The Papyrus-1X well flowed gas at up
to 3 MMcf/d and associated condensate. The
partners are reviewing combined develop-
ment concepts with the nearby WEB-1X find.
In the deepwater sector, 95 km (59 mi) off-
shore the Mediterranean coast, Burullus Gas
Co. has contracted Technip for an EPIC pro-
gram for its West Delta Deep Marine Phase
VII development. The work, to be performed
late this year, will include installation of a tie-in
structure between a new 36-in. (91.4-cm) gas
export pipeline and two existing pipelines.

Sirte basin potential

Late last year, Hess confirmed a success-
ful test of a deepwater gas/condensate dis-
covery well offshore Libya. Well A1-54/01

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Asia-Pacific energy demand drives

I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

offshore exploration, development

Gene Kliewer the jackup COSL936 from China Oilfield Services Ltd. (COSL) is to
Technology Editor, Subsea & Seismic drill in Bohai Bay. The rig reportedly operates in water depths of up
to 106 m (348 ft) and drills to 9,144 m (30,000 ft).

W
ith an estimated capex of over $97 billion from 2009 to Indonesia
2013, Asia is expected to witness an increase of 77% in Exploration is featured offshore Indonesia. Searcher Seismic and
terms of capex when compared to the previous five-year DMNG have begun a 3,882-km (2,412-mi) 2D seismic survey in the
period, according to Infield’s second edition Regional South Halmahera basin. The partners plan to acquire a 15 km x 15
Perspectives Asia Pacific Market Update Report 2009/13. km (9 mi x 9 mi) 2D long-offset seismic grid covering 32,000 sq km
(12,355 sq mi). The companies say the survey’s objective is to ex-
China plore the postulated continental crust wedged between the oceanic
Work offshore China has concentrated on new production for the Pacific plate to the east and the Molucca Sea to the west.
last several months with fields in Bohai Bay and the China Sea com- Premier reports good progress on the Gajah Baru project. Fabri-
ing onstream. cation has started in Batam both on the central process facility at the
CNOOC has started production from its JinZhou 25-1 South PT SMOE yard and on the wellhead platform at the sub-contractor
(JZ25-1S) and Caofeidian (CFD) 18-2 oil and gas fields in Bohai Bay Nippon Steel’s yard.
ahead of schedule. Two more oil fields, BoZhong (BZ) 13-1 and Bo- First gas is anticipated in October 2011.
Zhong 34-1 North (BZ34-1N), came onstream earlier, as planned. ENI has awarded a $60-million contract for manufacture and sup-
BZ13-1 in the western part of Bohai Bay and BZ 34-1N in the ply of subsea equipment for Kitan field development in 1,000 ft (310
southern sector should both achieve peak production of around m) of water in the Timor Sea. Under the agreement, FMC will sup-
12,000 boe/d in 2010, according to the operator. ply three subsea production trees and all associated control systems
CNOOC also has brought onstream ahead of schedule the Luda and umbilicals. Delivery is scheduled to begin in 2010.
(LD) 27-2 field in China’s Bohai Bay. The field is producing 11,000
b/d of oil from 11 wells. Philippines
China also hosts some independent operators. Among them, The service contract 54 block A (SC 54A) joint venture partners have
Husky has a gas discovery on block 29/26 in the South China Sea. approved development of the Tindalo oilfield, offshore Philippines.
The LH 34-2-1 exploration well encountered a significant thickness The field was discovered by the Tindalo-1 exploration well in Oc-
of excellent quality, gas-charged reservoir, the company reports. tober 2008. The well was in 100 m (328 ft) of water and targeted a
The well tested natural gas, with a high liquids yield, at an equip- pinnacle reef structure similar to the nearby, producing Nido and
ment restricted rate of 55 MMcf/d, with indications that the well’s Matinloc oil fields. The well intersected a 124-m to 144-m (407-ft to
future deliverability could exceed 140 MMcf/d. The West Hercules 472-ft) oil column in Miocene carbonate reservoir.
drilled the well 23 km (14 mi) northeast of the Liwan 3-1 gas field in The field will be developed using a leased, jackup rig, which will
a water depth of 1,145 m (3,757 ft) re-enter and complete the suspended Tindalo-1 well for production.
Newfield Exploration Co. tested a single zone at 6,000 b/d of 35° The field partners plan to use electric submersible pumps as part
API gravity oil at its LF 7-1 well on block 16/05 in the Pearl River of the well completion to maintain production rates throughout the
Mouth basin. life of the field.
Among the IOCs at work in China, Shell Malaysia Exploration The jackup will remain on location to provide a stable, weather-tolerant
& Production has contracted Flowserve to supply pumps for oil re- production platform, the partners say. Crude oil from the well will be pro-
covery efforts on the St. Joseph field in the South China Sea. The cessed on the rig and sent to a nearby leased FPSO.
project will use Flowserve barrel pumps to inject seawater into the First oil is anticipated in the second quarter of this year at an ini-
field to boost oil extraction. tial rate of around 7,000-15,000 b/d.
China is developing its own oilfield service industry. For example, The Dabakan-1 well in the South Sulu Sea has hit pay, according

Asia-Pacific offshore summary of projected field developments 2010-2014 © INFIELD SYSTEMS 2010
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Australasia 96 13 7,835 5,263 172 12 0 0 0 0 17 2 2 4,493 132

East Asia 63 2 5,314 917 26 3 0 0 0 1 66 0 6 2,212 14
South East Asia 220 21 16,087 2,948 122 22 3 2 0 9 310 12 0 8,025 174

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

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_________________________________________________

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to operator ExxonMobil. The well encoun- for early delivery of the jackup PV Drilling Malaysia
tered reservoir sands and hydrocarbons, III. The rig, completed one and a half months Without as much fanfare as other areas of
I N T E R N AT I O N A L R E P O R T

the company says. ahead of schedule, has left Keppel FELS to E&P activity in the Asia-Pacific basin, Malay-
The rig West Aquarius will drill the well fur- begin a five-year contract with Vietsovpetro sia is getting some major projects.
ther to TD of approximately 5,000 m (16,400 on the Bach Ho field, offshore Vietnam Production has begun from natural gas fields
ft). This will set a record for the deepest drilled Exploration well 15-01/05 LDN-1X on the in blocks SK 309 and SK 311 offshore Sarawak,
well in the Philippines. Lac Da Nau prospect has hit pay, according Malaysia, according to Murphy Sarawak Oil
to Phu Quy Petroleum Operating Explora- Co. Natural gas produced from the phased de-
Thailand tion and Production Co. During tests, the velopment will be supplied to the PETRONAS
The Songkhla A-08 development well on well produced 4,200 b/d of 44° API oil. The LNG Complex in Bintulu, Sarawak.
block G5/43 in the Gulf of Thailand has 15-01/05 LDN-1X is the first well and the Dockwise has completed transport and float-
struck oil, according to Coastal Energy Co. first discovery on block 15-01/05, offshore over installation of a 19,000-metric ton (20,944-
The well, drilled to a total measured depth Vietnam. Water depth is 45 m (148 ft). ton) MDPP offshore production platform for
of 9,112 ft (2,777 m), logged approximately Premier Oil has issued the main construction CPOC at the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Develop-
92 ft (28 m) of net pay with 18% porosity in contracts for the Chim Sáo development off- ment Area blocks B-17, C-19, and B-17-01.
the Lower Oligocene primary reservoir, the shore southern Vietnam. EOCP was contracted Sabah Shell Petroleum has awarded J P
company reports. The well is currently test- to convert the Lewek Emas into an FPSO vessel Kenny Wood Group a contract for subsea
ing over 3,500 b/d of oil with a 3% water cut. with production capability of 50,000 boe/d and integration and follow-on engineering works
PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP) oil storage capacity of 680,000 bbl. for the Gumusut-Kakap deepwater develop-
has awarded CUEL a $110-million contract for Premier expects Chim Sáo development ment located 120 km (75 mi) offshore Sabah,
the Arthit 1C wellhead platforms development drilling due to start in the middle of this year. Malaysia. The four-year contract is for the
project in the Gulf of Thailand. Under the agree- First production from the field is slated for provision of specialist subsea engineers, en-
ment, CUEL will provide project management; July 2011. gineering studies, design, and follow-on engi-
engineering; procurement; construction; load- The Ministry of Industry and Trade, on be- neering supports through to the fabrication
out and seafastening; transportation; offshore half of the Vietnamese government, has ap- and commissioning phases of the project.
installation and tie-ins; pre-commissioning; and proved the development plan for the Te Giac The Sabah Shell Petroleum company will
brownfield modification services of four well- Trang (TGT) field in the Cuu Long basin off- be the operator of the development, which
head platforms and four pipelines. shore Vietnam, according to operator Hoang will deploy Malaysia’s first deepwater semi-
Long Joint Operating Co. submersible with a design production capac-
Vietnam Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., its partners, and ity of 150,000 b/d.
Vietnam has become a notably active pe- PetroVietnam have begun design of a $4-bil-
troleum prospecting region. lion natural gas project in Vietnam. Mitsui Australia
PetroVietnam Drilling & Well Services says the production start date is not fixed, but The Australian government is extending
has awarded Keppel FELS a $460,000 bonus it is expected to be in 2014 at the earliest. its offshore exploration incentive in the pe-

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troleum resource rent tax (PRRT) by one 6-10% over the budgeted figure of $11.2 billion. to the seismic data acquisition program, which
year. This allows an immediate 150% uplift New technology is being applied offshore will be run by Crown Minerals.
on PRRT deductions for exploration expen- Australia, too. A girth weld pipeline offshore Previous surveys have resulted in $1.4
diture incurred in designated offshore fron- Western Australia is the first pipeline in billion of expenditure by exploration compa-
tier areas (DFAs). The extension will enable the world to be completely inspected using nies, particularly in the Great South basin.
the incentive to apply to the 2009 annual off- computed radiography, according to Global “The international oil exploration indus-
shore acreage release. Technical Services Group (GTSG). try is showing increasing interest in New
DFAs must be more than 100 km (62 mi) Zealand following initiatives to make new
from an existing commercialized oil discovery, New Zealand data freely available to companies wishing
and must not be adjacent to an area designated New Zealand’s Energy and Resources Minis- to explore here,” says Brownlee. “This has
in the previous year’s acreage volume. DFAs ter Gerry Brownlee has announced a renewed translated into increased exploration expen-
may constitute up to 20% of exploration per- seismic survey program to encourage oil and diture and activities across frontier basins
mits issued in a year. gas exploration. As part of Budget 2009, a total that have historically struggled to attract
Woodside plans to drill at least 39 wells in of $20 million will be allocated over three years investment in exploration.” 
deepwater (>500 m [1,640 ft] water depth)
Carnarvon basin permits through 2011, which
is more than double the number it drilled in
deepwater during the period 2000-2008. In the
Browse basin, it plans to spud at least six deep-
Area
shown
Jansz Field

AUSTRALIA
Perth

LNG
exports

3 x 5 mpta
Gorgon Field
LNG trains &
CO2 injection
Barrow Island Karratha
Subsea tieback
to Barrow Island
AUSTRALIA
Domestic
0 Miles 31 gas connection Existing domestic
to the mainland
pipeline
0 Km 50

Schematic of the Gorgon gas project off West-

ern Australia.

water wells through 2011, compared to four

deepwater spuds from 2000-2008.
The Gorgon LNG development off north-
western Australia has garnered a great deal
of attention around the world recently, most-
ly in consideration of its size and the fact that
several contracts for the project have been
let over the past few months.
In brief, plans call for development of the
Greater Gorgon gas fields, beginning with
the Gorgon and Jansz-Io gas fields with de-
velopment facilities installed directly on the
ocean floor in water up to 1,300 m (4,265 ft)
deep. Two subsea pipelines with a combined
length of 240 km (149 mi) will carry the gas
to facilities on Barrow Island. Work is sched-
uled be completed by the end of 2011.
Gorgon is not the only big LNG project
under way off Australia. Woodside is work-
ing on its Pluto LNG project and as of the
first of this year, construction was 83% com-
plete. First gas remains on schedule for the
end of this year, followed by first LNG early
in 2011.
In mid-October, the platform jacket was
launched into its offshore location around
180 km (112 mi) northwest of Karratha, and
secured to the seabed by driven piles. The up-
per and lower deck topsides modules were in-
stalled in late November, with the 90-m (295-ft)
flare boom fitted in mid-December.
Following a review of the project’s cost and
__________
schedule, Woodside estimates that the final
cost of the foundation project will likely be

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

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

3D surface related multiple elimination in the

presence of complex water-bottom geometry
A case study from offshore Nigeria

S
imple 2D approaches to attenuating Stephen McHugo on the gathers are complex multiples of the
surface-related seismic multiples are Alex Cooke water bottom and near-seabed reflectors,
inadequate when there are complex WesternGeco and diffractions from the irregular seabed to-
geologies or water bottoms that dip pography. These multiples are visible on the
in the crossline direction. A fully 3D Patrick Charron stack section as noise is below 4 s on the left
multiple attenuation algorithm succeeded Total and about 4.5 s on the right side.
on a survey acquired offshore Nigeria in an The zone of interest containing the res-
area that exhibits both challenges. ervoir sands is between 2.8 s to 3.7 s TWT.
The 3D seismic survey was acquired as Although the water-bottom multiples and
part of the fasttrack development of a deep- related scattered energy are deeper than the
water field offshore Nigeria. The reservoir primary target zone, previous experience
is sandstone turbidite channels of Miocene showed that, when poorly attenuated this
age. The objective of the survey was to energy migrates into the target zone later
map these channels to guide placement of in processing to obscure primary reflection
development wells. Survey design aimed to information and to compromise amplitudes.
deliver improved resolution relative to pre- Demultiple schemes applied to previous
vious seismic surveys, and also to provide surveys did not attenuate the multiple suffi-
a potential baseline for subsequent repeat ciently to prevent contamination of the target.
surveys in the future for 4D (time-lapse)
monitoring of reservoir fluid movement and 3D general surface
field management. multiple prediction
The steeply dipping and irregular topog- Surface-related multiple elimination (SRME)
raphy of the water bottom represents a chal- is a highly effective method to attenuate mul-
lenge to the accurate imaging of the reser- Map of water-bottom two-way time over the sur- tiples that originate from the sea surface. The
vey area. The dotted line indicates the location
voirs using surface seismic methods. Water process can be applied while preserving the in-
of the example seismic section.
depths in the survey area range from 1,300 m tegrity of primary energy, ultimately enhancing
– 1,800 m [4,260 ft - 5,900 ft], which equates to multiple of the water bottom has a travel time structural interpretation and reservoir charac-
a two-way travel time of approximately 1.7 s - ranging around double that of the original re- terization.
2.4 s. Water/seabed and air/water interfaces flection, so in the subject survey area it is in The subject survey offshore Nigeria was
are highly reflective to seismic energy; much the range of 3.4 s – 4.8 s two-way time (TWT). shot using a conventional geometry in which
more reflective than the interfaces between The example crossline stack section and data are acquired in a series of adjacent, ap-
subsurface rock layers that seismic surveys two sample common midpoint gathers show proximately straight, lines. Early implementa-
are designed to image. The reflection from the impact of the first-order water-bottom tions of SRME applied the algorithm to each of
the water bottom can be the strongest event multiple on the data, particularly below about the acquired source/streamer combinations
on a seismic section. 3.8 seconds. The strong hyperbolic events in turn; effectively assuming a 2D geometry.
Multiples of the water-bottom This assumption is reasonable if
reflection are also strong events. surface-related multiples, and their
These derive from upcoming ener- downward reflection point (DRP)
gy being bounced back at the air/ on the sea surface, are in the plane
water interface, returning to the of the acquisition sail-line direction.
water bottom, then reflecting again However, the steeply dipping and
as a repeat “echo.” The first-order rugose water bottom in the survey
area gives rise to multiple reflec-
tions and diffractions whose ray
Example crossline stack and sample paths lie outside the plane of the
gathers before multiple attenuation.
acquisition sail-line direction. The
The primary target zone is between
2.8 s and 3.7 s. Noise from the first
combination of complex geology
water-bottom multiple and scattered and crossline dip means multiples
multiple energy can be seen below 3.8 have 3D ray-paths can be modeled
s (as indicated by the black arrows). accurately only with a 3D approach
to multiple attenuation.

64 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Surface related multiples with down- selecting a too small aperture re-
ward reflection points (DRPs) in the sults in inadequate modeling of the
Crossline direction
plane of the acquisition sail-line can
multiple. In the example, the apex of
be handled with a simple 2D SRME
the multiple falls approximately 150
scheme. Complex geology and
crossline dip require a 3D approach. Complex 3D m (492 ft) off center, implying that
Illustration courtesy of David Hill, multiple 3D demultiple is required and that
WesternGeco. in this location an aperture width
of 300 m is sufficient to model the
In common with 2D SRME schemes, multiple.
3D SRME has two phases. The first Simple 2D MCGs at key locations across the
phase is to create a multiple model for multiple survey were constructed and ana-
each target trace. The second adaptively lyzed leading to the conclusion that
subtracts the multiple model from the a crossline aperture of 375 m (1,234
input data, usually using filters derived ft) was sufficient to accurately model
from a least-squares approach. Source location multiples throughout the area. This
The first phase (multiple predic- Receiver location conclusion was further supported by
tion) was performed using an ap- comparison of the multiple models and
proach to 3D SRME described by Bis- adaptive subtraction results produced
ley, Moore, and Dragoset (2005). The method, noise. A calibrated shot-by-shot designature using different apertures. The spatial sampling
“3D General Surface Multiple Prediction” (3D process was applied to minimize wavelet (distance between gridpoints) within an MCG
GSMP), enables high-quality 3D multiple pre- distortion from source characteristic. Digi- was chosen to be 25 m. Spatial aliasing occurs
dictions for surveys in areas of complex geolo- tal group forming, incorporating a digital in the example MCG at offsets greater than 500
gy and with irregular acquisition geometry. An antialias filter, to 12.5-m (41-ft) trace inter- m (1,640 ft), implying that a finer grid spacing
important feature of this method is its ability to val, and temporal resample to 3 m were per- would be required if the geology dictated that
predict multiples at true azimuth, taking into ac- formed prior to input to 3D GSMP. apertures greater than 500 m were required to
count the true raypath of the multiple through adequately model the multiples.
the water layer. Optimizing 3D GSMP
For 3D SRME, the multiple model for Field results
Data acquisition each target trace is predicted by computing MCGs are created and stacked for every
The survey, covering an area of 475 sq a multiple contribution gather (MCG). For prestack trace in the seismic survey, giving a
km (183 sq mi), was acquired in April and 3D GSMP, the MCG is created on a regular multiple model that was then subtracted from
May of 2007 using point-receiver acquisi- 3D grid, each node of which represents a the input data using a least-squares adaptive
tion. Sources and streamers were towed at possible DRP within some aperture of the subtraction technique. 3D GSMP success-
shallow depths of 5 m and 6 m (16 ft and target trace. A trace at each grid node then is fully removed both the water-bottom multiple
19.5 ft), respectively, with the objective of formed by convolution of the two traces that and the scattered multiple energy generated
achieving a useable bandwidth of 10-90 Hz. best connect the grid point with the source by the complex overburden in this area. The
Ten streamers, each 5,600 m (3.5 mi) long, and receiver endpoints of the target trace. primary reflection energy underneath the
were deployed at a separation of 50 m (164 Stacking the MCG gives a single trace that multiple has been revealed un-attenuated.
ft). Data were recorded by point receivers is the predicted multiple for the target trace.
spaced 3.125 m (10.25 ft) along each stream- Analysis of an MCG will give information The world is 3D
er. Dual sources were deployed having a about the need for 3D demultiple, and the This demonstrates the effectiveness of the
shot interval of 18.75 m (61.5 ft), giving a parameters required for 3D GSMP. The key 3D GSMP multiple attenuation algorithm as
nominal fold of 75. Throughout acquisition, parameters are the selection of aperture and applied to seismic data from offshore Nigeria.
constant streamer separation was main- the spatial sampling, both of which are re- The algorithm has been used in many parts
tained by streamer steering. Some strong lated and have an impact on effectiveness of of the world on land and marine surveys. The
currents were encountered, resulting in the multiple prediction and the cost. Cross- world is 3D and in reality, all marine 3D acqui-
high feather and variable fold of coverage. line aperture is dictated by the acquisition sition geometries, water-bottom geometries,
geometry and the complexity of the geology. and subsurface geology have 3D aspects, so
Data preparation Spatial and temporal sampling within the 2D implementations are always approxima-
Unlike other implementations of 3D SRME, MCG should be selected to minimize alias- tions that can be improved with fully 3D al-
minimal preprocessing is required for 3D GSMP. ing (Dragoset et al 2006), and are related to gorithms. 3D GSMP also handles irregulari-
The algorithm can handle irregular geometries, water depth, aperture, and frequency. ties in acquisition sampling and new imaging
so there was no need to regularize the input data, The example MCG was generated using techniques such as wide azimuth surveys
to extrapolate to zero offset, or to interpolate to aperture width of 1,000 m (3,281 ft) and a and circular shooting geometries. As com-
harmonize the shot and receiver sampling in- grid spacing of 25 m (82 ft). The central red puting power increases, fully 3D algorithms
tervals. Processing focused on removing noise line on the MCG represents the inline posi- are making incremental improvements to the
while preserving the integrity of primary energy tion of the target trace. If the multiple energy quality and reliability of seismic imaging. 
to optimize structural resolution and to maxi- apex is centered on the red line, the multiple References
mize repeatability for future 4D analysis. can be estimated and removed using a 2D Dragoset, W. H., I. Moore, and C. Kostov, 2006, The
Processing at the original 3.125 m single- method. However, if the apex of the multiple impact of field survey characteristics on surface
sensor trace interval included compensa- falls to one side of the center, a 3D method related multiple attenuation: Geophysical Prospect-
ing, 54, 781–791.
tion for perturbations between receivers, is required. MCGs are stacked to form the Bisley, R., I. Moore, and W. H. Dragoset, 2005, Gener-
receiver motion correction, and attenuation multiple model. Selecting a too large aper- alized 3D surface multiple prediction: PCT patent
of swell induced cable noise and waterborne ture introduces noise and increases cost, application publication WO 2005/103764.

66 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

Toward the integration

of electromagnetic and seismic surveys
Johan Mattson
Chris Anderson
Petroleum Geo-Services

T
he value and range of applications for
electromagnetic (EM) survey data
can be enhanced significantly by us-
ing it in conjunction with seismic data.
Acquiring EM survey data using a
towed streamer and source could facilitate a The initial 3D resistivity grid model (left) of the Peon reservoir (dark red) with shallow gas accumula-
common platform for EM and seismic opera- tions (blue) in map view. The survey line is crossing the reservoir as indicated by the dashed line.
tions and lead to improved efficiency. A test The location of the 35/2-1R well is in green. To the right, a seismic cross section along the survey
by Petroleum Geo-Services of Norway indi- line with the 3D resistivity model overlaid. The main reservoir is shown in red (250 Ωm) and the shal-
cates it is possible to develop such a system. low gas pockets in blue (100 Ωm).
The principle behind EM surveying is
that porous rocks charged with hydrocar-
bon exhibit significantly elevated electrical
resistivity compared to the rocks around
them. This is confirmed by the routine use
of resistivity logging to delineate hydrocar-
bon bearing strata within oil and gas wells.
EM surveys can produce 2D profiles or
3D volumes indicating the variation of elec-
The in-line towing configuration of source and receivers along the survey line.
trical resistivity in the subsurface. Correct
interpretation of resistive anomalies then Deeper water suppresses natural occurring ing depths of the source and the EM stream-
can be used to determine whether hydrocar- MT noise. Airwave noise also is reduced by er were 10 m (32.8 ft) and 100 m (328 ft),
bons are present. To deliver hydrocarbon towing an EM source close to seabed receiv- respectively. Four offsets were used (1,325;
indicators from EM data usually requires ers, as this part of the EM field is attenuated 1,850; 2,025; and 2,545 m or 4,347; 6,070;
an inversion workflow to identify resistive in the water column. As both are mitigated 6,644; and 14,262 ft) and the data were moni-
anomalies. While EM survey can indicate by the depth of the water column, until now tored and quality controlled in real time.
the variation of electrical resistivity, the conventional wisdom has it that EM is prac- The electric field data were deconvolved
resulting pictures are often of significantly tical only at depth. with the transmitted source signal to obtain
lower resolution than those from seismic the frequency response function for each
surveys. Using seismic data to constrain Statoil field test shot point. The transient method using
EM inversions can clear images significant- Statoil has tested a prototype EM stream- PRBS sequences is described in previous
ly. Work continues to optimize seismic and er and source over its Peon gas field in the studies (Wright et al., 2002, and Wright et
EM inversion. Meanwhile, operating survey North Sea. al., 2005). The data were sorted into com-
vessels equipped for both seismic and EM Peon is a commercial accumulation of gas mon midpoint gathers (cmps) with separa-
operations now are a step closer. at very shallow depth below the seabed. For tions of 250 m (820 ft).
Designing and building an effective EM these early trials it was very important to se- To build the initial 3D resistivity structure
streamer and source is challenging. PGS lect a well-calibrated, unambiguous target. of the Peon area, visualization and model
has a prototype system aimed at acquiring The measurements were made on a 12 building software was used. A basic veloc-
data in water depths from 50 m to 500 m (165 km (7.5 mi)-long survey line crossing the ity model based on the sonic log was used
ft to 1,640 ft). A system capable of operating reservoir. The nominal towing speed was to convert the time horizons to depth. Five
in much deeper water is planned. 4 kn. A total of 12 runs, each consisting of depth horizons were used to generate the
Towing sensitive EM receivers close to 48 shots, were conducted on the line. Each resistivity grid.
the surface exposes them to significant in- shot sequence had a length of 120 s and con-
terference and noise. Problems are gener- sisted either of a Pseudo Random Binary Se- Results
ated by magnetotelluric noise (MT), caused quence (PRBS) of order 10 and 10 bits/s or 1D frequency domain Differential Evolu-
by solar energy interacting with the Earth’s a 0.1 Hz square wave (SQR) signal. tion (DE) inversion (Storn and Price, 1996)
natural EM field; and the EM airwave, which In-line electric field data resulting from was performed at every cmp on the frequen-
is the part of the EM field that propagates the transient current source was measured cy response data along the survey line. All
through the air above the surface of the sea. in the configuration shown below. The tow- offsets and 16 frequencies in the range 0.1

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

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GEOLOGY & GEOPHYSICS

- 4.3 Hz were used. result in lower transverse resistance as a compensation for the exag-
The reservoir (570-590 m or 1,870-1,936 ft) is clearly observed gerated lateral extent.
at cmps 20-40 for both data sets, which agrees with the seismic in-
formation. At shallower depths, there is an increase in resistivity The future
above the reservoir. This resistivity increase could originate from On the strength of these successful results, PGS is gearing up to
the rightmost gas pocket, could be a response from the reservoir acquire further field tests. Oil and gas companies have been invited
influencing the shallower layer as well, or could be both. However, at to participate in the tests as part of a Joint Industry Project and inter-
cmps 18-20 a spot of increased resistivity is noted at a depth of about est is high. The next set of tests likely will be in the North Sea again,
480 m (1,575 ft), a feature that has been observed for several differ- and further trials are probable before the system is scheduled for
ent runs of the inversion. This resistivity increase may originate in commercial launch. The next step is to develop the system to de-
the leftmost gas pocket, which is not directly overlying the reservoir tect progressively deeper targets below the seabed in water depths
and so is easier to detect. between 50 and 500 m, before extending the capability further for
The finite lateral extent of the high-resistivity gas field surround- operations in deeper waters.
ing the survey line causes an underestimation of the resistivity While much attention focuses on seabed units, this unconvention-
values from 1D inversion (Wright et al., 2009). However, the back- al approach is of great interest. A towed EM streamer and source
ground resistivity layering of the seawater, overburden, and under- may significantly improvement efficiency and cost effectiveness. It
burden are estimated accurately with 1D inversion outside the res- is broadly accepted that EM technology is complementary to seis-
ervoir. The estimated seawater resistivity also agrees well with the mic, rather than an alternative, and a common platform for seismic
values from in-situ measurements. and EM operations represents an additional drive for acquisition
efficiency. Testing and developing the technology in cooperation
Conclusion with oil companies, it is anticipated that greater understanding of
A newly developed towed EM system has been demonstrated the potential of this system will spawn broader demand for its com-
over a known hydrocarbon accumulation. Analysis shows suffi- mercialization. 
cient quality and signal-to-noise ratio of the electric field data for
successful detection and inversion of the highly resistive reservoir
area, including distinction of some of the shallow gas accumulations Acknowledgments
above the reservoir. Further 3D modeling (beyond the scope of this We thank Petroleum Geo-Services and Statoil for the permission to present this
article) reveals that the resistivity values in the reservoir are in good work. We also thank Statoil for the permission to carry out this survey over the Peon
agreement with the well-log data. As expected, the 1D inversions discovery.

ONE WORLD. ONE SOURCE.

ONE HUNDRED YEARS.

PUBLICATIONS • EVENTS • DIGITAL MEDIA

www.pennwell.com

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DRILLING & COMPLETION

Dual-gradient drilling promises

to change the face of deepwater
Proponents say DGD will take water depth out of the well design equation
Jim Redden
Contributing Editor

N
early 10 years after a joint industry project certified it a
field-proven technology, post-BOP dual-gradient drilling
has been taken off the shelf and, if its proponents have their
way, promises to number the days when constructing a
deepwater well will require a long riser filled with pressure-
inducing, but otherwise inactive, drilling fluid.
“This is game-changing technology and was quite the buzz in the
late 1990s and early 2000s when it was first developed,” says Ken
Smith, dual-gradient drilling project implementation manager for
Chevron North America. “Dual-gradient technology will allow us to
remove the impact of water depth on well design.”
Since late 2001, the game changer Smith refers to had been on
the sidelines, but a confluence of economic and operational reali-
ties has since inspired the industry to take another look. What it
sees now are rigs drilling more multi-well contracts at skyrocketing Schematic comparing casing design for a conventional deepwater well
day rates that show no sign of declining anytime soon. It also sees with one drilled with dual-gradient technology.
those same rigs drilling ultra deepwater wells to greater depths with
more complex geometries, creating ever-narrowing pore pressure to deploy the new generation dual-gradient technology to drill within
and fracture gradients and higher equivalent circulating densities “Chevron’s entire (GoM) portfolio out to 10,000 ft (3,048 m) of wa-
(ECD) that together add up to tighter casing tolerances. With deep- ter,” Smith says. Now under construction in South Korea, the Pacific
water wells now being drilled to 30,000 ft-plus (9,144 m), further ex- Drilling rig is designed to drill to more than 35,000 ft (10,668 m) in
acerbating lost circulation and closing the safe drilling window even up to 12,000 ft (3,658 m) of water.
tighter, many say if the industry continues to rely on business as “The Pacific Santa Ana drillship will provide Chevron and Pacific
usual, many prospects could be left undrilled. Drilling the opportunity to develop and deploy dual-gradient drilling
Dual-gradient drilling, its growing legion of supporters contend, technology during its activities in the deep waters of the GoM,” Pa-
is the only viable way for the industry to avoid hitting the proverbial cific Drilling said in a release announcing the contract.
wall in deepwater and ultra deepwater drilling. In fact, when discuss- Post-BOP dual-gradient technology is, as Smith says, a radical
ing how it stacks up to conventional deepwater drilling, Smith and departure from the typical single-gradient drilling system that has
others leave the impression that wholesale use of the technology been the norm for as long as anyone can remember. Quite simply,
basically is a no-brainer. in a conventional deepwater drilling operation, the marine riser is
“It’s easier, safer, better for the environment, less expensive, the filled with weighted drilling fluid that exerts unnecessary hydrostat-
risks decrease, and the outcomes are more predictable,” Smith says. ic pressure on the wellbore, which severely impacts casing design
“I think it will be the way we drill deepwater wells in the future.” and creates a host of downhole technical difficulties, not the least
Some have even gone so far as say that the further advancement of which is well control. Conversely, in the dual-gradient mode, the
of dual-gradient drilling means that, from a pure downhole design riser is filled with seawater, which intrinsically induces less pres-
perspective, a well in the Campos basin someday could appear strik- sure, while the drilling fluid is confined to the wellbore, much like a
ingly similar to one in West Texas or Oklahoma. shallow water or onshore well. In a nutshell, the once very thin drill-
ing window becomes appreciably wider and safer to drill.
Going to next level “With a dual-gradient profile, we fill the riser with seawater and ev-
Consequently, for almost two years Chevron has taken the lead with erything below the mud line is filled with mud. So, essentially, what
a propriety initiative engineered to elevate a form of dual-gradient drill- we are doing is paralleling the formation pressures and strengths
ing from the bench to the playing field. If all goes well, the operator that nature put in place,” says Smith.
hopes to have the industry’s first fully integrated and commercialized Basically, the technology takes over where the new generation
dual-gradient drilling system operating for real in the deepwater Gulf riserless mud recovery system pioneered by Norway’s AGR Subsea
of Mexico by late next year. “We are proactively and radically changing Inc. left off, in that it will be deployed further down the wellbore
the way we’ll drill deepwater wells in the future,” says Smith. after the BOP has been latched and the riser installed. As the lead
The effort has progressed to the point that Chevron earlier this contractor for the Chevron project, AGR is looking to transfer to the
year contracted the newbuild Pacific Santa Ana drillship, with plans lower intervals of deepwater wells, some of the technologies devel-

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oped for its widely accepted riserless mud fluid and cuttings from the seafloor and back
recovery system, which in late 2009 made its to the rig for drilling the critical top hole sec-
first entry into the deepwater GoM. tion of subsea wells.
For the time being, Chevron and its subcon- Terry Scanlon, AGR senior vice president,
tractors are tight-lipped on specific hardware cites a long list of reasons the AGR riserless
and other technical modifications under de- drilling technology is far superior to tradition-
velopment. While not getting into any details, al pump and dump. For one, since no seafloor
Smith did say the integrated system now being discharge takes place and the spent mud is re-
advanced would be “a more robust and com- turned, operators have the luxury of running
mercial form” of the prototype that was de- more highly engineered fluid systems to con-
signed and successfully field-tested in the GoM. tend with the shallow flows and other hazards
The prototype was developed as part of the and wellbore stability issues of the top hole in-
five-year SubSea Mud Lift Drilling Joint Indus- tervals. This improved quality of the top hole
try Project (JIP) launched in 1996 with project section can also lead to deeper setting depths
designer Hydril and participants BP, Chevron, for the initial casing strings, which may mean
Conoco, Texaco, Diamond Offshore, Global that fewer strings have to be installed overall.
Marine, and Schlumberger. Hydril, which GE He adds the closed-loop mud recovery sys-
Oil and Gas acquired in 2008, designed the sub- tem now has been used successfully in more
sea pump deployed in the JIP field trial. than 100 wells worldwide. Early on, the wells
The primary components of the prototype, comprised the top holes in relatively shallow
which was field proven in about 900 ft (274 m) water in Norway, the Caspian Sea, and else-
of water on Texaco’s Shasta prospect on Green where. In 2008, the technology made its way
Canyon block 136 in August 2001, are a sub- into the deepwater when dual pump modules
sea mud lift pump situated on the seabed and a The prototype subsea mud lift pump used in the were installed as part of a riserless mud re-
subsea rotating diverter that provides the me- 2001 field trial being lifted aboard the Diamond covery package used in a Shell well off Ma-
chanical interface between the drilling fluid in Offshore Ocean New Era. laysia that was drilled in 5,000 ft (1,524 m) of
the wellbore and the seawater in the riser. The water. In late December, the riserless mud
rotating diverter also minimizes the influx of gas into the riser. recovery made its debut in the GoM where it was deployed in Mis-
GE product manager, Bob Judge, who while working for what was sissippi Canyon on the Discoverer Americas drillship to drill the top
then Hydril, was instrumental in the pump design for the JIP and is hole of the Statoil Krakatoa well in 2,060 ft (620 m) of water.
now involved in the Chevron project. Basically, he says the seawater- “This was exactly the kind of opportunity we were looking for on
driven prototype developed as part of the JIP works like an internal our first well in the GoM,” Scanlon says. “By addressing the top-hole
combustion engine in an automobile. instability and the shallow water flow and shallow gas flow concerns,
“We have a cylinder that takes something in, combustion that will we were able to establish our game-changing technology and ser-
expel it out, and valves that control the timing of how all this hap-
pens. The difference is, we replace the cam shaft used in automo-
biles to operate the valves with a hydraulic system. Consequently,
we can control the timing of the valves electronically. We can open
and close them whenever we want.”

All began up top

Proponents of dual-gradient drilling, or DGD, say all you have to
do is look at the typical method of drilling a deepwater well today to
realize there has to be a better way. Of course, that better way be-
gins in the top hole, where the standard practice is to drill riserless
to the predetermined first casing point, using seawater-based drill-
ing fluid that is simply discarded on the seafloor. While “pump and
dump” has been engrained in industry lexicon since not long after the
first offshore well was drilled off Summerland Beach in California,
operators employ it reluctantly and only because they had no other
choice. While weighted drilling fluid using seawater as its core is envi-
ronmentally benign, its properties leave much to be desired. With its
inadequate rheological profile, a seawater-based drilling fluid simply
is ill-equipped to tackle the shallow flows and other hazards of the
top hole, forcing operators to set numerous casing strings to maintain
wellbore stability. What is more, constructing a top hole with an open-
ended circulating system requires a tremendous volume of drilling
fluid that never will be recovered, raising myriad logistical and eco-
nomic ramifications, that are especially profound considering deep-
water wells are moving farther from shore and in more remote areas. The AGR patented post-BOP dual-gradient system allows the level of the
Enter AGR and its patented riserless mud recovery system. Pri- fluid in the riser to be manipulated, raised or lowered as needed, to alter the
marily known for its subsea pumping systems, AGR developed the bottomhole pressure of the well. The system is engineered to increase the
concept that includes, among other innovations, the use of a subsea operating window with relatively minor hardware and drilling system changes
mud pump and a mud return line to circulate the weighted drilling and, once installed, it can be readily used or not used on a per well basis.

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vices capability on these difficult wells.”

Statoil says that along with the obvious economic and operational
benefits, the method also delivers environmental rewards.
“The (RMR) system allowed us to circulate the mud, consequent-
ly reducing the total mud consumption and discharge to the sea to
a quarter of the amount typically used with conventional methods,”
says Tore Grønås, Statoil drilling superintendent for the Discoverer
Americas drillship. “The cost of mud itself and the transportation of it
to the drillship are significantly reduced. In addition, this technology
allows us to push the drilling depth deeper for the shallow casing
string, which again reduces the overall drilling time per well.”
AGR is now building on this expertise and is in the process of ap-
plying subsea mud pumping techniques to the post-BOP sections of Seabed view of the riserless mud recovery system.
the wellbore. This technology and know-how is being developed on
the Chevron DGD project. The use of this technology, post-BOP, will spearheads is designed to take it to the next level.
allow Chevron and others improved drilling parameters in tight pore “We are very confident in this technology. The nice thing about
pressure/fracture gradient hole sections, possibly leading to larger the JIP was that virtually every surprise we ran into was a positive
hole sections and fewer casing strings on very deep wells, like many surprise,” adds Smith, who while with Conoco also served as project
of the Lower Tertiary wells being drilled in the GoM, according to manager of the SubSea Mud Lift Drilling JIP.
AGR, which is managing the design, manufacture, verification test- “In conventional deepwater drilling, the water depth complicates
ing, and rig fit-up of the Chevron system under development well design, leading to the need to run a lot of casing strings. We
“The knowledge and expertise we are bringing to the (Chevron) have gotten extremely clever about working with the consequential
project, now through the hardware phase, will further enhance our very close tolerances, but this also leads to a lot of challenges like
position as a technology and deepwater operations leader in pre- lost circulation and poor cement jobs. What dual gradient allows us
BOP and now post-BOP life-of-well applications,” says Scanlon. to do and what we proved in the JIP is that we can completely re-
move the impact of water depth on well design. Therefore, if a well
Putting mud in its rightful place is in 10 ft (3 m) of water or 10, 000 ft (3,048 m) of water, it does not
While GE’s Judge says riserless mud recovery “fundamentally” matter. From a pressure standpoint, we can design it exactly the
is the same as post-BOP dual-gradient drilling in that both include same way,” he adds.
a pump on the seabed, that is where the similarities end. With a Judge agrees that the JIP left few, if any, unanswered technical
conventional well design, once the BOP is latched, the influences of questions. “There were no technical issues that remained unsolved
pressure raise a host of complications, including a number of well after the JIP. I think everybody bought into the idea that the technol-
control issues. Many of those complications began and end with the ogy works.”
enormous volume of mud in the riser. Generally, it is assumed that
every 1,000 ft (305 m) of marine riser has a capacity of 400 bbl of Timing is right
drilling fluid, so it does not take a mathematician to ascertain that If the technology is so beneficial, why has it essentially been
the volume of inactive mud in a well drilled in 10,000 ft (3,048 m) of mothballed for the better part of a decade? It’s all a matter of timing,
water is mind boggling. This drilling fluid comprises the majority of its staunchest advocates say, pointing out that the cost of the system
the total fluid system while providing no benefit to the active drilling admittedly is not for the economic faint-of-heart and at the time, it
process. However, since the density of drilling fluid is much greater simply was not cost-effective.
than that of seawater, the enormous volume in the riser increases “What killed us before is that the mob and demob cost of this
the hydrostatic pressure at the wellhead. In addition, the cold tem- kit is fairly high,” says Judge. “If you put it on a rig that is not built
peratures of deepwater are especially detrimental to the rheological for it, you have to modify the rig, bring the kit on, and then take
properties of mud in the riser. By taking drilling fluid out of the riser if off. When we finished this project in 2001, rigs were getting 12-
and into the wellbore and replacing it with seawater, the hydrostatic to 18-month contracts, meaning they might drill two to three wells.
head at the seafloor is created by the seawater in the riser and the Also, day rates were comparatively lower than they are today. So,
surrounding pressure at the mudline. there simply was not a great deal of economic incentive. Now, we
Judge says a dual-gradient drilling system behaves much like a have much higher day rates and extended contracts, so I believe
managed pressure drilling (MPD) operation. operators are looking at it and saying I can apply this cost over a
“The unique feature is that it can be used to control pressure in multi-well program. Now, the economics look attractive.”
the well, allowing us to do some things in terms of detecting influxes Smith agrees and also concedes that operators with limited deep-
and stopping them that were not possible before. The main thing is water assets to drill may not find the technology financially feasible.
we want a constant pressure profile on the annulus with no crazy “Chevron has a substantial deepwater portfolio – a requirement
pulsations coming out of the pump.” for deploying this technology, as the investment in capital and
He adds a great deal of the original development work centered people is otherwise too great. We didn’t have that portfolio in 2001,
on the network of valves, in particular the design of a mechanism when the JIP was completed,” he says.
capable of handling large cuttings without fouling the works. At the end of the day, Smith says the approaching first ever com-
“The first thing we had to do was actuate the valves with a hydrau- mercial application of a dual-gradient drilling system will represent
lic system to ensure big chunks (of cuttings) would not keep it open the dismantling of one more technical wall.
and, since it was designed to be subsea for a long time, sealing also “We’re drillers and we’re very good at running into a limit, finding
was a big issue. We combined elastomer seals with floating metal our way around it, and then pushing that limit back. We are nearing
floats and, essentially, made it self-sealing.” the limit of accessing deepwater resources with conventional drill-
Smith says the prototype Judge and the others developed as part ing method. Now is the time to try dual-gradient drilling, which is
of the JIP definitely is technically sound and that the work Chevron something fundamentally new.” 

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Subsalt brings more drilling

in HP/HT environments
I
mproved logging and drilling techniques Brian Skeels difficult to plan for technology needs and
contribute to the significant and growing FMC Technologies timing.
success rate of finding deep and subsalt Another vexing problem for HP/HT re-
reservoirs around the world. This trend quirements is properly defining the equip-
brings to the forefront the need for high- ment’s environment. Most oilfield equip-
pressure/high-temperature (HP/HT) hard- Fracture
ment codes, both wellhead and downhole,
ware sooner to access and develop this lat- pressure use “wellbore temperature” to define the
est realm of geologic formations. Pore equipment’s rated temperature class. Later,
While the development of HP/HT equip- pressure when equipment migrated to the arctic, op-
Normal
ment (rated over 10,000 psi [69 MPa] and/ pressure erators added a much lower temperature
or 250 °F [121 °C]) has been significant, the class to equipment requirements as a way to
requirements are piecemeal, project driven ensure the pressure containing equipment
and proprietary. Wellhead equipment and had the appropriate heat treatment and duc-
Depth

trees are approaching standards of 15,000 13,000 ft ≈ 4,000 m tility/toughness against cold brittle fracture
psi (103.4 MPa) and/or 350 °F (177 °C) ser- when the well was not flowing. This practice
vice while downhole, logging and isolation continues today where “all” equipment is
equipment are working in environments ap- Transition assumed to need to function at both upper
proaching 30,000 psi (207 MPa) and 500 °F zone and lower defined limits. However, this does
(260 °C). not properly address proximity. Some com-
One reason for the disparity is the grow- Abnormal ponents obviously are closer to the wellbore
ing distance between reservoir and well- pressure and so exposed to higher temperatures. Pe-
head, and the associated guesswork in pre- ripheral components, those away from the
dicting flowing wellhead conditions from Pressure wellbore, operate at more consistent ambi-
limited fluid and fluid flow properties at ent conditions regardless of wellbore tem-
the sand face. Several questions arise over Overpressure geology and its effect on pore perature.
how to define appropriate pressure and pressure (from ADS HPHT Well Control Course This sets up a huge rating conundrum.
temperature ratings along with surface en- [top] and DOT 2008 [bottom]). Does one rate peripheral equipment at one
vironmental (in air or subsea) pressure and temperature and in-close components at
temperature ratings—the latter introducing ing in the Gulf of Mexico continues to push wellbore temperatures? How about when
fatigue-cyclic loading conditions not seen into deeper, higher pressure formations, they are adjacent or touching? How do you
downhole. the need for increased suspension capacity re-rate peripheral equipment? Should it be
This great divide may provide a window under the duress of hostile, corrosive envi- insulated to eliminate heat sink outlets? Fi-
on material selection, operating, and main- ronments is equally important. Downhole nally, what do you rate the temperature class
tenance service life (as opposed to overall equipment development and fluid rheology for the entire assembly of components?
design life), and corrosion rates at elevated are the tip of the spear for HP/HT technol- Looking at the system requirements based
temperatures. Heavy oil production also ogy because of its proximity to the source on the environment and wellbore might es-
may hold clues on material performance. – the HP/HT reservoir. Unfortunately, res- tablish a different design paradigm. Work
Some heavy-oil equipment works at tem- ervoirs do not reveal their secrets willingly. with the environment, not against it.
peratures approaching 650 °F (343 °C). Downhole equipment usually works in a
Current downhole and “hot” heavy-oil pro- Establishing system narrower temperature range since it experi-
duction reveal clues for design guidelines to requirements ences roughly the same rated pressure and
help the HP/HT wellhead community keep Many HP/HT reservoirs are being found temperature both internally and externally.
pace with reservoir advances in extreme in subsalt (or presalt) locations under abnor- Stability and longevity are keys to downhole
and ultra HP/HT environments. mal pressure gradients and folds. Depth of success. Typically, the high temperature
Operator requirements for drilling and the salt play above the reservoir also plays condition sets the requirements for design
completions systems push the boundary of tricks with the estimated reservoir tempera- and qualifying procedures. These condi-
known, proven, and delivered technology ture and overburden pressure. Interestingly, tions usually remain “high” for extremely
and equipment. As these boundaries get thicker salt regions coincide with more re- long periods of service and usually are the
pushed further, the need for a new higher mote, deeper water locations, which skew mindset behind an operator’s temperature
pressure, higher temperature, and higher requirement needs. Wellhead equipment class requirements. Therefore, downhole
casing capacity subsea wellhead system manufacturers of subsea and surface hard- equipment may not hold too many insights
grows. This need grows as modifications ware are seeing a roughly 5,000 psi and 50 for other production equipment designs. In
to existing technology are useful in fewer °F disparity in requirements for generally fact, the narrow focus might restrict how
and fewer applications. Additionally, as drill- the same reservoir depth, making it more we view the performance of ancillary equip-

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9ED<;H;D9;;N>?8?J?ED
9th Annual • November 2 – 4, 2010
Moody Gardens Hotel & Convention Center
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• 80% of exhibitors rated the cost/benefit analysis as good to excellent
• 86% of exhibitors indicated they will exhibit at Deepwater Operations 2010
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Want to join them? Contact your sales representative.

For more reasons to Exhibit or Sponsor please contact;

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Shelf HP/HT vs. deepwater HP/HT in the GOM are baked at these tempera-
tures after a sour well job
to get rid of residual hydro-
gen. Extreme and ultra HP/
HT reservoir temperatures
approach this same tem-
perature range, suggesting
that high-strength tubular
goods may avoid embrittle-
ment problems because the
higher ambient temperature
allows hydrogen to pass
through the steel’s molecu-
lar lattice structure.
Because of severe re-
quirements and the lack of
sufficient data under HP/
HT conditions, the indus-
try is limited in its ability
to produce oil and gas from
these wells. In spite of this,
the industry is drilling and
logging HP/HT wells with
renewed vigor. Drilling
these wells has been ac-
ment. A “one-temperature-fits-all” approach spective – using carbon steel alloys instead complished using clever techniques which
may overcomplicate or defeat the possibility of CRAs. How does this happen, given that challenge established norms. If current
of finding a workable mechanism. many HP/HT wells take a year or so to drill standards and practices are to be upheld,
and complete? Surface and upper interme- the industry must begin immediately to put
Obey or ignore diate casing strings feature 55-85 ksi grade HP/HT developments on a scientific footing
the environment? material while deeper casing strings are be- instead of relying on old rules.
Early forays into HP/HT reservoirs ing set as multiple liners using 125 ksi grade Because it is difficult to accurately define
peaked in 1982 when roughly 1,200 wells materials (the higher grades being down- conditions, some companies err on the side
were drilled below 15,000 ft (4,570 m) in the rated 10-15% for wellbore temperature to of costly and conservative approaches to
United States. Although the number of HP/ achieve the necessary load requirements). accessing deep HP/HT reservoirs, or else
HT wells drilled decreased, the target depth The question is: why is carbon steel sur- abandon the attempt altogether. Others
steadily increased over the next 10 years viving? The answer could be the environ- choose to ignore the possible hazardous
reaching 22,500 ft (6,860 m) and recently ment. Carbon steel pipelines and production conditions and forged ahead because there
33,000 ft (10,060 m). This trend was encour- tubing in hot, high-sulfur wells in the Kasha- is no concrete answer.
aged by the promise that deeper wells of- gan field are surviving 20% hydrogen sulfide The oil industry’s continued can-do spirit
fered greater production capability. Deep conditions because of the high sulfur, low shows that the HP/HT environment might
reservoirs make up less than 1% of the total oxygen environment. Pipeline maintenance be used to our advantage rather than treated
number of wells, but account for nearly 7% of shows this condition creates a ferrous sul- as a problem. Limiting exposure rather than
domestic production. fide coating in the bore, which (if left un- assuming “last forever – no maintenance”
Conditions were considered well beyond disturbed) reduces the corrosive metal loss extends conventional designs and makes it
the historical limits of “sour” service set by rate from 40 mpy to 5-10 mpy. possible to use more economical materials
NACE standards and boiler code conditions Canadian heavy oil wells exhibit similar and seal technology. The old “20-year design
had to address the extreme bottomhole equipment survivability using mild service life” mantra has to be replaced with a practi-
temperatures. Conservatism ruled in plan- (material class AA), low cost carbon steels cal “operating life” philosophy. Lowering the
ning and drilling these wells, calling for the for wellhead and completion hardware. life expectancy of materials to a tolerable ob-
highest grade, strongest materials available. Asphaultine-like wellbore fluids produced solescence lessens the design challenge and
Most notably, wells were designed with from these wells constantly coat the bore of contradictions (strength versus ductility,
high nickel content CRA tubular goods to the tubing and well control equipment. The years/corrosion allowance versus cycles,
mitigate well control catastrophes caused well’s relatively high-producing temperature near wellbore versus near environment loca-
by cracked casing succumbing to the envi- “cooks” this coating onto the pipe to give it tion, high temperature operation versus low
ronment. Proximity to population centers a protective lining. As with Kashagan, it is temperature shut-in, etc.). Yet, in light of the
and local regulations also mandated their a brittle covering, but if left undisturbed, convention-stretching attitude of the best
use. CRAs were considered the best choice greatly reduces the corrosion rate. wildcatters there still is a ways to go. Design
because corrosion rates for carbon steels High temperature also may be an ally from methodology appears to be maturing in time
would be an order of magnitude greater another perspective. It is common practice to to meet HP/HT market needs. Insufficient
than practical corrosion allowances. post-weld heat treat welds for stress relieving materials data under HP/HT conditions rel-
Recent activity in deep gas plays offshore and “baking out hydrogen” at temperatures egates the industry to educated supposition
the GoM look at that same well construction between 400-800 °F (205-425 °C). Work string or technical risk mitigation based only on
philosophy from a completely different per- tubular goods used in workovers routinely experience. 

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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 TA L L AT I O N

Using dimensional control to mitigate

risk for ATP Titan installation
Providing assurance that components will fit
Tom Greaves
Spar Point Group

Robert Shivers
ATP Oil & Gas Corp.

Jose Vasquez
Roy Cottrell
Bennett & Associates LLC

Ian Mackie
Keith Medley
Intertek Hi-Cad

T
he client is a small independent that
just made a $600 million bet on a new
deepwater floating platform to de-
velop a Gulf of Mexico field the ma-
jors considered too small to develop
themselves. Get it right and the client dou-
bles production next year. Get it wrong…
well, do not go there. Mitigating installation
risk with dimensional control makes a lot of
Titan hull floating horizontally in graving dock at Gulf Marine Fabricators prior to sailaway.
sense when the stakes are so high. Here is
how Bluewater Industries did it for ATP Oil
and Gas Corp. (ATP) on the Titan MinDOC top of the hull sets a two module, “T-shaped” periods typically experienced in the GoM.
project earlier this year. facility designed by Mustang Engineering. Furthermore, the MinDOC was designed
The moment of truth for all offshore in- The structure measures approximately 726 to be moved to new locations over its ex-
stallations: Will the topsides-to-hull integra- ft (221 m) from the base to the top of its der- pected service life. The Titan can operate
tion be performed successfully, on the first rick and has a design capacity of 25 Mbbl/d in depths ranging from 2,000 ft (610 m) to
attempt and without interferences? Bluewa- of oil and 100 MMcf/d of gas. The Titan Min- 7,500 ft (2,286 m) with comparable payload
ter Industries deployed dimensional control DOC has been deployed in the Mirage field and environment conditions. Moreover, the
services from Intertek Hi-Cad at relevant (Mississippi Canyon block 941), as part of unit can be towed to a new location with the
stages of fabrication to limit the potential for the Telemark Hub, and will be initially pro- topsides in place. As such, the Titan allows
installation problems, and cost and schedule ducing part of the Telemark (Atwater Valley ATP to consider fields that would otherwise
impacts for ATP’s Minimum Deep Offshore block 63) and Morgus (Mississippi Canyon be commercially marginal with conventional
(MinDOC 3) floating platform project. In- block 942) fields via subsea tiebacks in wa- completions.
stallation and integration of the topsides ter depths of approximately 4,000 ft (1,219 The 18,000-ton (16,329-metric ton), 485-
modules was completed offshore in January m). The stakes are high – development of ft (148-m) long hull was constructed hori-
without incident; no dimensional fitting or the Telemark Hub is expected to double zontally by Gulf Marine Fabricators at the
clash problems were encountered. ATP’s production this year. company’s purpose-built graving dock in
The ATP Titan project, a deepwater dry At first glance, Titan’s three-column Ingleside, Texas. During construction, two
tree platform, is the first of its type to be structure resembles a semisubmersible, but of the three 52-ft (16-m) diameter upper col-
used in the GoM. The patented MinDOC motion-wise, its deep draft and low center of umns were supported by saddles located
hull, designed by Bennett & Associates gravity give it pitch, roll, and heave motions directly on the concrete floor of the graving
(BASS), consists of three circular columns more in line with spar designs. This is par- dock, while the third column was assembled
connected by triangular pontoons and a top ticularly important for post-Katrina design more than 100 ft (30 m) up in the air. After
tensioned riser (TTR) frame that supports conditions. The natural oscillation periods hull fabrication was completed, the 40-ft
the risers through the center of the hull. On for the platform fall well outside the wave (12-m) deep graving dock was flooded and

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

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184 Years Of Operating

Experience, A 99 Percent
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The Largest Floating
Production Fleet In
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globe. Learn how they can make a difference for you.
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Technology Creating Value
SBM Offshore: SBM Atlantia SBM Monaco SBM Malaysia GustoMSC

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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 TA L L AT I O N

Titan was floated and towed to its deepwa-

ter installation site where it was upended to
its operational position by controlled, free
flooding of its lower hull.
The topsides consist of a 3,600-ton
(3,266-metric ton) process module and a
2,500-ton (2,268-metric ton) utility module
that were fabricated at Gulf Island Fabrica-
tors in Houma, Louisiana. In plan view, the
topsides structure is T-shaped with the pro-
cess module spanning 150 ft (46 m) across
the port and starboard columns. The utility
module spans from the forward column to
the process module, where the two are con-
nected via a structural interface. Weight
constraints made it impractical to fabricate
the topsides as one unit; the lift would have
induced unacceptable deflections or re-
quired an impossibly large spreader bar or
two crane barges to lift.
Intertek Hi-Cad delivered dimensional
control for pre-installation structural inter-
face compatibility and identification of po-
tential interferences between the modules
and hull.
Bluewater contracted Intertek Hi-Cad in (Above) Process module being loaded out at Gulf Island Fabrication. Photo by Jeff Rushing.
April 2009 to provide dimensional control (Below) Utility module at Gulf Island Fabrication prior to load out. Photo by Jeff Rushing.
(DC) services for the Titan. In addition to
general construction support for key compo-
nents, Intertek Hi-Cad’s scope included de-
tailed and high accuracy as-built dimension-
al data that assured compatibility between
the topsides-to-hull and module-to-module
structural interfaces. This compatibility
analysis included clash-checking of the in-
terface envelopes to identify possible hard
clashes and close proximity components
that could cause problems during module
installation. As the project progressed, Blue-
water elected to expand Intertek Hi-Cad’s
scope to include assistance with the instal-
lation of the four 80-ton (73-metric ton) riser
tensioners and pre-installation verification
of the topsides-to-hull interconnect piping
spools based on as-built module locations
relative to the hull.
Discovering clashes and interferences
during installation is a project team’s sched-
ule- and budget-busting nightmare. With
day rates for offshore installation operations
often exceeding $1 million per day, there is
every incentive to shorten the duration re-
quired for installation. Dimensional control
is low-cost, high-value insurance to signifi- have solidified their involvement in future additional risks, including the potential for a
cantly reduce that duration. Although ar- projects of this magnitude,” says George catastrophic accident.
rangements can vary, dimensional control Friedel, VP of Operations for Bluewater In- In the case of offshore installations, suc-
contracts typically amount to less than 0.2% dustries. cess in installing modules (whose tendency
of total installed cost. “The cost of Intertek Of course, safety always comes first. is to flex in the lift condition) from a barge
Hi-Cad’s services was insignificant in com- When lifting significant loads, whether at onto a floating hull structure demands un-
parison to the negative schedule and cost sea or on land, the priority is to safely and derstanding the potential dimensional is-
impacts that could have been encountered efficiently land the load. Leaving a load that sues that can be encountered during the ap-
during fabrication, installation, or opera- weighs thousands of tons hanging on the proach, engagement, and touch-down of the
tions. Their attention to detail and commit- crane, for any length of time, while resolv- modules to the hull.
ment to maintaining our project schedule ing installation issues introduces serious “With mating tolerances as little as 0.5

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www.heerema.com

We’re deeply qualified!

We provide over half a century of expertise to the offshore oil and
gas industry. While our reputation as a heavy-lifter continues to stand
tall, our service over the past 15 years has gone deeper and deeper.
Creating solutions for Deepwater exploration and production,
fixed or floating facilities, complex infrastructures or marginal Heerema Marine Contractors
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Does this look like a heavy-lift vessel?
It is one of our multipurpose Deepwater Construction Vessels, with Check our track record at www.heerema.com
a specially developed J-lay tower for Deepwater pipelaying, a mooring
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in water depths up to 3,000 metres. a heerema group company

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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 TA L L AT I O N

Installation of the process module by J. Ray McDermott’s DB50. Photo by Jamie Armstrong.

in. or less on major structural components as-built survey work was completed, Inter- module-to-module structural interfaces to
fabricated in separate locations in different tek Hi-Cad progressively calculated and fit- determine the “best fit” of the modules rela-
states, you need the precision and accu- ted the pieces together to obtain a “best-fit” tive to the hull. With this information, BASS
racy of DC to make sure it all fits together. among all structures. was able to pinpoint the optimum locations
In most instances, you only get one shot to for the stabbing guides on the hull which
install modules the size of the Titan’s,” says Construction support significantly reduced installation risks off-
Jeff Rushing with Bluewater Industries. At one stage of construction, the forward shore.
“Physical influences in an offshore environ- column of the Titan was supported elastical- Once fitted and in place, Intertek Hi-
ment make it impractical to have a second ly by strand jacks and trusses 100 plus ft (30 Cad’s scope continued with monitoring the
chance.” m) in the air after assembly and just prior stabbing guides during weldout relative to
This makes reversing the procedure (i.e., to the installation of the TTR frame which target positions that were established. With
lifting the modules back up to field-correct would tie all three of the upper columns Intertek Hi-Cad’s experience and twice-a-
for structural compatibility and interference of the Titan together. BASS calculated the day readings, these optimum locations were
issues) an impractical, and sometimes im- amount of deflection expected as the strand accomplished despite the movement of the
possible, option. jacks were released and the structure was target positions due to expansion and con-
positioned in a location that would minimize traction of the hull during the summer heat.
Dimensional locked in stresses on the hull. As part of this
control workflow critical construction activity, Intertek Hi-Cad Offshore DC verification
Intertek Hi-Cad operations manager, Kyle was asked to monitor the position of the TTR Intertek Hi-Cad carried on with the DC
McNeil, led the team that conducted the frame relative to the target positions pro- services by measuring possible deflections
dimensional control work. Step one was to vided by BASS to an accuracy of ±1/16-in. that may have resulted from transportation
meet with Bluewater project personnel to (1.586 mm) during the weldout. End Result? and upending of the hull once it was floated to
understand the design tolerances, deflec- The stresses were minimized as predicted. the upright service position and fully ballast-
tion, and movement issues specific to the ed. The survey readings then were calculated
Titan installation activities. McNeil is no Topsides-to-hull and modeled in AutoCAD to determine the
stranger to offshore work – he’s been with structural interface position of the structural interfaces, primar-
Intertek Hi-Cad for three years and spent To properly mate with the module legs, ily the stabbing guides. Results from Intertek
26 years with KBR and McDermott before stabbing guides on the hull were designed Hi-Cad’s work confirmed that the forward leg
that. McNeil views dimensional control as to allow adjustment in the x, y, and z direc- column had deflected out-board by close to
an investment: “It’s down to the client and tion before welding them to the hull. This the predicted offset and all elevations held to
the investment in managing potential risk.” adjustment allowance had to account for five plane within ± 3/16 in.(4.75 mm).
Under McNeil’s supervision, Intertek Hi- factors: 1) the as-built geometry of the mod- Once the hull and topsides were mated,
Cad survey personnel visited the hull and ule legs, 2) the as-built geometry of the mod- the next step was to connect the piping sys-
topsides fabrication facilities at appropriate ule-to-module structural interface, 3) the tems and install the specifically designed ris-
times to execute the survey work using a as-built geometry of the hull, 4) the welding er tensioner system. With Intertek Hi-Cad’s
proprietary surveying processes and sup- tolerance of the hull, and 5) the geometry foresight to pre-survey the positions of the
porting software. The accuracy and detail change anticipated as the hull moved from piping tie-in points on both the topsides and
of the survey work was critical to assess the the horizontal, laterally supported condition hull prior to installation, it was straightfor-
structural interface compatibility and to de- to the upright and free-floating condition ward to carry out the minimal survey work
tect and visualize possible clashes that could offshore. Intertek Hi-Cad surveyed the as- necessary to calculate the geometry of the
arise during installation. As each part of the built locations of both the module legs and closing spools, which included lengths,

82 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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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 TA L L AT I O N

DC technology
Total station survey instruments and ac-
cessories supported by DIMES (Intertek
Hi-Cad’s 3D calculation software) and Auto-
CAD software were used as the main tools
for the project survey work. The DIMES
software is compatible with AutoCAD. Inter-
tek Hi-Cad surveyors are experienced with
3D CAD modeling techniques, allowing the
as-surveyed data to be manipulated in Auto-
CAD for the purpose of modeling relevant
information and possible overlay against the
design model for interrogation. In this in-
stance, three separate models were prepared
for the top of the hull and the undersides of
the process and utility modules. Based on the
calculations, the modules were moved into
position on the hull model, thereby allowing
interrogation of the full interface envelope.
Working offshore with a total station instru-
ment often requires flexibility and knowledge
of the acceptable parameters to be able to set
up the instrument in difficult situations and
maintain high accuracy in order to achieve
the required tolerances.
(Above) Lowering of the process module on to the hull stabbing guides. Photo by Isidro Rodriguez.
(Below) The utility module being installed at night. Photo by Coles Hairston. How is dimensional control
different than inspection?
Here’s where experience with design, fab-
rication, and installation pays off. A dimen-
sional control expert engaged throughout
fabrication can not only identify potential fab-
rication dimensional problems and tolerance
accumulations but can also advise on practi-
cal solutions to correct for the accumulations.
Dimensional control insight into fabrication
processes, experience and understanding of
installation procedures as well as knowledge
about the capabilities of individual contrac-
tors lets DC experts inform project teams
about how to make mid-course corrections
and adjustments to avoid potential serious
expensive problems from occurring at the
critical stages. McNeil says “it takes a client
with an open mind to get full value for the in-
vestment because it is not business as usual.”

Other lessons learned

Construction of some offshore structures re-
quires the coordination of multiple fabrication
contractors, each responsible for producing
components to a specified tolerance. The chal-
flange angles, and bolt pattern orientation, that would allow the proper alignment to be lenge for the project team is to manage the ac-
where applicable. The required dimensional achieved as the tensioners were lowered to cumulation of the variations between the nomi-
information for selected spools was complet- their final resting position on the TTR frame. nal design dimensions and the as-fabricated
ed and issued to piping personnel for fabri- This alignment was critical, as the tensioners dimensions. Tightening the specifications has
cation completion – the goal: first-time fit. were only able to be lowered into position cost and schedule implications and in most cas-
Confined within the well bay structure prior to being put into service. Consideration es becomes impractical. Due to cost and sched-
of the utility module, the riser tensioners of the utility module wellbay positions was ule concerns a project team can be pushed to
hung suspended in midair for the transpor- included in the Intertek Hi-CAD best-fit cal- take risk on out of tolerance dimensions. Di-
tation offshore. Survey work had begun culations for locating the module to the hull. mensional control applied accurately and with
many months earlier in preparation of the Once again, good survey preparation allowed construction experience and knowledge can
installation. Intertek Hi-CAD had placed tar- for efficient and accurate positioning of the provide the assurance that components will fit
gets in strategic positions on the tensioners tensioners during the offshore installation. together when it really counts, the first time. 

www.offshore-mag.com • May 2010 Offshore 83

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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 TA L L AT I O N

Light-weight topsides Moutaz Alchalabi

Rebel LeBoeuf
Chris Sherertz

for heavy-weight projects KBR

T
he weight of an offshore platform’s topsides affects the overall
economics of the project. Designing and fabricating topsides
that minimize the number of modules required – thus reduc-
ing weight – is proven to minimize costly offshore hookup
and commissioning of a new installation. Accurate prediction
and management of the topsides’ weight and center of gravity dur-
ing the early phases of design leads to the successful completion
and delivery of light-weight topsides for heavy-weight projects.

Project life-cycle analysis

KBR has established a work process and weight management sys- Typical 3D design models for topsides equipment. Left: a module from an
tem to deliver light-weight topsides, which can eliminate schedule FPSO. Right: multiple modules on a compliant tower.
delays and cost increases. The weight management process starts
during the early stages of the project life-cycle. In the early concep- known that structural, equipment, and piping are the main compo-
tual phase, the design is not fixed so various options can be evaluat- nents of the total dry weight of a topsides facility.
ed quickly. As the project progresses, the ability to influence weight Emphasis is often placed on minimizing the structural weight.
starts to diminish and the cost of reducing weight starts to increase. However, a proper weight management starts with the driver of the
One key component in the execution of offshore technology is the facility’s physical layout – equipment.
ability to provide accurate weight prediction in a short period of time. From the big picture perspective, once the process design is deter-
This is done using historical data and a 3D model, which is ideal for mined, the topsides weight is affected most directly by the equipment
screening design options. The historical data includes weights and di- number and sizes, layout, piping, structural, and riser (and other top-
mensions of topsides components. If a proper topsides weight and cen- sides) loads.
ter of gravity estimate has not been done in the front-end engineering Layout improvement is a centerpiece of weight management. To
and design (FEED), the risks of schedule delays and cost escalation minimize topsides weight, the total deck area is minimized by em-
during detailed design increase. ploying the following reviews:
By using the 3D model, piping, and structural weight reports can • Optimize the number of platform cranes by evaluating capaci-
be generated along with an equipment list. ties, boom lengths, and required crane lifts
Furthermore, a well-defined scope improves the definition of the equip- • Optimize electrical switchgear/motor control center building
ment count, and therefore the weight, particularly in areas where design configurations
for future growth and decommissioning are involved. A poor scope defini- • Optimize equipment locations by “stacking” equipment and use
tion often leads to ambiguity and increased estimating uncertainty. of individual equipment access platforms for more than one
One important aspect of weight management is use of reliable his- piece of equipment
torical benchmark data. This information can be used in early project • Minimize piping runs by consolidating equipment in central lo-
phases to ensure that the proposed design is within the historical range. cations and optimizing piperack locations

Integrated approach in weight management

Total gross dry topsides weight

Once the FEED phase is completed and the overall scope of the
project is defined, a project will move forward to Detailed Engineer-
ing and the Procurement and Construction (EPC) phase. It is well

Weight management during project phases.

Ability to influence weight

Cost of reducing weight

Total topsides deck area

An example of the benchmark data from KBR’s weight management data-
ED

ED

ng

r
ve
EP

base. The x-axis is the total deck area and the y-axis is the total topsides
ni
FE

FE

no
io
e-

ur
iss

weight. The graph is based on over 50 platforms that can be filtered to

Pr

rt
m

te

better match each project and the type of facilities such as FPSOs, spars,
m

Af
Co

TLPs, and semisubmersibles. It can also be compared to public domain

Project phase data for platforms designed by others.

84 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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Topsides: More than 60 years EPCI experience,

our deepwater construction and integration
facilities in Altamira, Mexico, and our top-tier,
worldwide fabrication resources, make J. Ray
your partner of choice.

Hulls: Partnering with leading specialists in

FPS and shipshape hull design and fabrication,
we offer the latest technology, from concept
to commissioning, through our joint ventures
FloaTEC LLC. and McDermott Wuchuan.

Subsea installation: Our turnkey expertise

and expanding fleet of multipurpose subsea
construction vessels cater to our customers’
above-surface and subsea needs across a
range of water depths worldwide.

In Sync
WORLDWIDE
with deepwater production needs
Our versatile, integrated capabilities and assets bring our customers’ deepwater concepts to
reality. Through J. Ray and strategic joint ventures, we offer a unique combination of engineering,
procurement, construction and installation services, local content and global reach to the growing
markets of FPS, FPSOs and SURF infrastructure. With our constructability and installability
focus, continuous improvement and innovation, we are in sync with solving your complex
deepwater challenges.

SEE US AT OTC, BOOTH NO. 2169

FOCUSED ON CONVENTIONAL, SURF & FLOATING FACILITIES

-5D\0F'HUPRWW6$__(PDLOEXVLQHVVGHYHORSPHQW#PFGHUPRWWFRP

Copyright 2010 © J. Ray McDermott, S.A.

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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 TA L L AT I O N

Material weight and modulus of elasticity design constraints were satisfied.

600 30,000 Another example of reducing topsides weight is a recent project
where the piperack on a newbuild FPSO was fully integrated into the
adjacent portside modules and thus fully supported from the existing

Modulus of elasticity (N/m2)

500 25,000
portside module support stools. Normally, piperacks are separate mod-
400 20,000 ules supported by their own module support stools and located in the
center of the vessel between the port and starboard modules. In order
Weight (lb)

300 15,000 to eliminate the stool supports for the piperack modules, eliminate the
piperack module lifts, and minimize the integration hook-up between
200 10,000 the piperack modules and the adjacent portside set of modules, the
piperacks on this FPSO were integrated with the portside modules
100 5,000 by locating them along the inside of these modules running down the
length of the ship. Though additional main and cantilevered structure
0 0 was added to the portside modules to support these piperacks, there
Steel Aluminum Fiberglass was considerable overall weight, cost, and schedule savings accrued by
Material eliminating hull support stools, installation lifts, and pipe hook-up and
integration involving eight significant piperack modules.
• Use portable lifting devices instead of fixed ones In addition to piperacks, well riser loads can be significant in de-
• Reduce heights between decks while considering maintainability termining the total weight of the topsides for floating facilities that
• Optimize equipment layout by mirror imaging to reduce pipe runs. accommodate dry trees, especially in deeper water. In order to re-
Equipment optimization is another important aspect to minimize duce these loads, consideration should be given to:
offshore weight. Topsides modules are comprised of many vendor • Single versus dual casing risers. Dual casing directly and signifi-
packages. In projects where the engineering company is the overall cantly increases the riser load compared to single casing. A risk
EPC contractor, it is necessary to engage the equipment package assessment should assess the benefit of dual casing over single
suppliers early to ensure each supplier’s weight reporting method casing, depending on the client’s policies and relevant codes
will lead to predictable results, and to ensure that lighter weight op- • Buoyancy to reduce both vertical and lateral loading on the ris-
tions are fully explored. In addition, the following equipment issues ers. As always, capital costs and maintenance expense must be
are routinely examined: weighed against the material and weight savings
• Provide fit for purpose designs • The span between supports for the structure the carries the
• Design for current capacity and avoiding over designing for the TTR (Top Tensioned Riser) loads. This significantly impacts
future the structural steel required and thus the facility weight.
• Select lighter weight equipment designs when multiple offer- Anything that can be done to reduce the TTR loads and/or the
ings are available from proprietary equipment suppliers supporting span length will make a notable difference in the topsides
• Minimize living quarters size and use aluminum structure members weight. Furthermore, the way these loads are carried into the hull is
• Reduce resident time in vessels. also a key consideration. Integrated analyses of the topsides and hull
For piping, an engineering contractor can investigate the use of non- can be used early in the project to determine the potential reduction
metallic materials such as reinforced thermosetting resin pipe (RTRP) in topsides weight achievable by using knee braces or other means to
for selected utility systems to reduce the total weight. However, rigor- transfer the load into the hull.
ous numerical analysis often is required to ensure that the non-metallic Other execution techniques used to ensure lightweight topsides
materials can meet the stress requirement for all the foreseeable oper- design are to:
ating conditions. Hydraulic transient analysis also must be conducted 1. Use the Value Improvement Process (VIP)
properly to minimize the impact of surge pressure on the non-metallic 2. Enroll clients in the weight savings process
piping. Generally speaking, RTRP is limited to utilities. 3. Establish target weights for each discipline by benchmarking
Structural steel is the largest single contributor to topsides weight of 4. Implement weight reduction challenges during the FEED phase
offshore facilities. The structural weight primarily depends on the top- 5. Use PDMS and proprietary weight management software cou-
sides equipment weight, deck area, and loads. The loads include lift, pled with the equipment weight provided by the suppliers to
transportation and handling, in-place motions, riser, drilling, and safety provide weight and center of gravity (COG) of the design
considerations (e.g. blast, fire). With a rigorous weight management 6. Establish weight control philosophy, weight estimate, and con-
methodology, proper selection of contingencies, and change control tingency to mitigate weight variation during the design phase
during the early stages of projects, topsides structural weight usually 7. Bring awareness to specific lifting requirements for installation
stays relatively constant during project phases. Hence, once the topsides or hull sensitivities to control the COG.
weight has been properly estimated, the total topsides dry weight is kept The process outlined above must be implemented throughout the
within a manageable range throughout the execution of project phases via project life-
entire design process. The result is the final cycle analysis, with continuous input from all
weight and center of gravity are within the tar- engineering disciplines and stakeholders. 
gets established during initial design.
An example of a platform in which this Acknowledgment
practice was conducted is Chevron’s Tom- The authors thank the many individuals within
bua- Landana compliant piled tower, installed KBR whose contributions in various offshore projects
offshore Angola. Here, topsides weight was made this paper possible. Specifically, the authors
acknowledge KBR’s weight management team for its
kept within the design limit while sensitive
input to this paper: Marlowe Bentley, Jeffrey Feng,
Steve Gunzelman, Bob Hilton, Ricky Leblanc, Lori-
The Tombua-Landana platform. ana Morris, David Sagastegui, Hoss Shariat, Mike
Photo courtesy of Chevron. Simpson, Ralph Thrasher, and Hieu Tran.

86 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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Predator Series Bolting Tools for

your demanding applications.
applications

Demand the leader…

www.powerteam.com
1-800-541-1418
[email protected]

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SUBSEA

Jules Verne – The Field of the Future

Tim Lowry Chuck Horn
Technip

T
his describes the original work of Jules Verne, especially in the
epic novel 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea, written in 1869, where-
in Captain Nemo charted the oceans depths in his submarine
The Nautilus for a voyage that would take him through new and
exciting places on a journey that covered enough distance to
circle the globe 2-1/2 times, or 20,000 leagues (the number repre-
sented distance traveled, not depth). Now, the oil and gas industry
has developed a similar vision, taking us to new and exciting places on
a journey that will prove to be just as exciting as the original. Welcome
to “Jules Verne – The Field of the Future.” In our case, the submarines
are unmanned, and the new and exciting places are the technologies
that make up what we now refer to as “subsea processing” which cov-
ers a large variety of equipment; pumping, separation, compression,
power transmission, and distribution, and the sophisticated controls
and monitoring systems that make these work.
These new visionaries are the people inside the Deepstar and RP- Jules Verne – The Field of the Future
SEA organizations that work within the industry to facilitate front- • 50 mi (80 km) tieback, 8,000 ft (2,438 m) water depth
end research and development at various levels. They have banded • Long-distance, high-voltage power transmission
together through various meetings and workshops to form this new • Subsea transformers, switchgear, circuit protection, variable
vision of the deepwater field of the future so that each organizations speed drives
can align individual tasks within their organizations to work towards • Three-phase separation, produced water treatment
a common goal that has become referred to as the “Jules Verne – • Gas compression, oil pumping, water pumping.
The Field of the Future.”
Subsea processing technology is beginning to be implemented on A summary of the technology development activities is included in
a variety of field development projects throughout the world. This OTC paper 20687, DeepStar Jules Verne Subsea Processing Road Map.
is demonstrated by the subsea processing and boosting poster is- The technology evaluations developed for the study were framed
sued in the previous issue of Offshore (March 2010 online at ____ http:// by the project basis of design with inputs from the project steering
www.offshore-mag.com/etc/medialib/platform-7/offshore/maps-
_________________________________________ committee and previous DeepStar studies. The primary scenarios
and_posters.Par.21618.File.dat/SubseaProcessing-022410ADS.pdf
_________________________________________ used for the study consisted of subsea processing equipment in
). The relatively mature technology of full well stream boosting is a deepwater region of the GoM and 50 mi (80 km) from the near-
being adopted for increased flow rates, higher boost pressures, and est processing facility. The full subsea processing scenario (“Jules
deeper fields. After initial deployment in shallow waters, the emerg- Verne” concept) included equipment for power transmission/distri-
ing technology required for two-phase separation is ready for opera- bution, subsea inhibitor storage/injection, three-phase separation,
tions in deepwater fields in the Gulf of Mexico and Brazil. However, produced water treatment, sand handling/management, gas com-
commercial usage of full three-phase subsea separation (with sepa- pression, oil pumping, and water pumping for seabed disposal.
rate flow of oil, gas, and water from the subsea processing system)
has not been deployed in any water depth. Potential benefits
The ultimate goal of three-phase separation on the seafloor is the The potential benefits of subsea processing have been presented
cornerstone of “Jules Verne – The Field of the Future” and is built upon in a variety of forums and published extensively. These include mini-
the successful implementation and adoption of the preceding technolo- mizing flow assurance risks, enabling/accelerating/increasing pro-
gies: standard production systems, full well stream boosting, water/ duction, and reducing topsides processing equipment requirements
hydrocarbon separation, and gas/liquid separation. As operating com- (primary separation, produced water treatment).
panies continue to move into the deepwater regions around the globe, For the Jules Verne concept, some of the drivers for technology
their reliance on these subsea processing technologies will increase. innovation included enabling long-distance tiebacks from oil-pro-
ducing reservoirs, eliminating the need for hydrate inhibitors by re-
Study background ducing the water cut of the produced oil stream/removing free gas,
Last year, the Jules Verne study was commissioned by the Deep- and simplifying the design of long-distance umbilicals through the
Star joint industry technology project to evaluate the technical ma- use of local subsea inhibitor storage/injection systems.
turity of an all subsea process development in the deepwater regions The technology development activities identified by the Jules
of the GoM. The study consisted of a series of vendor interviews and Verne study have been forwarded to the DeepStar program for fur-
open conversations with operating company personnel to determine ther consideration and funding. If selected for funding, the smaller
the current state of the art in subsea processing technology as well initiatives and early phase technology development projects will be
as the required technology development activities needed to bring funded primarily by DeepStar during the second round of funding
the various subsea processing components to a project-ready status. reserved for the Phase X development cycle. The larger technology

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SUBSEA

development projects and groups of alignment of the two groups’ efforts to

related, smaller initiatives with proj- Deployment of subsea identify and to develop technologies to
ect values over $1 million may be sub- processing technologies support deepwater oil and gas produc-
mitted to RPSEA for inclusion in the tion.
fiscal year 2010 request for proposals, Phase X of the DeepStar Program
currently scheduled to be released began in January 2010 and will be con-
for bidding in the second quarter of cluded in December 2011. The current
this year. budget for technology development dur-
This is an exciting time for innovative ing Phase X is approximately $7 million.
technology developers that are inter- The majority of these funds will be allo-
ested in bidding on projects to design, cated to projects during the first half of
develop, and qualify enabling technolo- 2010, with a small portion reserved for
gies for “Jules Verne – The Field of the follow-on activities from selected Phase
Future.” Similarly, operating company IX projects that are nearing conclusion.
personnel have the opportunity to par- For additional information, please re-
ticipate in various DeepStar and RPSEA fer to www.DeepStar.org.
committees to oversee and direct the development of these emerging
technologies. RPSEA overview
The mission of the RPSEA Ultra Deepwater Program (RPSEA UDW)
DeepStar overview is to “identify and develop economically viable (full life cycle), accept-
The purpose of DeepStar is to identify and develop economical, low- able risk technologies, architectures, and methods to explore for, drill,
risk technologies to produce oil and gas from deepwater fields around and produce hydrocarbons from formations under ultra deepwater.”
the world. Dues payments from the operating company members and The goals of this development work, funded by the US Department of
the vendor contributors to the DeepStar Program are used to fund vari- Energy, are to enable development of ultra deepwater resources and
ous technology development activities at the front-end of the technol- convert discovered resources into proven reserves.
ogy development lifecycle. Requests for Proposals for the RPSEA 2010 fiscal year are scheduled
In addition to these technology development activities, DeepStar also to be released for bidding in the second quarter of this year. The available
is responsible for managing the RPSEA Ultra Deepwater Program (RP- budget for FY2010 is approximately $22 million and may include technol-
SEA UDW), funded by the US Department of Energy. In this capacity, ogy development initiatives recommended by the Jules Verne study.
DeepStar provides direction to the RPSEA UDW program to ensure For additional information, please refer to www.RPSEA.org. 

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SUBSEA

Subsea boosting and Ioanna Karra

Roger Knight
Infield Systems Ltd.

processing developments

T
he long-term drivers of the subsea hood of gas hydrate formation in flowlines. combined with seabed boosting. Examples
market are well known. The relent- There are, however, a number of issues include Statoil’s Tordis, Total’s Pazflor, and
less depletion of onshore and shallow that have kept subsea boosting and process- Shell’s Perdido Host and BC-10.
water fields has compelled oil com- ing from being used more widely. The most Increased water depths and a number of
panies to focus on deepwater areas important issue is the reliability of subsea fields tied back to a hub are common key pa-
where a combination of floating and subsea units. They must be able to operate for long rameters specifying either oil/water or liq-
production units is used to extract hydrocar- periods of time without any intervention. In uids/gas separation. Other parameters are
bons. In recent years, this trend has been re- addition, the consequences from a subsea product specific. For oil and water separa-
inforced by operators favoring technological processing system failure are more severe tion in mature fields, key factors include the
over political risk, with oil companies prefer- than those from a topside unit because level of the field’s water production and the
ring to leverage their technological capabil- when a unit fails, an intervention vessel or existence of heavy oil. For liquids and gas
ity in deeper water play than to engage in a drilling rig needs to be deployed to repair separation in green fields, high gas volume
places such as Iran and Venezuela that have or service the unit. This downtime leads to fraction, increased distance from the host,
an unpredictable business environment for foregone revenue from stalled production and low reservoir pressure and tempera-
investors. and increased costs from securing an inter- ture are considered important parameters
Enhanced oil recovery technologies are vention vessel or drilling rig. because the transport of wet gas over 10s
also being further pursued with techniques The two technologies discussed in detail of kilometers can lead to hydrate formation
such as subsea tiebacks, subsea boosting, in this analysis are seabed separation and and, hence, pipe blockage.
subsea processing, and well intervention be- seabed boosting. The latter technology in- The first seabed separation unit was in-
ing increasingly used by operators. Subsea cludes seabed multi-phase booster pumps stalled in Statoil’s Troll Olje field in 2000,
trees have higher costs and lower poten- and seabed gas compression. with Tordis, also a Statoil field, being the
tial recovery rates compared to dry trees. second field in the world operating a sub-
Therefore, any efficiency gained from treat- Seabed separation sea separation unit since October 2007. The
ing by-products on the seabed instead of the Seabed separation involves separating the driver behind these installations is Statoil-
platform or from minimizing the likelihood oil, gas, and water directly at the seabed in- Hydro’s improved oil recovery (IOR) strat-
of hydrate formation in pipelines can lead to stead of on a topside facility. This technology egy.
increased recovery rates and hence profit is used in mature fields where water produc- Unlike the Troll subsea separation project
maximization for operators. tion increasingly exceeds oil production and (which is, at best, a quasi-commercial proj-
This analysis provides an overview of sub- where it becomes economically unviable ect), the new Tordis station – provided by
sea boosting and processing developments. for operators to continue with the recovery FMC through its subsidiary CDS – is abso-
Specifically, we will discuss the key param- of the field’s reserves. The technology can lutely central to the commercial viability of
eters for the adoption of these technologies; be used also in green fields that have high the whole field. This is because its increas-
the areas where they are expected to be pri- gas to oil ratios and which face the risk of ing water outflow was restricting produc-
marily used; the oil and service companies blocked pipelines because of hydrate forma- tion because pipelines and surface facilities
that are involved in pilot and actual projects tion. Existing and upcoming seabed separa- do not have the capacity to transport and
for these technologies; the risks that these tion projects show this technology often is handle the extra water being produced in
techniques face due to the economic down-
turn; and, finally, the industry’s innate con- Perceived interaction between
servatism and the lack of required comple- different subsea processing
mentary technologies being introduced. technologies.
Subsea processing consists of a range
of technologies to allow production from
offshore wells without needing surface pro-
duction facilities. It consists of treating pro-
duced fluids upstream of surface facilities
on or below the seabed, including seabed
and downhole oil/gas/water separation,
downhole and seabed multi-phase pumping,
gas compression, and flow assurance. The
most important benefits from using these
technologies include production boosting,
improved oil and gas recovery, increased
Net Present Value (NPV), reduced surface
production facility costs, and the lower likeli-

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SUBSEA

Areas where
subsea boosting
and processing
are expected to be
used in the future.

increasing amounts by the well stream. of fields, whereby multiple discoveries are with this technology.
Meanwhile, Shell recently installed sea- gradually being tied-back to one central pro- Key parameters that lead operators to use
bed separation units in two of its green field cessing facility. seabed booster pumps include the existence
projects, BC-10 in Brazil and Great White in Meanwhile, Infield Systems views the ma- of heavy oil, the increased distance from the
the US Gulf of Mexico. FMC supplied six ture NWECS region as a good opportunity host, increased water depth, low reservoir
subsea separation modules for these proj- for subsea processing technology. Statoil’s pressure, and a greater number of fields tied
ects. At the Perdido Host Regional Develop- extensive exposure to Norwegian waters is back to the host. Several key characteristics
ment production from the first three fields an important factor for the implementation are similar for both seabed separation and
– Great White, Tobago, and Silvertip – will and future proof of the viability of this tech- boosting, and this explains their simultane-
tieback to a central separation and boosting nology. That operator has made a strategic ous use in some cases.
cluster directly beneath the Perdido Host decision to increase oil recovery rates from Seabed multi-phase pumps are separated
spar. The fields’ key characteristics are their its fields, and subsea processing will be the into two main categories: positive displace-
low reservoir pressure, temperature, and primary tool to achieve this goal. ment and rotodynamic. From the former cat-
great water depth, each of which adds to hy- In addition, Brazil is an ideal candidate egory, twin-screw pumps developed by Aker
drate potential. for subsea separation due to the fact that Solutions and GEOG VetcoGray are the
Other upcoming seabed processing proj- its Campos basin fields hold significant most widely used. In terms of rotodynamic
ects include gas and liquids separation at amounts of heavy oil which are more dif- pumps, Framo’s helico-axial and Centrilift’s
Total’s Pazflor field off Angola, and oil and ficult and expensive to extract and process centrifugal are most widespread.
water separation at Petrobras’ Marlim field than lighter crude oil. Finally, in the GoM, Multi-phase twin-screw technology is
in Brazil, Statoil’s Fram East project in Nor- our attention is drawn to new projects in the field proven onshore and on production top-
way, and BP’s Foinaven field in the UK. The Lower Tertiary trend that have both low- sides and has also been tested at the seabed:
Pazflor project includes three seabed sepa- temperature and low-pressure reservoirs with BP’s King project in 2007 being the first
ration units by FMC to be installed in 2011 combined with ultra deepwater. commercial implementation. This technol-
and expected to reduce significantly the risk ogy is often used when pumping conditions
of hydrate formation. FMC also will supply Seabed boosting contain high gas volume fractions and vary-
Petrobras with a seabed separation unit in Seabed boosting is at times deployed to ing inlet conditions. Possible liquid leakage
2011 for its Marlim field. To date proposed ensure the flow of fluids from fields at the re- and the limited ability to handle a significant
projects for Fram East and Foinaven have quired rate after natural reservoir pressure amount of solids represent some of the is-
not been awarded. declines. It includes seabed multi-phase and sues that this technology currently faces.
Infield Systems expects seabed separa- downhole boosting, raw seawater injection, The helico-axial pump was developed by
tion units will be used mostly in Brazil’s and gas compression. Our analysis focuses the Poseidon Group (French Institute of
Campos and Espirito Santos basins, in the on seabed multi-phase pumps and gas com- Oil, Total, and Statoil) and manufactured by
Lower Tertiary Trend region in the US pressors. The former is a more “field prov- Framo and Sulzer. Helico-axial pumps are
GoM, in the Northwest European continen- en” type of subsea technology compared more prone to stresses associated with slug-
tal shelf (NWECS), and finally in deepwater to seabed separation and gas compression, ging. However, installation of a buffer tank
West Africa. and they were first installed in 1994 at Eni’s upstream of the pump is generally sufficient
In fact, West Africa could be one of the Prezioso field. This project was only used as to dampen slugging, so that this no longer
key regions for subsea processing because a testing subsea experience for the multi- poses a problem.
of its already extensive deepwater produc- phase twin-screw pump developed by GE Another technology that has established
tion, significant oil reserves, and, most Oil & Gas in the 1980s; it does, however, un- itself recently in multi-phase production is
importantly, the geographical distribution derline the industry’s historical involvement the electrical submersible pump (ESP) used

92 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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SUBSEA

on the seabed instead of downhole. Seabed Framo, GEOG VetcoGray, and Aker Solu-
and downhole ESPs are manufactured main- tions are relatively well matched in prod-
ly by Baker Hughes-Centrilift and Schlum- uct design and quality, despite the fact that
berger-Reda. these firms use different technologies. Our
This technology is being used in two Shell view on manufacturers’ involvement takes
projects – Perdido Host and Brazil BC-10 – into consideration both pilot and actual
and three Petrobras projects – Jubarte, Gol- projects and qualification programs such
finho, and Cascade/Chinook. These pumps as Demo 2000, OG21, and Deep Star. It will
are used normally when the pumped fluid is be interesting to see how Centrilift’s recent
mainly liquid. We predict that ESP type and multi-phase centrifugal booster pump will
helico-axial pumps will represent the largest compete with Framo, Aker Solutions, and
market for subsea processing equipment. GEOG VetcoGray’s established technolo-
The most important region for subsea gies.
pumps is offshore West Africa where eight On the seabed separation front, FMC
subsea helico-axial pumps are installed has won the majority of projects. Operators
since 2000. The North Sea region and off- seem initially to prefer to use topside proven
shore plays in the US GoM and Brazil are Operators’ involvement in future subsea boost- separation technology at the seabed – FMC
also important for use of subsea pumps. ing and processing projects. uses CDS’ gravity separator – instead of
Finally, seabed gas compression involves newly qualified technologies such as those
gas compression at the seabed level instead is different from more established subsea launched by Aker Solutions, GEOG Vet-
of gas compression on a topside facility. Key gas compressors and its units are expected coGray, and Framo. Infield expects the new
factors driving the implementation of subsea to be able to handle an increasing amount of generation of subsea separation projects will
gas compression technology are the discov- heavier crude oil grades. demand more technologically sophisticated
ery of distant offshore gas fields, increased Infield views that over the longer term the methods than those currently in operation.
water depths, long step-outs from the host North Sea and Arctic regions are most likely
facility, harsh environmental conditions, and to use seabed gas compression, in addition Conclusion
low reservoir pressure and temperature. to, Russia, Australia, and Egypt. The number of existing and proposed
Compared to subsea separation and booster subsea boosting and processing projects
pumps, however, this technology is still em- Operators’ involvement has increased over the last few years. The
bryonic. Infield believe that this is because Several oil companies are involved heavily majority of these units were awarded prior
operators still question the reliability of the in different subsea technologies, with Statoil to the recent decline in offshore activity
system since controlling and monitoring and Petrobras the most proactive globally in caused by the global economic downturn,
subsea gas compression units over long dis- terms of both pilot/actual projects and quali- pressures on the supply chain, and oil price
tances is not as proven a technology as top- fication programs. This is because these volatility. Therefore, as a result of the tim-
side gas compression. For instance, power companies are partly state-owned and as ing of the contracts, several projects have
supply to the postulated system on the Or- such have access to capital to finance new gone ahead despite these conditions. Most
men Lange field would have to travel by a and potentially high-risk technologies as operators involved in these technologies are
series of cables over 120 km (75 mi) from part of national efforts to boost supply to do- either partly nationalized companies such as
the shore to the field. mestic markets. Petrobras and Statoil, or oil majors such as
At present there are no seabed gas com- Other than NOCs, Shell, Total, BP, and Shell and Total. Although several of these oil
pression projects. However, Aker Solutions’ Woodside are leaders in subsea processing companies aim for additional cost savings in
pilot program for Statoil’s Ormen Lange field and boosting. Profitability is key for these the short term, we believe there will be a
is under development. In its later stages, firms so the investment rewards and risks continued effort to push these techniques to
from about 2015, Ormen Lange will require associated with new, unproven technologies improve oil and gas recovery, boost produc-
offshore compression to boost gas back to must involve carefully calculated decision tion, reduce the platform’s operating cost,
shore to maintain desired production levels making: somewhat different to national oil and reduce the likelihood of gas hydrate for-
as the reservoir’s natural pressure declines. companies that are sometimes used by the mation in the pipelines.
The field is in an area of the North Sea state as instruments of national energy poli- Subsea processing and boosting tech-
where environmental conditions challenge cy objectives to boost domestic production. nologies are a long-term objective for oil
offshore hydrocarbons projects. In the Several IOCs, however, have field portfolios companies that face short-term fluctuations
short- to medium-term, other proposed that could benefit from such technologies. in R&D investment. If these technologies
seabed gas compression projects include Infield predicts that as major operators become proven winners that increase NPV
Statoil’s Norwegian Midgard, Gullfaks experiment with subsea processing and they may become the preferred develop-
South, and Troll Olje fields. From 2018 on- boosting technologies – and with time prove ment solution.
wards, we could see seabed gas compres- their viability (and reliability) – we also will The success of upcoming projects is vital
sors at Chevron and ExxonMobil’s Gorgon see independent oil companies following to the longevity of the deepwater oil and gas
project offshore northwest Australia and at suit where field conditions are suitable. industry. The competition between manu-
Statoil’s Snohvit and Gazprom’s Shtokman facturers for different technologies, such
fields. Manufacturers’ involvement as the helico-axial and the seabed ESP, is
On Gullfaks South, Framo is expected Framo, Aker Solutions, GEOG VetcoGray, expected to increase. The subsea boosting
to use its newly developed seabed wet gas and FMC are most highly involved in the and processing market is experiencing its
compression technology as part of a two- manufacturing of subsea processing and first “experimental” stage after which ISL
year development contract the company boosting equipment. anticipate that these technologies will be
has signed with Statoil. Framo’s technique In terms of seabed multi-phase pumps, used more widely. 

www.offshore-mag.com • May 2010 Offshore 93

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FLOWLINES & PIPELINES

Single-run in-line pipeline inspection

on an unprecedented scale Dr. Stephan Brockhaus
Dr. Hubert Lindner
ROSEN Technology
Langeled project sets record & Research Center

A
Tom Steinvoorte
n in-line inspection run of the world’s the first 632 km (391 mi) (up to some kilome- ROSEN Europe
longest subsea natural gas pipeline ters past the Sleipner platform), the pipeline
was completed successfully in the diameter is 42 in. (106.7 cm) before increas- Holger Hennerkes
last half of this past year. A cus- ing to 44 in. (111.7 cm) for the remaining 541 ROSEN
tomized inspection tool overcame km (336 mi). Similarly, the pipeline’s wall
the challenges posed by the length, multi- thickness varies from 29.1 mm (1.15 in) to 62 Dr. Ljiljana Djapic Oosterkamp
diameter design, high wall thickness, high mm (2.4 in) in the 42-in. section and from 23.3 Statoil
pressure and high gas velocity of Langeled mm to 50.6 mm in the 44-in. section.
Gas Pipeline. A RoCorr•MFL/SIC simulta- Although constant internal diameters are
neously measured internal corrosion and given in the specifications, the intermediate
defect identification. subsea installations (valves and tees) in the
SIC measurement provides accurate depth vicinity of Sleipner restrict tool passage. The na and down to 75 bar (7.5 MPa) at Easington.
sizing of shallow internal corrosion while ID is 1,016 mm (40 in.) in the 42-in. section Corresponding gas densities vary between ap-
simultaneously assisting MFL to identify de- and 1,066 mm (42 in.) in the 44-in. section. proximately 61 kg/cu m (3.8 lb/cu ft) and 185
fect depth size through its high lateral reso- The minimum bend radius is 5D. Langeled kg/cu m (11.5 lb/cu ft).
lution of defect surface measurement. The Gas Pipeline is coated with epoxy on the
RoCorr•MFL/SIC proved to be an effective inside, and asphalt and concrete on the out- Combined technologies
and reliable tool to monitor corrosion growth side. The pipeline’s operating conditions Statoil and ROSEN considered which tech-
rates. In general, the tool’s combination of complicated the inspection further. nologies would be most suitable for the planned
these complementary corrosion measure- Langeled has high product flow velocity baseline survey. They agreed to use ROSEN’s
ment methods gave Statoil high sensitivity for and pressure. Operated at design capacities, RoCorr•MFL/SIC. This in-line inspection tool
early feature detection, a high POI for inter- the gas velocity increases over the pipeline combines the two complementary corrosion
nal/non-internal feature discrimination, accu- length from 4 m/s to 9.5 m/s, with associated measurement methods Magnetic Flux Leak-
rate sizing capabilities, and high effectiveness gas pressures of 220 bar (22 MPa) at Nyham- age (MFL) and Shallow Internal Corrosion
in heavy-wall pipeline inspection. (SIC) with high-resolution geometry
ROSEN was chosen by Statoil to Norne inspection. MFL, which measures rela-
carry out this challenging project. The Rich gas Heidrun tive wall loss, determines the geometry
Dry gas
world’s longest subsea gas pipeline, the Oil/condensate Asgardrd
of metal loss in pipelines. SIC is an Eddy
1,173-km (729-mi) long Langeled Pipe- Current (EC) technology enabling abso-
Tjeldbergodden
line connecting Nyhamna, Norway, to Trond
ndheim
m
Trondheim
lute geometric measurements of inter-
men Lange
Ormen
Easington, UK, was to be examined in nal corrosion defects.
a single in-line inspection (ILI) run. The combination generates an ap-
Langeled is designed to carry more Nyhamna proximation of corrosion growth pro-
N o r t h S e a
than 70 MMcm/d (2.47 tcf/d) of dry viding therewith an effective tool for
NORWAY
gas to supply the equivalent of more Troll Mongstad
monitoring the degradation process.
than 20% of the United Kingdom’s gas Kollsnes Since the technologies are complemen-
needs. The pipeline had never before Heimdal Karste tary, the simultaneous application of
been inspected in a single ILI run. Stavinger MFL and SIC ensures a high Probability
Sleipner of Identification (POI) for internal and
Ekofisk
Design, operating non-internal discrimination, notably ac-
Euro

challenges DENMARK
curacy in depths, length, and width siz-
Draupner
pipe

The planned inspection was chal- ing of internal corrosion defects. When
Eu

IRE.
ro pe

lenging not merely because of the inspecting heavy- wall pipelines in par-
No

B
pip
rp
i
e

pipeline’s length but also because of its UK ticular, SIC provides precise depth sizing
pipe

challenging design and operating con- of shallow internal corrosion (detection

pipe

Easington
Zee

ditions. Langeled is a multi-diameter Etsel threshold ≥ 1 mm) while also assisting

Fran

pipeline with high wall thickness. For London

Emden MFL defect identification and depth siz-
NE
NETH. ing due to its high lateral resolution in
Zeebrugge GERMANY defect surface measurement permitting
Route of Langeled pipeline, the longest Dunkerque BELG. better distinction of individual pits in
subsea gas pipeline in the world. FRAN. dense clusters.

94 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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FLOWLINES & PIPELINES

Flow simulations with guided flow (top); without

guided flow (bottom).

Customized RoCorr•MFL/SIC in-line inspection tool launch.

The length of the pipeline made tool wear
Moreover, the simultaneous use of both To prevent the front segment of the combo another concern. Tool differential pressure
corrosion measurement methods gives tool from being pushed through the pipeline increases with the higher friction in the
such high sensitivity that the combination by the trailing unit, the bypass area on the smaller section of the pipeline. This was
not only makes high-accuracy measurement rear segment must be larger. Despite this exacerbated by the pipeline’s dual-diameter
of defects but also enables early feature de- large bypass area, the rear segment still must design.
tection. High-resolution geometry measure- accommodate components (electronics, bat- To overcome this challenge, customized
ment is provided by combining EC technol- teries, storage, etc.). The specially designed polyurethane cups were designed to limit
ogy touchless deformation measurement RoCorr•MFL/SIC in-line inspection tool tool wear during the passage through the
with systematic monitoring by the mechani- met this challenge because its flow circulates 42-in. section while providing sufficient seal-
cal caliper arms. Full coverage of the inter- around and through parts of the tender’s ing and carrying capabilities in the 44-in.
nal pipeline wall is by means of two inspec- tool body before diversion through the tool section. Since the differential pressure of
tion planes with a total of 108 caliper arms body at the front segment and final release the tool is determined by the magnet forces
plus the associated SIC contour-following through the SCU. applied at different wall thicknesses and by
proximity sensors. Flow simulations indicate the combina- cup friction, the magnet strength was opti-
tion of high bypass velocities and high gas mized for Langeled to ensure full magnetic
The multi-diameter challenge density increase loads on the measuring saturation while limiting the differential
Before the specially designed RoCorr•MFL/ unit of the rear segment (80 – 90 kg), so the pressure and, hence, cup friction and wear.
SIC tool was launched, it was necessary to en- flow circulating around the tender must be Polyurethane cups on the front seg-
sure that it could transit all of Langeled. guided. Short caliper arms combined with ment of the combo tool provide three seal-
To do this, a customized gauging tool was notches and holes strategically placed in ing planes, giving a safety margin for cup
sent through the Langeled Pipeline first. the cups, and specially designed lamella fins wear and unintended bypass. Additional
With both a gauge and a bend plate, the tool between the rear cup and the measurement tool centralization to reduce cup wear in
was adapted to confirm the bend sizes and unit permits partial diversion of the flow the first segment came from the magnetic
ID of the pipeline. away from the measurement unit. With this, forces themselves as well as from a support-
To overcome challenge from the high gas the caliper arm loads were reduced by 60% ing guide disc. In the rear segment, wheels
velocities in Langeled and to compensate for to guarantee secure and reliable measure- supported centralization and improved run
tool accelerations due to friction changes, ment. behavior. The average differential pressures
the combo tool was equipped with a Speed When running the tool it passes through measured during the actual inspection were
Control Unit (SCU). The SCU enables the the pipeline at product flow velocity. This 2 bar (0.2 MPa) in the 42-in. section and 0.8
inspection run to be conducted at a pre-pro- may be too fast for precise measurements, bar (0.08 MPa) in the 44-in. section. The tool
grammed target tool speed by controlling as is the case at Langeled. If tool speed is constantly rotated and was in a good condi-
gas bypass to manage tool velocity. diminished by flow rate reductions, costly tion upon receiving. 
In controlling the bypass flow, different throughput losses result for the duration of
factors must be considered, since not only the inspection. For both reasons, it was im-
the tool design (e.g. bypass area, differen- portant to overcome the high flow velocity References
[1] Gjertveit, E.; Holme R.; Bruschi, R.; Zenobi, D.:
tial pressure) determines the capacity of the without compromise to either measurement The Langeled Project; 17th International Offshore
SCU, but also pipeline characteristics such accuracy or pipeline capacity. Tool velocities and Polar Engineering Conference (ISOPE), July
as wall thickness, changes in diameter, coat- during the actual combined ILI run, which 2007, Lisbon, Portugal
ing type, and gas density. A high tool dif- took place in August 2009, ranged from
[2] Beuker, T.; Brockhaus, S.; Ahlbrink, R.; McGee,
ferential pressure and a large bypass area 1.5 m/s to 3 m/s, resulting in a total trav- M.: Addressing Challenging Environments –
enhance the performance of the SCU, but eling time of 127.3 hours. The average flow Advanced In-Line Inspection Solutions for Gas
high gas densities such as in Langeled do rate during the inspection was around 40 Pipelines; 24th World Gas Conference, October
the opposite. MMcm/d (1.4 tcf/d). 2009, Argentina

www.offshore-mag.com • May 2010 Offshore 95

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Reduce
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After the pipeline is flooded, BJ Services personnel can begin testing using our subsea hydrotest pump and,
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Houston London Paris Stavanger Aberdeen Singapore Moscow Baku Perth Rio de Janeiro Lagos Luanda

www.offshore-mag.com

May 2010

World Trends and Technology for Offshore Oil and Gas Operations

NOIA National Ocean

Industries Association
Special Report

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A view from Washington – Randall Luthi

President,
National Ocean

The winds of change Industries Association

The view from my office in Washing- What lies beneath? thereby effectively been “open” since
ton, D.C., provides me the opportunity to What can we do to improve our energy October 2008. In January 2009, the Bush
see various US flags hanging from differ- security? A big part of the answer lies at Administration introduced the 2010-2015
ent buildings. That is always a welcome home and off our shores and beneath offshore leasing plan, which included for
sight, but on March 31, 2010, the varying our oceans. One of our greatest potential consideration all planning areas on the
wind directions (some might say hot air) sources for domestic oil and natural gas, OCS – some of which (the Atlantic and
caused the flags to wave vigorously to the the outer continental shelf (OCS), remains Pacific coasts) had not been included in
north, east, south, west, then north again. largely unexplored and still “off limits,” planning for decades.
I mused that is certainly appropriate for despite removal of moratoria in 2008. So there is nothing really “new”
D.C., where consistent, reasonable energy Yes, I’ve heard the claims that develop- here. The 2012-2017 offshore roadmap
policies seem to get the same traction as a ment of oil and natural gas off our, and proposed in March 2010 by the Obama
cow on wet cement. let me emphasis OUR, shores will not Administration is in fact, a boiled down
Unfortunately, such abrupt, make a significant difference in version of the 2010-2015 plan proposed in
disjointed shifts produce very the energy supply. But frankly, we January 2009 by the Bush Administration.
little real change, as we continue can’t know that based on current It doesn’t “open” anything “new.”
our cry for energy security or the data. Estimates of resources that
mythical “energy independence” lie beneath US waters are three Drill, maybe, drill
and continue to import energy decades old and have not been The plan in fact, closes more offshore
from abroad. So, while on the verified by actual exploration and acreage than it opens and rejects areas
last day of March I welcomed the drilling. where oil and natural gas could be
President’s announcement of a If the history of the Gulf of developed most rapidly. Due to existing
new energy strategy for America, Randall Luthi
Mexico is any indicator of what infrastructure and current oil and gas
I sincerely hope it is not just more could be, once we look, we may production, there are areas of the OCS
hot air, but actual winds of change. find much more oil and natural gas than that can be developed relatively quickly.
we predicted using the technology at It is therefore somewhat perplexing that
Change we can believe in? hand 30 years ago. In the 1980s, the Gulf this plan, which purports to increase
Without real change, the Energy Infor- of Mexico was considered a “dead sea” our Nation’s energy security, removes
mation Administration (EIA) predicts that of energy. It was thought that most of so early in the multi-step planning
we will still import roughly half of our oil in the oil and natural gas known to be there process southern California, including
2035. While that is better than the current at that time had already been produced. the known Santa Barbara-Ventura basin,
import rate of nearly two-thirds, it means However, due in large part to advances in the Oceanside-Capistrano basin, and the
that a quarter century from now we, like technology, the Gulf has yielded about six Santa Maria basin and much of the east-
flags in the wind, will remain subject to the times the oil and natural gas once thought ern Gulf of Mexico, including the known
whims and political uncertainty in many of to be there. Destin Dome formation. Essentially, the
the oil producing countries. plan gives a “maybe we’ll proceed” to an
Some may say that I am ignoring the What’s old is new again area in the Gulf of Mexico that would be
fact that if oil becomes more expensive On March 31, the Obama Administra- extremely expensive to develop, requir-
and scarce, we will finally set course from tion announced a new offshore energy ing very deep drilling and extensive
a fossil fuel based economy to one based plan that includes, for consideration, infrastructure. It removes from discussion
on energy from renewable sources. I say “new” areas offshore the Atlantic Coast, areas of known oil and natural gas and
that while that should be our general from Delaware to the central Florida doesn’t even allow further discussion of
direction, the road to get there will be Coast, and in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico. areas where temporary structures could
built on traditional energy sources -- en- While the Administration and media tout- be used much closer to shore than the
ergy sources that are home grown, home ed these areas as being “newly opened,” 125-mi (201-km) proposal and still not be
produced and supply jobs and economic in fact nothing “new” has been “opened.” visible from the coastline.
growth. Until 2008, 85% of the OCS was ef- Also disappointing was the Administra-
The EIA predicts that even with the fectively “closed” to oil and natural gas tion’s announcement that contested sales
increased use of renewable energy, fossil exploration due to an Executive with- in the Beaufort and Chukchi Seas in Alas-
fuels will still provide 78% of our energy drawal and Congressional moratoria. In ka have been removed from the remainder
portfolio in 2035. Couple that with our pro- 2008, President Bush lifted the withdrawal of the current 2007-2012 plan. Although
jected continued dependence on imported and Congress ended its long-standing these areas may be included in the 2012-
oil, and the end result is no significant moratoria, apart from the Eastern Gulf 2017 plan, the sales are at the least being
change 25 years from now. of Mexico. Nearly the entire OCS has delayed, and delayed sales equal delayed

98 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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in the Gulf of Mexico

our roots run deep
Since building the Gulf of Mexico’s first platform in 1947, KBR has been at
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energy, jobs, and revenue urgently needed keen interest and vigorous debate among mitment to actual sales.
to fuel our struggling economy. state and congressional leaders. From In an Administration committed to
NOIA’s perspective, congressional action “science-based decision making” as well
Fairer winds in support of revenue sharing is part of as providing “predictability and consisten-
On a positive note, the plan does the package. It just makes sense. cy” to the offshore energy industry, there
show that the Obama Administration is Congressional action may also be should be no delay in the collection of
listening. In the recent years since the required to fund the environmental vital environmental data. To the offshore
price of gasoline reached an average $4 impact study needed before any seismic industry, predictability and consistency
per gallon at the pump in 2008, poll after work can begin off the Atlantic Coast. are contingent on the timely completion
poll has shown a majority of Americans The Administration’s FY2011 budget of necessary environmental and scientific
support domestic offshore oil and natural released in February did not request this analyses. Predictability and consistency
gas drilling. According to a Rasmussen funding. These seismic studies are vitally also hinge on energy lease sales moving
poll released just last month, 72% of voters important, because a modern estimate of ahead as originally scheduled, without
support offshore oil drilling. oil and natural gas resources will be a key alteration or cancellation after the fact.
The inclusion of the areas off the incentive for companies to lease, explore, While the 2012-2017 offshore plan is
Atlantic Coast, in particular areas offshore and develop oil and natural gas in federal a step in the right direction to recogniz-
Virginia, also show that the Administration waters off the Atlantic Coast. ing the need for greater domestic energy
is listening to Congress and state gover- production, it is not the finish line. Ad-
nors and legislators. After several letters Deeds not words ditional rounds of review and permitting
from Virginia state leaders, the Adminis- I am hopeful that the 2012-2017 offshore are required before any new leasing can
tration kept Lease Sale 220 in the current energy plan is more than just a virtual reality be authorized.
2007-2012 plan. Virginia is so supportive process. I am anxious to see the Department NOIA supports the Administration’s ef-
of exploration for oil and natural gas in of the Interior complete the multiple steps forts to proceed with the implementation of
federal waters off its shores that the state leading to implementation of the final plan this energy plan as rapidly as possible and is
assembly passed and the governor signed in July 2012. True access requires deeds, in hopeful the new plan will keep America on
into law two bills supporting offshore de- addition to written words. True access to the course for sensible, reasonable, and reliable
velopment and allocating their share of any areas included in the plan will require a num- energy, resulting in less dependence on for-
future revenues from energy production. ber of interim actions, scientific analyses, and eign oil and natural gas and more jobs and
That’s true support and true foresight. permitting processes that are the foundation economic benefits at home. The 250 mem-
Revenue sharing among coastal states of these larger plans and often take several ber companies of NOIA are ready, willing,
near future offshore energy development, years of work to accomplish. I am hopeful and able to safely provide vital energy and
similar to that occurring today in parts that the release of this plan, which is largely well-paying jobs for America. We welcome
of the Gulf of Mexico, has been a topic of a scoping document, truly represents a com- the winds of change. 

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Burt Adams

A teachable moment Chairman, National Ocean

Industries Association (NOIA)
President and Chief Executive
Officer, OGRS LLC

Something big happened for the off- and more energy, jobs, and revenue for hoped for growth of alternative energy
shore energy industry in 2008. That year, America. sources, fossil fuels will continue to
President Bush lifted administrative with- The Administration’s goal is to bring provide most of the energy we consume
drawals and the United States Congress about a significant increase in through the next two decades,
allowed moratoria to expire that had kept oil and gas development on the according to the Energy Infor-
over 85% of the outer continental shelf OCS while providing balanced mation Administration (EIA).
(OCS) off limits to energy exploration for environmental protection and A fourth of US oil production
nearly three decades. This was what the a seat at the table for everyone comes from the 15% of the OCS
offshore energy industry had long hoped from the general public to indus- that is currently available to our
for and advocates in our nation’s capital try to special interest groups and industry. According to estimates
had tirelessly worked toward. It foreshad- federal, state, and local govern- from the Minerals Management
owed a promising future for our industry, ments. All would be cause for Service (MMS), 39-63 Bbbl of
for American energy security, and for celebration. economically recoverable oil
Burt Adams
the energy consumer. But here we are and 168-294 tcf of natural gas are
in 2010, no closer to producing domestic The message economically recoverable from the areas
energy from new offshore areas then we The Administration’s strategy has three included in the 2012-2017 program. Our
were two years ago. central components: Develop, Explore, industry has the know-how and technol-
and Protect. These are three areas in ogy to tap these resources safely and with
A new cause for hope which our industry excels. This should be minimal impacts to the environment.
While this is certainly disappointing, our message. The general public and to a
recent announcements from the Obama large extent decision makers in Congress Technology
Administration, provide some new hope. and state legislatures remain uninformed The technology that powers the
The 2012-2017 offshore plan proposed of the tremendous contributions of our offshore energy industry rivals that of the
by the Administration in March provides industry, but they do understand the space industry. In recent years our indus-
an historic opportunity for America’s importance in their daily lives of energy, try has pushed technological frontiers,
offshore energy sector. jobs, money, and the environment in particularly in the deep waters of the Gulf
The plan incorporates both a court- which they live. Our industry produces of Mexico. Oil and natural gas reserves
ordered rebalancing of the current enormous amounts of domestic energy, are safely being explored in waters more
2007-2012 offshore leasing plan and the provides thousands of well-paying jobs than 10,000 ft (3,048 m) (nearly 2 mi [3.2
environmental scoping for the next 2012- and revenue for our economy, and km]) deep. As resources closer to shore
2017 offshore leasing plan. To industry’s through the use of amazing technology have become depleted, the industry has
disappointment, the remaining Alaska we do it all safely while protecting the en- developed the technology necessary to
lease sales in the current plan have been vironment. These messages resonate with reach harder to reach deposits, as the
cancelled. In addition, President Obama everyone. Without the remarkable safety recent Davy Jones discovery shows. Now
has withdrawn Bristol Bay from consider- record, it is most unlikely that these new that oil and gas producers also are moving
ation for oil and gas development through areas would have been proposed for off of the continental shelf and into the
2017. For the 2012-2017 plan, the entire development. deep, the challenges are increasing, yet
Pacific OCS as well as the North Atlantic The prospect of increased access to the the technology is rising to the challenge,
and the most promising areas of the East- outer continental shelf is exciting, but it coping with the tremendous pressure and
ern Gulf of Mexico are not included for will take hard work to become a reality. high temperatures that complicate opera-
consideration. This is hugely disappoint- Whether you are an energy advocate in tions in this environment.
ing news, as those areas could provide Washington, D.C., a company executive in Clearly, despite claims to the contrary,
much needed energy, jobs, and revenue Houston or New Orleans, or work in the energy production and environmental pro-
for America’s struggling economy. field on platforms, rigs, or boats, you have tection are not mutually exclusive. In fact,
On the positive side, however, the a responsibility to engage in and inform increased technological innovation by the
unprecedented lease sale scheduled off- the debate to ensure our collective inter- offshore industry continues to improve
shore Virginia remains in the current plan ests are communicated. We have a great environmental protection.
and the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas in story; let’s not hesitate to tell it.
Alaska as well as the Western and Central Environment
Gulf of Mexico are included in the next Energy Every year, technological innovations
plan. The next plan also adds access to a The world’s appetite for oil and other make reality of what had once seemed to
portion of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico as energy sources is growing dramatically. be science fiction, and drastically lessen
well as the Atlantic Coast from Delaware According to government projections, we the impact of oil and gas activities on
to Georgia – areas that could eventually will need about 40% more energy in 2030 the environment. Directional drilling,
mean provide more work for our industry, than we consume today. Even with the improved seismic technologies, and vastly

102 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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more powerful geophysical analysis have Economy tion wages averaged $93,575 per year, ac-
improved the targeting of hydrocarbons America is still in the midst of a global cording to 2007 Bureau of Labor Statistics
and reduced the incidence of drilling dry economic downturn. Although energy data -- over twice the average annual pay of
holes. prices plunged from their record highs of $44,458 across all US industries.
Subsea well completions and tiebacks, 2008, when gasoline topped $4 per gallon Currently in the Gulf of Mexico, oil and
that can connect fields up to 50 mi (80 km) at the pump, they have steadily been gas activities on the OCS directly employ
away, micro-bore drilling, and increased creeping back and now hovering around 85,000 people. Indirectly, OCS activity ac-
efficiency in operating systems reduce the $3 per gallon. That is hurting American counts for an additional 85,000 support jobs,
environmental footprint and hide extrac- consumers and American businesses. Oil many from small business vendors. Gov-
tion activities from the view of people on and gas is one of the United State’s only ernment statistics show that the injury and
the shore or on the ocean’s surface. industries in a position to contribute to the illness rate for offshore workers is about
While environmental organizations US economy without costing the taxpay- 70% lower than all of private industry.
would have the public believe that off- ers a cent. According to a recent study,
shore energy production is unreasonable, production of oil and natural gas resources A teachable moment
unmanageable, and unclean, the safety in former or current OCS moratoria areas While the Administration’s new offshore
and environmental record of the offshore (a portion of the Eastern Gulf of Mexico energy strategy doesn’t give industry and
energy industry proves otherwise. Over remains under moratoria) could generate NOIA everything we had hoped for, it does
the past quarter century, the offshore $1.3 trillion in additional federal, state, and provide us a real opportunity to work with
energy industry has built an enviable local government revenue. policy makers to craft a comprehensive na-
record of safe, clean operations. Highly tional energy policy -- one that creates jobs,
regulated, the offshore industry produces Jobs expands and diversifies energy production,
about 1.4 MMbbl of oil from the OCS When every day brings news of job and generates new revenues for govern-
every day, yet has a 99.999% record for losses and businesses closing, it is hard to ments. Our industry is up to the task. I urge
clean operations. The “Oil in the Sea III” look beyond the headlines, but the oil and all of you to actively communicate that our
study compiled by the National Academy gas industry provides 9.2 million American industry is up to the task and to engage
of Sciences shows that less than 2% of the jobs, according to the American Petroleum in the policy debate to help create the
oil in US waters comes from drilling and Institute. Producing energy from previ- right frameworks that will allow this great
production. In fact, and probably surpris- ous moratoria areas in the OCS holds the industry to accomplish what we know we
ingly to the lay-reader, 63% of oil in our potential for hundreds of thousands of can. This is a teachable moment. If we are
oceans comes from natural seepage from jobs. These are good, family supporting successful, America’s energy future will be
cracks in the seabed. jobs. Oil and gas exploration and produc- much brighter. 

NOIA represents all phases of offshore energy

The National Ocean Industries Association (NOIA) is the only reliable access to offshore energy resources, forming a powerful
national trade association representing every segment of the coalition that achieves positive results in Washington, D.C.
offshore energy exploration and production industry.
Comprising more than 250 companies, NOIA represents Tradition of service
offshore drillers, producers, supply vessels, air transport, NOIA’s staff wields the combined clout of every one of the
geophysical survey, shipyards, offshore construction, wind member companies as it advocates before Congress and the Ex-
power, equipment manufacture and supply, telecommunications, ecutive Branch, and influences industry-related policy decisions.
financiers, insurers, and much more. NOIA:
NOIA focuses on two core issues: • Facilitates member access to regulatory and legislative
1. Securing reliable access to the nation’s valuable offshore processes, provides customized advice on policy issues, and
energy resources in order that they may be developed, pro- works to favorably impact policy decisions relating to the
duced, and supplied in an environmentally responsible manner offshore industry
2. Improving the economic climate for NOIA members to • Engages the media and the general public in a constructive
conduct business in the US. dialogue on energy issues, showcasing the industry’s techno-
logical pioneering and environmental performance
About NOIA • Hosts the two largest annual gatherings of senior executives
In 1972, industry leaders joined together to form the Na- in the offshore oil and gas industry
tional Ocean Industries Association – a unique organization • Legislative Strategy Group facilitates the cooperative devel-
interested in expanding the federal offshore leasing program opment of industry-wide strategies for effectively impacting
by promoting the safe and efficient development of outer legislative and regulatory decision-making
continental shelf (OCS) lands. NOIA’s advocacy relies on the • Promotes and supports outreach programs that educate the
guidance of the entire spectrum of the offshore energy and public about energy issues and help the nation make informed
related industries. decisions concerning the use of energy, such as the National
Today, more than 250 companies have united in support of Energy Education Development (NEED) Project. 

104 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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NOIA Officers, Board of Directors

and Executive Committee*
National Officers Alan Breaud Rodney Erskine John B. Reed
Chairman Partner Chief Executive Officer President & CEO
Burt A. Adams Breaud & Meyers Erskine Energy, LLC Global Industries Ltd.
President & CEO Lafayette, Louisiana Houston, Texas Houston, Texas
OGRS, LLC Scott Cameron Brian Reinsborough
Morgan City, Louisiana
William F. Flores
Vice President Exploration Americas Senior Vice President, Engineering President
Vice Chairman South Houston Energy, LP Nexen Petroleum U.S.A.
Jack B. Moore Shell Exploration & Production Co. Houston, Texas Plano, Texas
President & CEO Houston, Texas
Bruce Gresham* Larr y T. Rigdon
Cameron William E. Chiles* General Manager Director
Houston, Texas President & CEO Heerema Marine Contractors, U.S. Inc. GulfMark Offshore, Inc.
Secretar y Bristow, Inc. Houston, Texas Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Douglas A. Polk Quinn Hebert Robert J. Saltiel
Vice President Industry Affairs William K. Coates CEO and President President & CEO
Vallourec & Mannesmann USA President, Oilfield Services, North Cal Dive Atwood Oceanics, Inc.
Corporation America Houston, Texas Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas Schlumberger
New Orleans, Louisiana Kirk Headley Hobie Smith
Treasurer President Vice President
Leonard H. Paton Galen Cobb American Pollution Control Smith International
Partner Vice President Industry Relations New Iberia, Louisiana Houston, Texas
Parks, Paton, Hoepfl & Brown Halliburton
Houston, Texas Houston, Texas Robert F. Hogan, Jr. Randall D. Stilley
President & CEO President and CEO
President T. Jay Collins* AmerCable Incorporated Seahawk Drilling, Inc.
Randall Luthi President & CEO Houston, Texas Houston, Texas
NOIA Oceaneering International, Inc.
Houston, Texas Darrell Hollek* Nicholas Swyka
Washington, D.C.
Vice President, Vice Chairman
Brady Como Gulf of Mexico Operations Simmons & Company International
Executive Vice President Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Houston, Texas
NOIA Board of Directors Delmar Systems, Inc. Houston, Texas
& Executive Committee* Broussard, Louisiana Cindy B. Taylor*
Chairman Ross A. Keogh President & CEO
Burt A. Adams* Hank Danos President Oil Sates International
President Petsec Energy Inc. Houston, Texas
President & CEO
Danos & Curole Marine Contractors, Inc. Lafayette, Louisiana
OGRS, LLC
Larose, Louisiana Dean E. Taylor*
Morgan City, Louisiana Kenny Lang Chairman, President & CEO
Vice Chairman Pamela Darwin* President & COO Tidewater Inc.
Vice President Ridgewood Energy New Orleans, Louisiana
Jack B. Moore* Geoscience & Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
President & CEO ExxonMobil Production Company
Cameron Houston, Texas Melody Meyer* David H. Welch*
Houston, Texas President President & CEO
Carl A. Davis* Chevron Energy Technology Company Stone Energy Corporation
Dick Alario President Lafayette, Louisiana
Houston, Texas
Chairman, President, CEO Davis-Lynch Inc.
Key Energy Services Houston, TX Ronnie Murphy Jim Wicklund*
Houston, Texas Executive Chairman Partner
Lawrence R. Dickerson* Vision Logistics Carlsen Capital LLC
Larr y Archibald President & CEO Dallas, Texas
Houston, Texas
Vice President Exploration Diamond Offshore Drilling
ConocoPhillips Houston, Texas Leonard H. Paton Richard J. Williams
Houston, Texas Managing Partner Senior Vice President
Robert Deason* Parks, Paton, Hoepfl & Brown Fugro Chance Inc.
Annell Bay* President Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Senior Vice President, Exploration J. Ray McDermott
Marathon Oil Company Houston, Texas Robert L. Potter Richard L. Williams
Houston, Texas Vice President President, Gulf of Mexico
Cornelius Dupre FMC Technologies Baker Hughes Incorporated
Pat Bond Chairman of the Board Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Vice President Dupre Interests
Global Business Development Houston, Texas Dan Rabun
Smith International Chairman, President, CEO
Houston, Texas James Dupree ENSCO International Inc.
Senior Vice President Dallas, Texas
Gulf of Mexico
BP
Houston, Texas

www.offshore-mag.com • May 2010 Offshore 105

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NOIA Membership
Acteon Group Limited, United Kingdom Dawn Services, LLC, Gretna, LA
Adams & Reese LLP, New Orleans, LA Deep Gulf Energy, Houston, TX
Air Logistics, LLC, New Orleans, LA Delmar Systems, Inc., Broussard, LA
Aker Kvaerner Group, Houston, TX Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc., Houston, TX
Aker Kvaerner, Deepwater Business Unit, Houston, TX Dockwise (U.S.A.) Inc., Houston, TX
Aker Kvaerner, LNG Business Unit, Houston, TX Dorado Energy Partners, LLC, Houston, TX
Aker Kvaerner Subsea Inc., Houston, TX Dorado Oil Services, Houston, TX
Aker Marine Contractors, Inc., Houston, TX Dril-Quip Inc., Houston, TX
Alaska Support Industry Alliance, Anchorage, AK Dupré Interests, Houston, TX
AMEC Paragon, Inc., Houston, TX EDG Inc., Houston, TX
AmerCable Incorporated, LLC, Houston, TX Edison Chouest Offshore, Galliano, LA
American Petroleum Institute, Washington, DC Energy Partners, Ltd., New Orleans, LA
American Pollution Control Inc. (AMPOL), New Iberia, LA Energy XXI, Houston, TX
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, Houston, TX ENSCO International Incorporated, Dallas, TX
Ankor Energy LLC, New Orleans, LA ENSCO Offshore Company, Broussard, LA
Aries Marine Corporation, Lafayette, LA EPCO, Inc., Houston, TX
Association of Diving Contractors, Houston, TX Epic Divers & Marine, Harvey, LA
ATP Oil & Gas Corporation, Houston, TX Erskine Energy, LLC, Houston, TX
Atwood Oceanics, Inc., Houston, TX ExPert E & P Consultants, LLC, Covington, LA
Baker Atlas, Houston, TX ExPert Oil & Gas, LLC, Covington, LA
Baker Hughes Drilling Fluids, Houston, TX ExPert Riser Solutions, LLC, Golden Meadows, LA
Baker Hughes Incorporated, Houston, TX Exterran, Houston, TX
Baker Oil Tools, Houston, TX ExxonMobil Development Company, Houston, TX
Baker Petrolite, Houston, TX ExxonMobil Production Company, Houston, TX
Bassoe Offshore (USA), Houston, TX ExxonMobil Exploration Company, Houston, TX
Bell Helicopter Textron, Fort Worth, TX Fairfield Industries Inc., Houston, TX
Bender Shipbuilding & Repair Co. Inc., Mobile, AL Fairways Offshore Exploration, Inc., Houston, TX
Beveridge & Diamond, P.C., Washington, DC FMC Technologies, Houston, TX
BHPBilliton Petroleum (Americas) Inc., Houston, TX Forum Oilfield Technologies, Houston, TX
Bisso Marine Company, Inc., New Orleans, LA Foster Marketing Communications, Lafayette, LA
BJ Process & Pipeline Services, Houston, TX Fowler Rodriguez Valdes-Fauli, New Orleans, LA
BJ Services Company, U.S.A., Houston, TX & Santa Fe Springs, CA Fugro Chance, Inc., Houston, TX and Lafayette, LA
BJ Services Company (MEXICANA), Houston, TX Fugro Inc., Houston, TX
BJ Services Company (NOWSCO), Houston, TX Fugro Geoservices, Houston, TX
Bollinger Shipyards Inc., Lockport, LA Fugro Global Environmental and Ocean Sciences, Inc., Houston, TX
BP, Houston, TX Fugro McClelland Marine Geosciences Inc., Houston, TX
Bracewell & Giuliani, LLP, Washington, DC GH Services, LLC, Houston, TX
Breaud & Meyers, PLC, Lafayette, LA Galvin, Ray E., Houston, TX
Bristow Inc. (formerly Offshore Logistics), Houston, TX Global Divers & Contractors Inc., Lafayette, LA
Broadpoint Inc., Houston, TX Global Industries Ltd., Houston, TX
C&C Technologies Inc., Lafayette, LA Global Movible Offshore Inc., Amelia, LA
Cal Dive International, Inc., Houston, TX Global Pipelines PLUS Inc., Lafayette, LA
Callon Petroleum Company, Natchez, MS Gulf Island Fabrication, Inc., Houston, TX
Cameron, Houston, TX Gulf Marine Fabricators, Aransas Pass, TX
Cameron Drilling Production Systems Group, Houston, TX Gulfmark Offshore, Houston, TX
Cameron Valves and Measurement Group, Houston, TX Gulf Publishing Company, Houston, TX
Canal Barge Company, New Orleans, LA Halliburton, Houston, TX
Otto Candies, LLC, Des Allemands, LA Hart Energy Publishing LP, Houston, TX
Cape Wind Associates LLC, Boston, MA Harvey Gulf International Marine, Harvey, LA
CapRock Communications, Houston, TX Heerema Marine Contractors U.S. Inc., Houston, TX
Carlsen Capital, LLC, Dallas, TX Hercules Offshore, Houston, TX
Centrelift, Houston, TX Hercules Drilling Co., Lafayette, LA
Challenger Minerals Inc., Houston, TX Hercules Lifeboat Co., Lafayette, LA
Chalmers, Collins & Alwell, Inc., Lafayette, LA Hess Corporation, Houston, TX
Chevron Corporation, New Orleans, LA Hornbeck Offshore Services, Inc., Covington, LA
Chevron Energy Technology Company, Houston, TX Houston Energy, LP, Houston, TX
Chickasaw Distributors Inc., Houston, TX Hughes Christensen, Houston, TX
Cobalt International LLC, Houston, TX Iberia Bank, New Iberia, LA
ConocoPhillips, Houston, TX Iberia Marine Service LLC, New Iberia, LA
Contango Oil & Gas, Houston, TX Integrated Production Systems, Inc., Houston, TX
Danos & Curole Marine Contractors Inc., Larose, LA INTEQ, Houston, TX
Davis-Lynch Inc., Houston, TX InterMoor, Inc., Houston, TX

106 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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NOIA Membership
International Association of Drilling Contractors, Houston, TX Pioneer Natural Resources USA, Inc., Irving, TX
International Association of Geophysical Contractors, Houston, TX Phelps Dunbar LLP, New Orleans, LA
International Petroleum Museum Exposition, Morgan City, LA Plains Exploration & Production Company, Houston, TX
Intervale Capital, Cambridge, MA Pride International, Houston, TX
Island Operating Company, Inc., Houston, TX Pritchard Capital Partners, LLC, Vienna, VA
JDR Cable Systems (Holdings), Houston, TX RBC Capital Markets, Houston, TX
Jefferies & Company, New York, NY and Houston, TX Ridgewood Energy, Houston, TX
Jones, Walker, Waechter, Poitevent, Carrere & Denegre LLP, Rooster Petroleum LLC, Irving, TX
New Orleans, LA Rowan Companies, Inc., Houston, TX
Key Energy Services, Inc., Houston, TX Rowan Electric, Inc. D/B/A/ Oilfield Electric Marine, Houston, TX
Kiewit Offshore Services, Ltd., Ingleside, TX SBM-Atlantia Inc., Houston, TX
Laborde Marine LLC, New Orleans, LA SCF Partners, Houston, TX
Laborde Marine Lifts, LLC, New Orleans, LA Schlumberger, New Orleans, LA & Houston, TX
Landry Harris & Co., Lafayette, LA Scorpion Offshore, Houston, TX
Leed Petroleum, LLC, Lafayette, LA SEACOR Holdings Inc., New York, NY & Ft. Lauderdale, FL
LeTourneau Inc., Longview, TX Sea Technology Compass Publications Inc., Arlington, VA
Lime Rock Partners, Houston, TX Sears, William A., Montgomery, TX
Litton Consulting Group, Woodland Hills, CA SEMPCheck Services, Houston, TX
Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil & Gas Association, Baton Rouge, LA Shell Exploration & Production Company, Houston, TX
Maersk Oil America, Houston, TX Simmons & Company International, Houston, TX
MAN Diesel, Houston, TX Smith International Inc., Houston, TX
Marathon Oil Company, Houston, TX Smith Wilson Supply, Houston, TX
Marine Spill Response Corporation (MSRC), Herndon, VA SOFEC, Houston, TX
Marlin Energy, LLC, Lafayette, LA Stallion Oilfield Services Ltd., Houston, TX
McDermott International, New Orleans, LA Statoil Gulf of Mexico LLC, Houston, TX
McGriff, Seibels & Williams of Texas, Inc., Houston, TX Stone Energy Corporation, Lafayette, LA
J. Ray McDermott, S.A., Houston, TX Stress Engineering Services, Inc., Houston, TX
McMoRan Oil & Gas LLC, New Orleans, LA Subsea 7, Houston, TX
MedcoEnergi US, Lafayette, LA Subsea Solutions, New Orleans, LA & Houston, TX
M-I SWACO, Houston, TX Suggs, Carroll W., New Orleans, LA
Montco Offshore, Inc., Houston, TX Superior Energy Services, Inc., Harvey, LA
J.P. Morgan, New York, NY and Dallas, TX Superior Offshore International, Houston, TX
Mustang Engineering, LP, Houston, TX Sutherland, Washington, DC
NATCO Group, Inc., Houston, TX T-3 Energy Services, Houston, TX
National Oilwell Varco, Houston, TX Taylor Energy Company, New Orleans, LA
New Industries, Inc., Morgan City, LA Teledyne RD Instruments, San Diego, CA & Annapolis, MD
Newfield Exploration Company, Houston, TX TETRA Technologies Inc., The Woodlands, TX
Newpark Drilling Fluids, Houston, TX Compressco Inc., The Woodlands, TX
Newpark Environmental Services, Lafayette, LA Maritech Resources Inc., The Woodlands, TX
Newpark Resources, Metairie, LA TGS–NOPEC Geophysical Company, Houston, TX
Nexen Petroleum USA Inc., Plano, TX Tidewater Inc., New Orleans, LA
Noble Corporation, Houston, TX Trico Marine Services, Inc., Houston, TX
Noble Energy, Inc., Houston, TX Transocean, Inc., Houston, TX
Northington Strategy Group, Washington, DC Upstream Engineering, LLC, Houston, TX
Oceaneering International Inc., Houston, TX U.S. Steel Tubular Products, Dallas, TX
Oceanweather Inc., Cos Cob, OK Vallourec & Mannesmann Tubes Corporation, Houston, TX
Offshore Energy Services, Inc., Broussard, LA VAM-PTS, Houston, TX
Offshore Engineer, Houston, TX V & M Star, Houston, TX
Offshore International Group, Houston, TX Vision Logistics Holding Corporation, Houston, TX
Offshore Magazine-Pennwell Publishing, Houston, TX W & T Offshore, Houston, TX
Offshore Marine Service Association, Harahan, LA Walter Oil & Gas Corporation, Houston, TX
Offshore Specialty Fabrication, Inc., Houston, TX Weatherford International, Houston, TX
Oil States Industries, Inc., Arlington, TX Wells Fargo Energy Group, Houston, TX
OMSCO, Houston, TX Wells Fargo HSBC, Trademark, NA, Houston, TX
Paragon Integrity Solutions, Houston, TX WesternGeco, Houston, TX
Parks Paton Hoepfl & Brown, Houston, TX Westney Consulting Group, Inc., Houston, TX
Petris Technology, Inc., Houston, TX Whitney National Bank, New Orleans, LA
Petro-Hunt LLC, Dallas, TX Woodside Energy (USA) Inc., Houston, TX
PFC Energy, Washington, DC
PHI Inc., Harahan, LA
PetroQuest Energy, Lafayette, LA
Petsec Energy Inc., Lafayette, LA

www.offshore-mag.com • May 2010 Offshore 107

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___________________________

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French Oil & Gas

Trade Association

OTC 2010
Houston, May 3rd to 6th, 2010

French Participants

www.gep-france.com
A

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FRANCE

GEP/AFTP merger set to foster

innovation in France and overseas
T
wo of France’s leading petroleum in- Jeremy Beckman that we want to organize in various countries
dustry groups have agreed to merge Editor, Europe around the world.”
later this year, creating a new force One beneficiary of the proposed think-tanks
to promote the interests of 180 com- could be the GEP-led CITEPH program, estab-
panies in France and over 1,000 engi- lished in 2007 to provide sponsorship for re-
neering professionals. search and innovations targeted at exploration
The oil and gas contractors and suppli- and production. Sponsors include most of the
ers’ council, GEP, has worked closely for country’s main oil and gas operators, contrac-
many years with AFTP, the oil industry en- tors and service groups, allocating together up
gineers/technicians association founded in to Eu 10 million ($13.4 million)/year. Projects
1930. For instance, AFTP organizes with must be initiated and led either by a French
GEP the annual Hydrocarbon Days techni- company, or a French subsidiary of an interna-
cal conference in Paris, heavily attended tional company, preferably an SME associated
by GEP member companies, and attracting to a private or university lab.
high-profile speakers from international oil Last year, 28 out of 70 proposed projects
and gas operators and contractors. were awarded funding. Twelve of these
Jean Ropers (L) and Gerard Momplot (R) of GEP.
AFTP stages various other technical and were in the field of offshore engineering and
economics-related events and seminars, de- construction; three in innovative and new
scribing itself as “a forum for exchanging affairs, while AFTP’s Director General Ga- materials; two each for LNG and transpor-
a multitude of ideas and experience in the briel Gombart, who will become Momplot’s tation, and electronics/advanced hardware
field of hydrocarbons.” It is also the secre- deputy, will be in charge of technical com- equipment; and one for electro-magnetic
tarial headquarters of the French National mittees for R&D. technology in the field of geophysics. GEP
Committee on the World Petroleum Council. “AFTP currently runs seven technical intends to announce the first results of
Both GEP and AFTP have received sup- committees,” says Gombart, “but we want to CITEPH-sponsored projects this year.
port from leading organizations and com- develop these under the new organization to GEP also recognizes the achievements
panies such as IFP and Total. However, the focus more on technology innovations, and of its member companies through its an-
purpose of the union is emphatically not to industrial research with real, rather than nual Innovation Prize. Last year there were
cut costs, according to GEP’s President Jean theoretical, applications.” Themes under re- two winners: Metering Technology for an
Ropers. “In fact, we are preparing to do more view include drilling and production, geosci- ultrasonic flow meter; and Marseille-based
with the same combined budget,” he says. ences, EOR, oil and gas transportation and Cybernetix for its ALLMS leg load moni-
“For instance, we want to boost the technical distribution. toring system, which was presented at the
committees that AFTP used to have in the “Once these committees are in place,” Deep Offshore Technology conference in
1980s when the French oil and gas business Ropers adds, “they should provide relevant Monaco last year. ALLMS is being deployed
started its success. subjects not just for ‘Hydrocarbon Days’ in on Chevron’s Frade field offshore Brazil and
“But there are numerous other benefits to October, but also for other technical events has also been selected for the mooring lines
be derived from working togeth- attached to BP Norge’s Skarv field FPSO in-
er. For instance, we can better ternal turret.
help our members develop local In January, GEP/CITEPH organized the
contacts in hydrocarbon-produc- Euronet seminar in Paris. This brought to-
ing countries as we did well in gether counterpart supplier/technology asso-
the past in the UK and Norway. ciations in the UK, Norway, The Netherlands,
They are now in the position and Denmark, one aim being to discuss collab-
where more of the products and orative oil and gas R&D programs.
technologies invented in France Outside France, GEP leads trading missions
are manufactured in the coun- for groups of member compa-
tries where they are used.” nies to emerging regions, some
The newly enlarged associa- tied in with oil and gas confer-
tion is still waiting for its final ences. In 2009, GEP delivered
title that could be GEP AFTP or a presentation at the Economic
AFTP GEP, as both names are Forum in Murmansk to Russian
familiar outside France. Among engineering and shipbuilding
the executive, GEP’s General Cybernetix’s ALLMS mooring
contractors. Last month, GEP
Manager Gerard Momplot, will re- monitoring system won a GEP also took a French group to Abu
main the association’s general man- innovation prize in 2009. Dhabi for meetings with nation-
ager and will focus on international al oil company ADNOC. 

110 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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A customised service to become a privileged passenger

Vincent Besnault / Zefa / Corbis

You work in oil and gas industry, then join the club Flying Blue Petroleum, and thanks to your member card, get access to
numerous services and exclusive advantages: priority check-in, Flying Blue Petroleum lounge access at Paris-Charles de
Gaulle and Amsterdam Schiphol airports and many other offers from our partners.

Join the club immediately on www.airfrance.com or www.klm.com

Click on Flying Blue then Petroleum.

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FRANCE

Pipeline monitoring system improves

buckling detection and analysis
Example of lateral buckling inspection,
Yves Chardard using side-scan sonar mounted on an ROV.
Subsea Tech

Patrick Arzelies
Ifremer

Laurent Origne
Chrisar Software Technologies

Gilbert Pachoud
Comex

T
emperature and pressure cycles sustained by subsea pipe- there have been instances of ruptures.
lines and flowlines generate axial and longitudinal stresses in These movements may have several meters of amplitude, and
their steel materials. These can cause longitudinal or lateral their frequency is linked in general to variations in the process pa-
displacements, and the resultant “low cycle” fatigue can lead rameters. To cope with these hazards, most offshore operators elect
to pipeline dry or wet buckle after only a few months of opera- to place pipe “slippers” underneath the affected line at pre-designed
tion, or structural disorders. In some deepwater West Africa fields, locations to force displacements at these locations.

Discover the DORIS difference

Azurite Field Development
Facilities Engineering and Project Management Responsibility

World #1 FDPSO
Floating Drilling Production
Storage and Offloading Vessel

Seabed multi-phase pumps

Winner - 2009 ASME IPTI www.doris-engineering.com

Project Excellence Award
DORIS Group Locations : Paris - London - Houston - Rio de Janeiro - Luanda - Jakarta

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FRANCE

• Movement frequency: A few hours to of a metrology technology which complies

several days with small amplitudes, and very slow move-
• Monitoring accuracy: 0.1 m (0.33 ft), in ments, and which can cope with severe envi-
all directions ronments such as high pressure, low tempera-
• Operational depth: Up to 3,000 m (9,842 ft) ture, and poor visibility.
• Autonomy: one year Four types of sensors were reviewed. Me-
• Possibility to adjust monitoring fre- chanical sensors, i.e. taut wire systems, were
quency and period remotely unsuitable due to limited range and possible
• Potential for instant data recovery in a obstruction to ROV navigation. Laser metrol-
wireless mode. ogy sensors and radar waves also were ruled
These specifications necessitated selection out due to limited underwater range.

Rosa Lirio Technical Module 1

PipeWatch employs a multitriplan acoustic sen-

sor for detecting pipeline movement.

ROV-deployed video or side scan sonar

are the most common methods to evaluate
unplanned pipe displacements or areas of
buckling, but these provide only an instant
picture at a high cost. Instrumented pigs run-
ning inside the pipeline is another approach,
but again only provides limited data in terms
of buckling localization and amplitude.
Another problem for pipeline engineers is
that although they have software tools to mod-
el the behavior of stressed pipelines, uncer-
tainty remains over the pipe/soil interaction,
which may hinder or help these movements.

Measurement concept
PipeWatch is a new, integrated module
designed to detect, measure, and log pipe-
line movements underwater, with the aim of 3 Living quarter

helping pipeline engineers better correlate TOTAL

their models with real situations. The mod-

ule, which underwent full-scale sea trials last
year, also can store its data over an extended
period of time if communication to the sur-
face is interrupted.
The measuring concept is based on the
use of a commercially available profiling
sonar, scanning passive acoustic targets
fastened on the structure to be monitored. Yard Fos-sur-Mer 2

The sonar is controlled by an embedded PC

which transmits received data (i.e. pipe posi-
tion and time) to the surface via a long-range
acoustic modem. It allows field operators to
get accurate and timed displacements data EIFFEL : our name represents more than a hundred years experience
along a pipeline’s critical zones, and possibly acknowledged worldwide in the field of steel construction and civil
engineering structures.
adjust the acquisition parameters via the bi-
directional acoustic link. Offshore : for over forty years our platforms, modules and living
Offshore Division quarters enable Petroleum Companies to explore and exploit petroleum
Following discussions with major oil and fields on the world’s seas and oceans in excellent technical conditions
48-50, rue de Seine – 92707 Colombes Cedex – France
gas operators and some of their construc- Tel.: 33 (0)1 47 60 47 00 – Fax: 33 (0)1 47 60 47 01 of safety and comfort for their operators.
[email protected]
tion/maintenance contractors, performance www.eiffel.fr
Quality – Safety – Environment : these are the essential
specifications were drawn up to design and priorities of our company every day, based on the expertise, competence,
KOSSUTH Communication

adaptability and dedication of our teams.

fabricate a monitoring unit suited to their
needs. These requirements included: As a genuine quality trademark, Made by Eiffel is the expression
of our commitment and a guarantee of satisfaction for all our clients.
• System monitoring range: > 100 m (328
ft) along the pipe
• Maximum movement amplitude: +/- 5
m (+/- 16.4 ft)

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FRANCE

With acoustic sensors, although widely used was Tritech’s Super Seaking forward-looking range detection and which never “disappeared”
underwater, the main drawback is their limited sonar. regardless of its orientation towards the sonar,
accuracy. However, these were viewed as the To guarantee detection and monitoring was the “multitriplan,” an assembly of 20 tri-
best compromise with regard to the list of speci- of target movements, the team conducted a plans forming a roughly spherical shape.
fications. The required accuracy of 0.1 m at 100 comprehensive review, analysis, and trial of Its good detectability and capacity to be
m falls just within their capabilities. different target shapes in a clear fresh wa- discerned even in obstructed environments
To facilitate acoustic detection of pipe move- ter pool and in murky salt water. The shapes were confirmed during shallow water trials
ments and to discriminate between researched were selected for the quality of their acous- at Ifremer’s facilities in La Seyne sur Mer,
echoes from nearby natural and artificial ob- tic index and their ease of detection at vari- France. In murky waters, and a soft seabed
jects, the research team opted to equip the pipe- ous angles and at distances of over 100 m. obstructed by various kinds of metallic de-
line with acoustic targets. The selected sensor The only design capable of sustaining long- bris, the multitriplan still could be detected
at distances exceeding 120 m (393 ft), in con-
ditions worse than those likely to be encoun-
tered around deepwater pipelines.

How the system works

For the monitoring system to cover a max-
imum distance along the pipeline, targets
are placed on each side of the sonar module.
An unlimited number of targets theoreti-
cally could be scanned by the sonar, but to
facilitate discrimination between the targets,
a minimum distance of 20 m is maintained
between each target. Since the movement
amplitude should not exceed a few meters,
especially along the pipeline axis, each indi-
vidual target can be assigned a geographical
zone in the sonar image, avoiding the need
for an acoustic discrimination system.
A fixed “reference” target is located out-
side the pipeline area to provide a way to
verify that the scanning module had not
been moved by an ROV or other external
instrument, which would have led to errone-
ous displacement measurements. The fixed
target constantly reports “0” movement.
Each target is detected and localized in
the sonar image by means of the embedded
PC, which returns all polar coordinates at
each scan. The mean values of these coor-
dinates are calculated over a short period
to improve measurement accuracy. The val-
ues are stored in the PC for instant or sub-
sequent transmission to the surface via an
integrated acoustic modem.
The monitoring system comprises a self-
contained module supporting the scanning
sonar, acoustic modem, embedded PC, and
six packs of 12 SAFT lithium batteries with a
nominal tension of 14.4 V and an energy capac-
ity modified to 25 Ah to take into account the
low temperatures at which the system may op-

EĂƚƵƌĂůƐĞůĞĐƚŝŽŶ
erate. All batteries and electronic components
are housed in a single pressure container that
can withstand water depths of 3,000 m (9,842
ft). The system is completed by a set of targets
fastened on the pipe by ROV-operated clamps,
and the surface modem transponder, which is
DŽďŝůĞĐŽŵŵƵŶŝĐĂƟŽŶĂƚƐĞĂŝƐĂŶĂƚƵƌĂůŶĞĞĚ͘ operated from a surface vessel.
KŶͲtĂǀĞƐŵĂƌŝƟŵĞŵŽďŝůĞŶĞƚǁŽƌŬǁĞůĐŽŵĞƐ Several operating scenarios were identified
ĂŶLJƉŚŽŶĞĂƚƐĞĂĂŶĚŵĂŬĞƐŝƚǁŽƌŬ͕ŶĂƚƵƌĂůůLJ͘
during the design phase with various scanning
ͻ'^DΘDZŽĂŵŝŶŐ ͻƌĞǁWƌĞͲWĂŝĚƐŽůƵƟŽŶƐ durations and frequencies over a year of oper-
ͻ^D^ƐĞƌǀŝĐĞƐ ͻtŝͲ&ŝ/ŶƚĞƌŶĞƚ ation, and the energy requirement was found
ͻDĂƌŬĞƟŶŐƚŽŽůƐ ͻsŝĚĞŽŽŶĞŵĂŶĚ to be less than 1.7 kWh for the year.

where to next?
ǁǁǁ͘ŽŶͲǁĂǀĞƐ͘ĐŽŵ
/ŶƋƵŝƌŝĞƐ͗ŝŶĨŽΛŽŶͲǁĂǀĞƐ͘ĐŽŵ____________

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FRANCE

Pipe lateral movement monitoring system – general arrangement.

Trial results suggest that PipeWatch pro- work without the need to modify the exist- figures with regard to pipeline fatigue and
vides reliable information on the actual loca- ing installation or to stop production. Output remaining life. 
tion of the monitored structures without the results, correlated to process parameters, Author’s note: This is an edited version of a paper
need for ROV or pigging operations. It can should allow pipeline engineers to improve given at the Deep Offshore Technology Conference in
be applied on any kind of underwater net- their design models and to obtain instant Monaco, November 2009.

__________

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FRANCE

Joint industry programs strive to improve

management of hydrates and waxy crudes
B
lockages caused by hydrate build-up
in production lines are a constant di-
lemma for deepwater development.
A hydrate suppression strategy, fac-
tored into the overall project design,
can push up capital and operating costs.
An alternative approach could be to trans-
port hydrates through the flowline in a con-
trolled manner as dispersed slurry. Accord-
ing to IFP (Institut Francais du Petrole), this
could be achieved in two ways:
1. By exploiting the capacity of certain
crude oils to form stable, water-in-oil
emulsions
2. Introducing anti-agglomerant additives
to condensate or non-dispersive crude
oils.
IFP is close to completing a first phase of
investigations for the HYSIFLO (HYdrates
Slurry Impact on the Flow Properties of Oil
Fields) joint industry project (JIP). The pur- The HYSIFLO Hydrate Flow Module was derived from validation tests at IFP’s Lyre loop in Solaize.

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FRANCE

pose of the program to date has been to deliv- paraffin compounds and thermal shrinkage. development of the StarWaCS-1.5D numeri-
er a prototype Cape-Open predictive software The main concerns for operators are determin- cal research code. This resulted in a patented
tool known as the Hydrate Flow Module. ing the minimum pressure needed to re-start methodology for managing waxy crude flow
This is designed to evaluate flow properties flow, and the time required to flush the gelled re-start more efficiently, known as Cold Start.
and the potential for blockages in pipelines oil out of the pipeline and to re-establish steady- Phase 4 involves validating this technology
when transporting produced fluids at risk of flow conditions. and the numerical code via new experiments
hydrate build-up. In previous phases of the program, IFP on the Lyre loop. Other goals are further
According to Claude Mabile, deputy direc- focussed on understanding the process by laboratory measurements to clarify the slip
tor of IFP’s Exploration & Production Technol- means of laboratory rheological characteriza- effect and to explain discrepancies in results
ogy Business Unit, the first-phase objectives tion, experimental tests on the 150-m (492-ft) obtained during previous phases for very low
have been achieved, including the capability of long, 2-in. (5-cm) diameter Lyre loop, and re-start temperatures. 
the software to assess pressure drop. Among
the sponsors are one major oil company con-
cerned by insulation issues affecting a planned Asset Integrity Monitoring
long-distance subsea tieback.
The Hydrate Flow Module is based on a
just because ... new challenges require new solutions ...
physical model recently validated for differ-
ent flow conditions at IFP’s Lyre loop in So-
www.cybernetix.fr
________________

laize, south of Lyon. A series of tests were

conducted at this facility, using one crude
sample provided by one of the sponsors.
The aims included widening application of
the model to turbulent and multiphase flow
conditions. Equipment at Solaize includes a
pump designed specifically to re-circulate hy-
ALLMS
drates, allowing researchers to monitor and
analyze hydrates breaking up and re-generat-
ing, or shearing into smaller particles. RIMS
The first-phase program has focussed on
steady-state crude transportation. IFP is dis-
cussing options with its sponsors for a second
phase. These could extend to examining the
impact of stopping and re-starting flow, and the
effect of anti-agglomerants on the flow model. a new generation of
A related two-year JIP which IFP expects sensors to manage
to start shortly is AHTo (Anti-Hydrate Top of & secure your assets
a customized solution for the
the Line). “When a deepwater pipeline is trans-
price of an
porting a wellstream comprising gas, water,

.
off-the-shelf product

Concéption - Réalisation : SU D P R I N T- 0 6 6 1 17 74 2 7 - B y c o u r t e s y o f T O TA L
and condensate,” Mabile explains, “and condi-
tions are suited to hydrate formation, the ma-
jority of the water is in the bottom of the pipe.
Innovative
If you put in additives, it is unclear whether dif-
ferent types of additives are active on the inner
Subsea Solutions
walls at the top of the pipe, or whether they P&TMS
prevent formation of hydrates there.
“We are the first organization to work on
this issue. The first phase of the program the unique non-intrusive
will define a set of experiments, to see how solution dedicated to flow
hydrates will stick to pipe walls. We will also performance enhancement
seek to mimic the condensation of water
without additives at the pipe wall. In a sec- SWIMMER
ond step, we will study the effect of kinetic
inhibitor and anti-agglomerant additives.”
A longer-established JIP is Cold Start, cur-
rently in its sixth year and its fourth phase.
Here the aim is to improve understanding,
management, and prediction of re-starting
flow of waxy crude in pipelines.
In conditions below the Wax Appearance a new subsea resident robot
Temperature (WAT), this type of crude ex- for IMR operations on
hibits visco-plastic, thixotropic, temperature- subsea production facilities
dependent and compressible properties. These
are caused by the interlocking gel-like structure
formed by a combination of the oil’s crystallized
Engineering / Procurement / Installation / Commissioning / Operation / Maintenance

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Tender-assist semi speeds

rig-up operations
Concept could be extended for deepwater interventions

D
rilling services specialist Dietswell aims to finalize the full This one-stop approach could save several days in rig-up/rig-
FEED for a new tender-assist drilling rig concept in 2012. down time, Dietswell claims, compared with normal operations us-
The Paris-based company is working on this program in co- ing a tender-assist barge. Reducing the number of lifts should also
operation with various interested West Africa and Asia-Pacific lead to enhanced safety. Other advantages claimed for the HSR are
region operators, including Total, PTTEP, and PetroVietnam. increased living quarters capacity (up to 140 personnel) and larger
The Horse Shoe Rig (HSR) is a column-stabilized semisubmers- mud tank capacities.
ible, designed to reduce rig-up time and costs associated with ten- The HSR’s capabilities and variable loads are derived from the
der-assist drilling alongside a wellhead jacket, mini-TLP or spar. Its requirements of a standard tender-assist rig, such as Keppel’s SSDT
hull is optimized for operations in severe environments, for instance 3600 design or the Frigstad T60. Originally, says Dietswell CEO
in the Gulf of Guinea or Southeast Asia. Jean Claude Bourdon, the concept was designed for use with an
Dimensions of the rig include an overall length of 82.5 m (270 ft); eight-line mooring system in shallow waters, but now its range is
a length and breadth of the main deck of 64 x 54 m (210 x 177 ft); a being extended to deepwater application (up to 1,500 m, or 4,921 ft).
main deck elevation of 25 m (82 ft); an operational displacement of “We also want to have the unit performing multi-purpose tasks,
18,300 metric tons (20,172 tons); and an operating draft of 12-15 m including subsea intervention. This could be achieved by adding dy-
(39-49 ft). namic positioning, with heave compensated cranes providing lift ca-
According to Dietswell, a growing requirement for tender-assist pacity of 200 metric tons [220 tons] or so. The slot in the rig could be
operations is a heavy crane to reduce the number of packages to be used for subsea tree maneuvers. There is a big need for this type of
transferred from the rig to the drilling platform. The HSR takes this capability, particularly in deepwater operations offshore Angola.” 
a step further, by transferring an entire der-
rick set, via a single-lift operation, onto the
platform.
The rig’s U-shape allows it to surround the
platform on three sides while undertaking
this task. The elevation system, incorporat-
ing passive heave compensation and a fast
ballasting device, allows the transfer to be
effected without transmitting any loads onto
the platform structure. To accommodate the
footprint of the platform, the elevation sys-
tem is also equipped with two beams with
retractable ends.

Computer-aided image
of the Horseshoe rig, which
features an in-built slot
to assist derrick installations
and subsea interventions.

118 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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mmon interests
Imagine if confronting climate change and solving
energy needs were inseparable
© iceberg: Getty Images / D. Allan

For Total, satisfying energy needs and controlling the environmental impact of our activities are our top
priorities. In our search for new sources of fossil and renewable energy (such as solar and biomass),
the Group is working hard to achieve greater energy efficiency and optimise processes to cut
greenhouse gas emissions. With a pilot project to capture and store CO2 in France’s Lacq basin,
Total is developing innovative technology to confront global warming. www.total.com

Our energy is your energy

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Eiffel in hunt
for West Africa platforms
C
onstruction services group Eiffel
sees signs of a pick-up in tender activ-
ity offshore West and North Africa.
The company’s last offshore fab-
rication job was a series of process
modules for Total’s Girassol FPSO to handle
production from the deepwater Rosa/Lirio
project. Since delivering that consignment
in 2006, management has tried alternative
avenues to give the yard in Fos-sur-Mer,
southern France, more regular employ-
ment.
Bringing in new facilities to assemble
wind turbine towers brought little reward,
although the machinery is now being re-
deployed for manufacture of in-demand
modular bridges. Some of these are finding
application at onshore/offshore construc-
tion projects in Southeast Asia.
“Our goal is to produce 600 bridge mod-
ules a year,” says Offshore Energy Director
Arnaud de Villepin. “Fos now has work for Process modules en route from Fos to the Girassol FPSO for the Rosa/Lirio subsea project.
the next four to five years,” he adds, “al-
though the yard is not full to capacity. So facilities. Here, Eiffel is bidding in partner- fications to the existing FSO. Again, these
we are hoping to bring in additional work, ship with Saipem for a wellhead platform structures would be built in Fos, with a por-
including offshore contracts.” calling for a 1,050-metric ton (1,157-ton) tion assembled in Libya.
One high-priority target is Total/NNPC’s topside, a 650-metric ton (716-ton) jacket,
Ofon Phase 2 shallow water development off and 1,250-metric ton (1,378-ton) piles. This LNG transport access
Nigeria. This long-planned project was first would be built in Fos, with Saipem respon- The modular Universal Bridges are pro-
stalled and then postponed, but Nigeria’s sible for the offshore installation. duced under the name Unibridge Trading
government is expected to issue its approval Offshore Libya, Eiffel is pre-qualifying Co. under a joint venture with the concept’s
later this year. to bid for the next phase of Total’s Al Jurf originator, Matiere. One of the current or-
“We hope to participate in the EPC con- project, due to be launched in 2011. It aims ders is for Esso Highlands’ $15-billion Papua
tract for the living quarter module and tech- to bid for the living quarters for a new stand- New Guinea LNG project, which involves
nical buildings for the Phase 2 standalone alone platform, technical modules and modi- construction of new liquefaction and storage
platforms,” De Villepin says. “We facilities northwest of Port Moresby,
have a co-operation with Nigerian and over 450 mi (700 km) of onshore
design company OOP specifically and offshore pipelines. Here the
for living quarters, and another consignment will be erected at a lo-
agreement with local fabricator cation close to the coast.
Grinaker, which has a yard in Port “Our bridges can be transported
Harcourt. If our tender is successful, in containers direct to the work site,
some parts of the module would be so they are perfect for construction
built in Nigeria and others in Fos.” projects in emerging countries,” de
Eiffel is also in the frame for To- Villepin says. Typically, the modules
tal’s Anguille redevelopment proj- are 12 m (39 ft) long and 4 m (13
ect offshore Gabon, involving pro- ft) wide, although length and width
posed new offshore and onshore can be adapted by adding lanes.
The modules are delivered painted
and welded, ready to assemble on
A modular Unibridge the spot as bridges following simple
assembled in the Philippines. connections. It is also possible to in-
clude pedestrian walkways. 

120 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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BUSINESS BRIEFS

People strategies for the deepwater flow assurance extension.

FMC Technologies has market for both existing assets and future Ensco International changed its name to
appointed Maryann T. capex projects. He will continue to manage Ensco plc, effective March 31. “Ensco has
Seaman as VP, treasurer, and maintain current business and customer evolved over the years from a US-focused busi-
and deputy CFO of the relationships. ness into a global company with operations in
company, effective April 1. Drillsearch Energy has appointed David all of the major markets around the world,”
Mark J. Scott will succeed Evans as CTO, effective in March. He will says Dan Rabun, chairman, president, and
Seaman as VP of Adminis- oversee and manage all technical aspects of CEO of Ensco. “Our name change to ‘Ensco
tration, effective April 20. the company’s exploration, development, and plc’ commemorates the recent move to our
UAE offshore fabricator production activities. new headquarters in London – a leading busi-
Seaman
Lamprell has promoted Schlumberger has appointed Paal Kib- ness and financial center – that will facilitate
Chris Hand to the role sgaard as COO. Kibsgaard will be respon- even greater service for our customers and
of COO. He is replacing sible for the day-to-day management of the enhance executive management oversight of
Peter Whitebread, who company’s worldwide operations as well as its our worldwide operations.” The company says
has opted to retire. Hand technology organization including engineer- it will continue to conduct the same business
joined the company in ing, manufacturing, and product development. operations and trade on the New York Stock
1996, and since 2006 has Stan Luker, former Exchange under the symbol “ESV.”
been VP of Commercial, president of Dyna-Drill, India has awarded 33 oil and gas blocks for
managing commercial and a business unit of Smith exploration, reports Dow Jones. The tracts
contractual aspects of all International, passed away came from the eighth NELP auction of 70
Scott
proposals, projects, and Feb. 27, 2010. Luker joined available properties. ONGC now has seven
procurement activities. Smith International in 1975 new deepwater and 13 new shallow water
Subsea cable/connector provider Hydro with the Servco division. In blocks. A total of 24 deepwater and 28 shallow
Group has appointed Benoit D’Alancon as a addition to being director water blocks were available in the sale. Cairn
business partner based in France, which the of Market Research and Energy Plc won one deepwater block. BHP
company sees as a major market in the subsea the corporate office, Luker Luker Billiton Petroleum with three and Cairn
sector. served as vice president Energy with one wrap up the shallow water
Det norske oljeselskap has promoted Svein of Smith Dasing Ltd., a trading company in offshore bidding, Dow Jones reports. The
Ola Syrstad to VP Drilling and Well Opera- the People’s Republic of China. Stan became remaining blocks were onshore.
tions. Syrstad joined the company in January, president of Dyna-Drill in 1984. Keppel Offshore & Marine Ltd. (Keppel
having previously been employed by Statoil as O&M) is teaming up with Azeri state oil
a drilling manager and operations manager in company SOCAR and Azerbaijan Invest-
Norway, Algeria, and Libya. He has served as Company news ment Co. (AIC) to develop a new 52-ha (128
an engineer at the Sleipner and Heidrun fields. Statoil has agreed to transfer 35% of its acres) shipbuilding and ship-repair facility in
MODEC has appointed Norio Nagata as interest in block 2 offshore Tanzania to Exx- Baku. The SOCAR-Keppel Shipyard will be
director and Kiyoshi Nakamura and Akira onMobil and the government of Tanzania has assembled over a two- to three-year period,
Nishihata as corporate auditors. approved the deal. Statoil had held 100% of the for an outlay of $386 million. Following sign-
Phil Oldham, managing director of Nexen 11,099 sq km (4,285 sq mi) tract in deepwater. ing of the joint venture agreement, Keppel
Petroleum (UK), has joined the board of A 2D seismic survey was completed in 2008 O&M will have a 10% interest in the yard and
industry association Oil & Gas UK. and a 3D survey was done this past February. SOCAR and AIC respectively 65% and 25%.
Aker Qserv has appointed Ian Pittman as Schlumberger has acquired Geoservices, Keppel O&M will be responsible for manage-
well services manager to lead its operations a privately owned French oilfield services ment and operation of the yard, and will have
in the east of England. Pittman brings over company specializing in mud logging, slick- the option to boost its stake by a further 10%
20 years’ experience in engineering, opera- line, and production surveillance operations. in the next three years. The completed yard
tions, and project. In his new role, he will Founded in 1958, Geoservices employs will feature a 1,630-m (5,348-ft) waterfront,
provide operational management support for approximately 5,000 people in more than 50 and will be capable of handling 80-100 repairs
a range of Aker QServ clients including E.ON countries. The mud-logging company has and conversions per year, with an estimated
Ruhrgas and Scottish and Southern Energy. developed new technology for exploration average annual steel throughput of 25,000
He will also develop new business opportuni- and appraisal well activities, particularly in the tons (22,679 metric tons) when operating at
ties within the well stimulation, coiled tubing, deepwater market, Schlumberger says. “The full capacity.
wireline, pipeline, and process services in addition of mud logging technology to the Petrofac and Lundin Petroleum plan to
the North Sea. Pittman will be based in Great Schlumberger portfolio is an important step in de-merge their UK North Sea interests, form-
Yarmouth. the development of higher-performance drill- ing a new independent E&P company called
The Artificial Lift Co. (ALC) has promoted ing systems,” says Andrew Gould, chairman “EnQuest.” Under the proposal, Petrofac will
Dr. Hassan Mansir to VP and CEO, Schlumberger. own 45% of the shares of the new company,
of engineering and technol- Petrobras has awarded Lider Aviacao the remaining 55% held by Lundin. EnQuest’s
ogy. Mansir joined ALC in Holding three incremental five-year contracts portfolio will comprise operated interests
2009 as design manager. for three large helicopters. Lider will use its in the producing northern North Sea fields
Multi-Chem has pro- new S-92 aircraft and lease two S-92 aircraft Heather, Broom, Thistle, Deveron, Don
moted Dr. Zubin Patel to from Bristow Group Inc. BP has contracted Southwest, and West Don. It will also operate
director of capital expen- Bristow to provide helicopter services in the Peik, South West Heather, Scolty, and
diture and flow assurance. the southern North Sea using two S-76C++ Elke discoveries. These will be ceded by the
Based in Houston, Patel aircraft. The five-year contract begins in two current owners on a cash-free, debt-free
will develop and execute Patel September and includes a five-year optional basis.

124 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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BUSINESS BRIEFS

in the third quarter of this year.

On completion of the sale, Scottish &
Southern will assume ownership of Hess’
interests in the Everest and Lomond natural
gas fields and the Central Area Transmission
System in the central North Sea, together with
the Bacton Corridor and Easington Catchment
Area natural gas fields in the Southern North
Sea.
A subsidiary of Diamond Offshore Drill-
ing Inc. has awarded dockside shipyard
work on the Ocean Baroness semisubmersible
drilling rig to Signal International LLC. The
rig is currently docked at Signal’s Pascagoula
Mississippi East Yard undergoing mooring
chain inspection and chain locker repairs,
general steel renewals, piping upgrades, and
ABS survey work. Ongoing enhancements at
the East Yard have enabled Signal to accom-
modate large semisubmersibles, such as the
Baroness, the company says, that draw over
30 ft of water depth. A 60-ft water depth by
300 x 500 ft hole was dredged near the dock.
RBG has opened a new service centre in Lafayette, Louisiana. The new base will increase ca- Additional dredging, from 35-ft to 42-ft depth,
pacity, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness for clients, while supporting RBG’s continued growth was also completed along a 1,005 ft stretch
in coating and cleaning services to offshore and onshore clients in the Gulf of Mexico region, at the East Yard’s dockside. “By investing in
the company says. The 18,000-sq ft (1,672-sq m) site, which houses indoor storage, training, deepening our water frontage, Signal will be
and administrative facilities, will offer RBG’s Fabric Maintenance services including blasting
more competitive and attract more business
and coatings, specialist cleaning, insulation, and scaffolding. In 2009, the company introduced
a new fleet of 55,000-psi ultra high pressure machines for water jetting to the region, which set
to the region,” says Dick Marler, Signal’s
new standards for productivity and environment-friendly surface preparation, RBG says. Earlier president and CEO. “Together, these physical
this year, the company also deployed its Real Time Digital Imaging System to detect corrosion enhancements render the Signal facility ide-
under insulation on a platform process piping system for a major deepwater GoM operator. The ally suited to perform work on the deepwater
technology halved the expected project time, from eight to four weeks, and lead to significant semisubmersible drilling rigs operating in the
cost savings, according to RBG. Gulf of Mexico.”
Petrobras has decreased its project
San Leon Energy has agreed to acquire completion services. New Tech Engineer- portfolio investment for 2011-2014 from $148
Irish independent Oil & Gas. The compa- ing gains expansion into new markets and billion to $139 billion. The company’s board
nies’ boards recommend the takeover to their geographical areas. has approved $257 billion worth of projects
shareholders in the form of a share-for-share VAM Drilling has acquired Abu Dhabi- for after 2014. According to the company, the
arrangement, which values Island’s entire based Protools, a supplier of bottomhole investments aim to increase oil and natural gas
issued share capital at £13.74 million ($20.9 assembly products in the Middle East. The production, taking advantage of success in the
million). company was formerly owned by Hunt Oil- post- and pre-salt, and exploratory activities.
Clough and Forge have agreed to jointly tools LLC. The E&P project portfolio includes construc-
target LNG and oil and gas projects in markets Knowledge Reservoir has divided its res- tion of production platforms and drilling rigs,
including Australasia and West Africa. Under ervoir management business into four prac- support vessels, and investments in transpor-
the new strategic alliance, Clough will become tices: deepwater, improved recovery and field tation infrastructure.
a cornerstone shareholder in Forge through redevelopment, unconventional resources, Baker Hughes has launched a new multi-
an investment of approximately $98 million. and reserves and mergers/acquisitions. The phase flowmeter that combines downhole sen-
ITT C’treat Offshore has appointed Viet- company’s business stream will be developed sor technology with neural network capabili-
Tech JSC as its representative in Vietnam. in three areas: the ReservoirKB deepwater ties for real-time flow rate estimates from wells
Schlumberger Ltd. and Smith Interna- knowledge base, Knowledge Base Products, produced via electrical submersible pumping
tional boards of directors have reached a and Knowledge Management Consulting, (ESP) systems. The Neuraflow multiphase
definitive merger agreement. The closing including Data Management Solutions. flowmeter delivers flow rate estimates with
is expected in the second half of this year Subsea Services International has estab- a greater than 90% accuracy rate compared
following various approvals and waiting lished a new subsidiary, PT Subsea Services to actual flow rates, Baker Hughes says. The
period requirements. Schlumberger also Indonesia. The company, which will operate Neuraflow device, which is installed in the
has contracted New Tech Engineering to from a new facility in Batam, will support ESP surface variable speed drive, uses exist-
provide wellsite consultants and engineering customers in Asia, Australia, India, and the ing standard downhole measurements coupled
services for its integrated project management Middle East. with additional system measurements and
activities worldwide. The agreement gives Hess has reached agreement with Scottish learning algorithms to infer a flow rate based
Schlumberger additional access to New Tech & Southern Energy to sell its interests in a on known reservoir and fluid properties. It
Engineering drilling operations consulting, package of natural gas production and trans- measures flow at four separate downhole loca-
deepwater environments, high-pressure/ portation assets in the UK North Sea for $423 tions. The measurements are compared and
high-temperature operations, production, and million in cash. The sale is expected to close then used to calibrate the model.

www.offshore-mag.com • May 2010 Offshore 125

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126 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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ADVERTISERS INDEX

3M Corporation .....................................65 Lincoln Electric... ..................................33

www.3M.com/corrosion www.lincolnelectric.com
SALES OFFICES Air France KLM ................................... 111
www.airfrance.com
M-I SWACO.. ..........................................53
www.miswaco.com
PENNWELL PETROLEUM GROUP www.klm.com McDermott International.......................85
1455 West Loop South, Suite 400, Houston, TX 77027 Aker Solutions .................................... 2-3 www.mcdermott.com
PHONE +1 713 621 9720 • FAX +1 713 963 6228 www.akersolutions.com/subsea McDermott Wuchuan.. ..........................15
David Davis (Worldwide Sales Manager) ASTICAN ................................................69 www.mcdermottwuchuan.com
[email protected] www.astican.es MD Industries.. ......................................39
Bailey Simpson (Regional Sales Manager) www.ultrasealinc.com
[email protected]
ATV Advance Technology
Valves SpA ............................................57 Mustang Engineering.. .........................19
Glenda Harp (Classified Sales) [email protected] www.atvspa.com www.mustangeng.com
AXON Energy Products ........................89 National Oilwell Varco ..........................27
GREATER HOUSTON AREA, TX www.nov.com/downhole
David Davis [email protected] Bell Helicopter ....................................103 Nylacast .................................................10
www.bellhelicopter.com www.nylacast.com
USA • CANADA BGP GEOEXPLORER PTE LTD ...........61 ON-WAVES..... ..................................... 114
Bailey Simpson [email protected] www.bgp.com.cn www.on-waves.com
BISSO MARINE ...................................108 ORR Safety Corporation.......................35
UNITED KINGDOM • SCANDINAVIA • www.bissomarine.com www.orrsafety.com/kong
THE NETHERLANDS BJ Services ...........................................96 PennWell
9 Tarragon Rd. www.bjservices.com Deepwater Operations 2010 ............75
Maidstone, Kent, United Kingdom ME16 OUR Bupa International ................................47 www.deepwateroperations.com
PHONE +44 1622 721222 • FAX +44 1622 721333 www.bupa-intl.com Deep Offshore Techonology
Roger Kingswell [email protected] Cameron ..................................................9 International 2010 ............................73
www.c-a-m.com/fastrac www.deepoffshoretechnology.com
CapRock Communications ....................5 Offshore Group........................122-123
FRANCE • BELGIUM • PORTUGAL • www.offshore-mag.com
SPAIN • SOUTH SWITZERLAND • MONACO www.caprock.com
• NORTH AFRICA Cetco Oilfield Services Company .. ....36 Offshore Middle East 2010.............121
www.cetcooilfieldservices.com www.offshoremiddleeast.com
Prominter
8 allée des Hérons, 78400 Chatou, France Clover Tool Company............................41 PennEnergy...................................... 62
PHONE +33 (0) 1 3071 1119 • FAX +33 (0) 1 3071 1119 www.clovertool.com www.PennEnergy.com
Daniel Bernard [email protected] Co.L.Mar S.R.L. .....................................46 Perlast, Ltd. ...........................................42
www.colmaritalia.it www.prepol.com
CRC-Evans Automatic Welding .. .. 54-55 PHI, Inc. ...............................................100
GERMANY • NORTH SWITZERLAND • www.phihelico.com
AUSTRIA • EASTERN EUROPE • www.crc-evans.com
Cross Group, Inc...................................25 Ponticelli .............................................. 115
RUSSIA • FORMER SOVIET UNION • BALTIC
www.thecrossgroup.com www.ponticelli.com
• EURASIA
Sicking Industrial Marketing, Kurt-Schumacher-Str. 16 Cybernetix ........................................... 117 Precision Polymer
59872 Freienohl, Germany www.cybernetix.fr Engineering, Ltd. ..................................42
www.prepol.com
PHONE +49 (0) 2903 3385 70 • FAX +49 (0) 2903 3385 82 DORIS ENGINEERING........ ................ 112
Andreas Sicking [email protected] www.doris-engineering.com Pride International ................................29
www.prideinternational.com
DSI Commissioning Services........ ......23
www.woodgroup.com/dsi RM Young Company .............................46
ITALY www.youngusa.com
SILVERA MEDIAREP EIFFEL....... .......................................... 113
www.eiffel.fr Rolls-Royce. ..........................................50
Viale Monza, 24 - 20127 Milano, Italy www.rolls-royce.com
PHONE +39 (02) 28 46716 • FAX +39 (02) 28 93849 FloaTEC......... ..........................................1
Paolo Silvera [email protected] www.floatec.com SBM Offshore ........................................79
www.sbmoffshore.com
Fluor Corporation....... .......................... 11
www.fluor.com/offshore Schlumberger ...................................... C2
BRAZIL / SOUTH AMERICA www.slb.com/SenTURIAN
Grupo Expetro/SMARTPETRO, Ave. Erasmo FMC Technologies, Inc......... ............... C4
www.fmctechnologies.com Schweitzer Engineering
Braga 227, 11th floor Laboratories. .........................................59
Rio de Janeiro RJ 20024-900, BRAZIL Frank Mohn Flatoy AS........ ..................49 www.selinc.com/os5
PHONE +55 (21) 2533 5703 or +55 (21) 3084 5384 www.framo.com
Sea Tel Inc. ............................................37
FAX +55 (21) 2533 4593 Fugro......................................................67 www.cobham.com/seatel
[email protected], Url [email protected] www.fugro.com/askfugro
SERIMAX ............................................. 116
Marcia Fialho [email protected] Fugro Geoteam AS................................58 www.serimax.com
www.fugro.com
SPX Hydraulic Technologies................87
JAPAN GEP - France........ ...............................109 www.powerteam.com
ICS Convention Design, Inc. www.gep-france.com
STX Norway Offshore AS .....................17
6F Chiyoda Bldg., 1-5-18 Sarugakucho Global Industries........ .......................... 11 www.stxeurope.com
Chiyoda-Ku, Tokyo 101-8449, Japan www.globalind.com
Swagelok ...............................................45
PHONE +81 3 3219 3641 • FAX +81 3 3219 3628 Grieg Filters...........................................18 www.swagelok.com/quality
Manami Konishi [email protected] www.griegfilters.com
Tetra Technologies Inc.. .......................38
Halliburton........................................... 101 www.tetratec.com
SINGAPORE www.halliburton.com/ofe
Total SA.. ............................................. 119
19 Tanglin Road #05-20 Tanglin Shopping Center Hamanaka International...... .................20 www.total.com
Singapore 247909 Tyco Electronics AMP GmbH...............51
PHONE +65 9616 8080 • FAX +65 6734 0655 Heerema Marine Contractors........ .......81 www.tycoelectronics.com/ADM
Michael Yee [email protected] www.heerema.com
VICINAY CADENAS ...............................21
Horton Wison Deepwater......................13 www.vicinaycadenas.com
www.HortonWison.com
INDIA Wah Seong Corporation Berhad .........63
Interads Ltd., A-113, Shivalik, New Delhi 110 017 INTECSEA .............................................43 www.wahseong.com
PHONE +91 11 628 3018 • FAX +91 11 622 8928 www.INTECSEA.com
Weatherford.........................................6, 7
Rajan Sharma [email protected] JDR Cable Systems, Inc.. .................... C3 www.weatherford.com
www.jdrcables.com
William Jacob Management .................16
KBR.. ......................................................99 www.WilliamJacob.com
NIGERIA/WEST AFRICA www.kbr.com
Flat 8, 3rd floor (Oluwatobi House) World Energy Congress 2010 ..............77
71 Allen Ave, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
KEPPEL FELS LIMITED........................19 www.wecmontreal2010.ca
www.keppelfels.com
PHONE +234 805 687 2630 or +234 802 223 2864
Dele Olaoye [email protected] KJC, Inc..................................................62 The index of page numbers is provided
as a service. The publisher does not as-
Kobe Steel Ltd.......................................31 sume any liability for error or omission.
www.kobelco.co.jp/compressor

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BEYOND THE HORIZON

Deep in the heart of offshore

Deepwater has quickly evolved from a challenge into an opportunity. rig with a dry stack. The ability, in some cases, to get more perfor-
The technical limits that constrained deepwater drilling and develop- mance out of earlier generation drilling units has relieved the strain on
ment have been pushed back. To be sure, the deepwater arena is not for the deepwater fleet to a certain extent.
the faint of heart or the underfinanced. Significant challenges exist, and Deepwater provides some fairly daunting challenges. As if the water
the time-gap between discovery and production remains quite lengthy. depth were not enough, reservoirs are often buried under thick layers
The sheer size of the required investment, time to payout, and longevity of salt that make obtaining definitive answers from seismic prospecting
has deterred some from taking the plunge. However, the majority are problematic. The presence of carbonate rocks, thin beds/laminations,
re-evaluating their position and asking “How can we add an element of and turbidities can create additional reservoir characterization chal-
deepwater to our exploration and production reserve portfolio?” lenges. However, a combination of acquisition and processing technolo-
The well-known hot-spots include the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil, and gies has improved our ability to image these deep set structures.
West Africa. There, phases of exploration have given way to project Drilling is a challenge as well. Penetrating thousands of feet of salt is
development, and deepwater activity is high and growing. Thanks to difficult under the best of conditions. But many ultra deepwater wells
greatly improved technology and data processing, exploration risk is have either reservoirs or shallow hazards located only one or two thou-
subsiding. Tremendous breakthroughs have been made in imaging sand feet below the mud line. These formations are characterized by a
beneath salt and basalt to uncover thick, extensive potential reservoir very narrow margin of safety between the pore pressure gradient and
structures. Exploratory wells have penetrated pays containing billions the fracture pressure gradient. Drillers must walk a virtual tightrope
of barrels of producible reserves. Both drilling and production depth between losing circulation and risking a blowout. Once again, technol-
records have been set in the GoM, and success rates there have tran- ogy has provided a solution, giving the ability to maintain dynamic
scended the traditional dry-hole ratios of the past. equivalent circulating density (ECD) and to monitor it in real time.
With success comes enthusiasm. Promising deepwater areas span Once industry has drilled the salt and the shallow unconsolidated
the globe. Locales like offshore Madagascar, the Horn of Africa, Green- strata just beneath the mudline, there is a further challenge to drill pre-
land, the Atlantic Margin, and south of the Arabian Peninsula, as well cisely to tap the ultra-deep buried targets in areas like the GoM’s Lower
as two new areas offshore Brazil have been designated as “emerging Tertiary Trend. With total well depths approaching 40,000 ft (12,192 m),
markets” — ripe targets for the drill bit. the challenges of ultra-high hydrostatic pressure loom. These conditions
Several promising frontier areas have been identified that could keep stress logging instruments to their limit. But the industry is working to
the industry busy for many years to come, such as offshore Eastern meet the harsh environment challenges with more HP/HT-rated equip-
Canada and New England, USA, and the Canadian Arctic. In the Eastern ment; wireline-conveyed and logging-while-drilling-conveyed. Thanks to
Hemisphere are the far offshore reaches of the Barents Sea and the numerous extended-reach-drilling (ERD) experiences, ultra-deep high-
Norwegian Sea. Farther south are areas in the Eastern Mediterranean, bandwidth mud-pulse telemetry capability has been certified to at least
notably Israel, where Noble Energy has discovered gas in 5,000 ft (1,524 42,000 ft (12,802 m). This provides both geosteering control capability
m) of water, and offshore Morocco and Western Sahara. The East Coast and real-time log data transmission to the surface.
of Africa acknowledges possible areas in the South Somali basin, and the Deepwater production is particularly susceptible to flow assurance
Far East has several deepwater frontier areas stretching from the Bay issues which govern the success of the fluid journey from reservoir to
of Bengal to the South China Sea and offshore Northeast Kalimantan. point of sale. Understanding the reservoir fluid helps to ensure that any
Rounding up the world tour is the Northwest Australia and Timor basins. development plan—from exploration through abandonment—is techni-
As recently as 2007, ultra deepwater drilling rig availability was a cally viable and designed for optimal long-term operations throughout
constraint, with fleet utilization steady at 100%, and day rates soaring the field’s life. Measurement technology exists to identify both the
above $600,000 for high-specification drilling units. Even today, deepwa- production fluid’s multiphase flow rate as well as its propensity to pre-
ter rigs are fully contracted before they leave the shipyard, many even cipitate wax, hydrates, asphaltenes, or scale. And advanced technology,
before their keels are laid. A quick census as of January 2010 identifies be it production chemistry, production engineering, production opera-
41 deepwater floaters with capabilities between 4,500 ft (1,372 m) and tions, or flow assurances helps operators mitigate these depositions so
7,500 ft (2,286 m) of water, 42 ultra deepwater units with capabilities be- they can flow their wells freely.
tween 7,500 ft and 12,000 ft (3,658 m) of water, and nine in the shipyard. No industry rises to challenges like the oil and gas industry. It has
Of the ultra deepwater bracket, four rigs are rated to 12,000 ft of water, been ever thus, and will continue to be. Man’s conquest of the deep is
as are two of the nine rigs still under construction. analogous to the conquest of space. Time, technology, and the right
Technology has come to the rescue recently to ease the demand for people will ultimately win the day.
deepwater drilling units slightly. For example, Shell is developing its Mark Riding
BC-10 project offshore Brazil using a 2D generation semisubmersible Schlumberger

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].

128 Offshore May 2010 • www.offshore-mag.com

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______________

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The World’s
Most Admired
Oil and Gas
Equipment,
Services
Company.
FORTUNE® Magazine has named FMC Technologies the 2010 World’s
Most Admired Company© in the Oil and Gas Equipment, Services
industry. The rankings are based on a survey of approximately 15,000
senior executives, outside directors, and industry. We thank our
dedicated employees worldwide for all they have done to earn this
recognition, and assure our loyal customers that, as always, we remain
committed to putting you first. And keeping you ahead.

We put you first.

And keep you ahead.

www.fmctechnologies.com

Integrated technology. Increased production.

Put them together at OTC Booth #1941.
Multi Phase Meters is named a 2010
Spotlight on New Technology Award
recipient by the Offshore Technology
Conference (OTC).

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PERDIDO
WORLD’S DEEPEST OFFSHORE DRILLING
AND PRODUCTION PLATFORM

Supplement to

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Shell PERDIDO CONTENTS

STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT 2 DEVELOPING THE FIELD 28

SUBSEA SYSTEM 6 THE EXPORT SYSTEM 34

THE SPAR 14 OPERATIONS 40

THE TOPSIDES 22 COMPANY PROFILES 46

Custom Sponsored by: Supplement to:

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STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT
ON THE OUTER EDGE

When Shell acquired the ultra-deepwater leases for Perdido A WORKABLE PLAN
in 1996, the technology to develop them didn’t exist. There “I joined the project in January of 2005,” says Dale Snyder,
were other notable deepwater developments, of course. Perdido project manager. “By the end of the year, we’d
Each had pushed the boundaries of technology, but in solv- settled on a development concept and begun the front-end
ing Perdido’s many technical challenges, Shell has opened engineering and design.”
new frontiers for oil and gas exploration. Safety, cost and functionality were the project team’s
The Perdido oil and gas development covers a portion primary concerns. A large tension-leg platform – common on
of the geological formation known as the Perdido Fold Belt. other deepwater developments – wouldn’t work at Perdido
The producing reservoirs lie within the Paleogene or Lower because of the extreme water depths. Whatever floats on the
Tertiary zone, a portion of the Gulf of Mexico that has not surface has to support the weight of everything below, so in
been produced before. The seabed there resembles a small Perdido’s case, just the weight of the mooring lines, risers and
version of the Grand Canyon, including cliffs with near verti- other equipment hanging
cal drops of up to 1,000 feet. from the platform would be
The hub of the Perdido development is some 200 overwhelming.
miles due south of Freeport Texas. The nearest neighbor is Engineers also had
the Hoover-Diana platform, about 60 miles to the north. to design for the higher
Shell began 3D seismic surveys on Perdido in 1998. The crushing pressures of depths
discovery well was completed in 2002. Development drill- greater than 9,000 feet,
ing began in 2007 and is scheduled to continue through and other environmental
2016. forces such as storm-driven
“There is a lot of courage in this story,” says Bill Townsley, waves, hurricane-force
Perdido venture manager. “We purchased the Perdido leases winds and the Gulf of Mexi-
in up to 10,000 feet of water at a time when the industry’s co’s strong loop currents.
capability was barely 3,000 feet. One of our satellite well- “The deeper you go, Dale Snyder, Perdido
project manager
heads will be installed at 9,627 feet.” the bigger these structures

S T R A T E G I C D E V E L O P M E N T O N T H E O U T E R E D G E 3

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SHELL PERDIDO

get – unless you break the pattern,” Snyder says. “For Per- nomical, yet big and sturdy enough to contain all the drilling
dido, we also have reservoirs that are atypical for the Gulf of and production equipment we needed to develop the field.”
Mexico. Because of low reservoir pressures and the variety The Perdido concept design team wanted a central
of our target zones, Perdido requires a lot of wells.” platform with full drilling and production capability onboard.
There are up to 35 wells in the Perdido development Before Perdido, the world’s deepest water depth for such
plan. Twenty-two are directly under the spar. A conventional a platform was 6,300 feet, but several emerging technolo-
deepwater production system would require 22 risers with all gies, including direct vertical access to the wells (DVA) and a
their associated bulk and weight. subsea boosting system allowed the engineering and design
“Economically, we just couldn’t make that work,” Snyder team to greatly reduce the size of the structure.
says. “It is very expensive to solve the technical problems “We needed to be able to pump liquids from the seabed
and operate things at extreme water depths. Beyond that, to the surface,” Snyder explains. “In shallower waters,
if you build a mammoth structure, the cost of construction that’s not a big issue, but when the water is a mile and a
becomes prohibitive. For Perdido, we wanted a new kind of half deep, it takes a lot of pressure to move fluids up to the
deepwater platform, one that was light enough to be eco- platform. Most new reservoirs have enough internal pressure
to overcome the hydrostatic pressure above them and push
fluids up the wellbore to the surface. Perdido’s reservoirs are
relatively low pressure, so we needed a boosting system.”
The other significant challenge was the potential of form-
ing hydrates – an icy mix of water and natural gas that can
easily clog flowlines. The solution was to separate gas and
liquids on the seabed, then let the subsea boosting system
push them to the surface, each through different lines.
With that capability, the design team could comingle fluids
from all the wells on the seafloor, before pumping it to the
surface. It was part of the enabling technology. Instead of 22
production risers from 22 wells, they only needed five, and
Photo provided by Noble Corporation with just five risers, Perdido could be a much smaller platform.

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As Perdido’s decision execu-

tive during the critical offshore
installation phase, Lisa
Johnson was responsible for
integrated project delivery.

TARGET ZERO “This is a whole

From the beginning, the safety of the workforce was a critical new regime for the
design element for the engineering team. No project manag- Gulf of Mexico,”
ers want to have injuries on the job, but the remoteness of the Snyder says. “Not
Perdido development presented some unique challenges. only have we paved
“We started off in 2005 with the idea that Safety was the way by solving the
the most important thing we would do on Perdido,” Snyder biggest problems of
recalls. “We would get it right. We would be a world leader an ultra-deepwater de-
in safety, and we put tremendous effort into that.” velopment, it is equally
The design team named their safety program “Target Zero.” important that we’ve
The core concept was that if you could convince someone figured out how to pro-
to work safely for just one shift, then it was possible to do the duce from the Lower Tertiary. The whole industry is watching
entire project that way. In mid-November, 2009, Perdido to see how we do, because many development companies
reached the milestone of 10 million man hours without a lost- see this as the next big opportunity.”
time injury. Even with the wide range of complex operations, “While the project had its share of inevitable setbacks,
high-risk activities and fabrication sites around the world, by the team’s response was outstanding, says Lisa Johnson, who
the time Perdido reached first oil on March 31, 2010, there was the decision executive during offshore instllation. “There
were still no known lost-time incidents. was always a healthy balance of support and challenge
“Of all our accomplishments,” Snyder says, “I am most throughout the team, as well as with our Perdido partners.”
proud of our safety performance. It shows the leadership Particularly effective was an all-team meeting with the
and commitment of our teams to go after safety and make it Perdido contractors. Held early in the project, it allowed
the most important thing we do.” everyone involved to review various aspects of their work
and to identify any significant conflicts.

BUILDING ON A STRONG PARTNERSHIP

“I’ve dealt with a lot of partnerships in my career,” says
Bill Townsley, Perdido Development venture manager. “The
deepwater environment is no place to be arrogant about
your skills. We have two experienced partners on this proj-
ect, so one of the things we’ve done is to be very open and
transparent with our design and planning. The cooperation
between partners has helped to keep us on track and deliver
this project on time.”

A NEW FRONTIER
The Perdido project is remarkable for its own technical Bill Townsley,
achievements, but there is an even wider significance for the Perdido
Development
petroleum industry. The Paleogene-era rock that Perdido is
venture manager
tapping is older and deeper that other producing formations
that have made the region so prolific. Other operators in the
gulf have also made recent discoveries in the Lower Tertiary,
but Shell is the first to develop it.

S T R A T E G I C D E V E L O P M E N T O N T H E O U T E R E D G E 5

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SHELL PERDIDO

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THE SUBSEA SYSTEM

Two related technologies make the subsea portion of the with gravities from 17 to 40 degrees API. Gas volumes at
Perdido project viable: the subsea boosting system, and a the mud line are quite large, so multiphase pumps would be
surface blowout preventer for drilling and completing the di- too inefficient to consider. Typical gas/oil ratios (GORs) at
rect vertical access subsea wells. A total of 22 wells will be Perdido range from 500 scf to 2,000 scf per barrel of oil.
drilled from the Perdido spar and another 13 will be offset Even if multiphase pumps could be used initially, they would
wells with tiebacks to the host platform. become less efficient or cease to function altogether as the
The final development plan may seem like an obvious GORs changed over time. Electric submersible pumps in the
solution now, but there were many questions early on, and wellbore were also ruled out, because of the huge cost of
some of the technology is being used for the first time. G. T. Ju, replacing them in the future.
Subsea Team lead, joined the Perdido project at the beginning Ju’s team settled on a third option, one that had never
of 2003, almost immediately after results came in from the been tried before: subsea separators, plus subsea boosting
discovery well. pumps to get liquids to the surface.
“Very early in the project we recognized that with these “We’re using a two-phase separation system on the
water depths, low reservoir temperature and pressure, and seabed, flowing gas to the
the huge uncertainty of the reservoir’s deliverability, that if the surface and pumping only
project were to go forward, we had to minimize the risk,” Ju the liquids,” Ju says. “That
says. “We needed some sort of subsea boosting or artificial gives us two advantages.
lift technology to put energy into the flow system.” One is energy efficiency, but
The team’s next decision was which technology to use. it also extends the lives of the
Was it best to put electric submersible pumps (ESPs) in the pumps. If the equipment is
wells, or better to use multiphase pumps on the riser base to just moving liquid, it is much
move all the fluids and gas to the surface? better than pumping a mix of
The Perdido development consists of three main oil- liquids and gas.”
bearing reservoirs, each with distinctly different fluid The second advantage to
G. T. Ju, Subsea Team lead
properties. The oil ranges from moderately heavy to light, a two-phase system is that it

T H E S U B S E A B O O S T I N G S Y S T E M 7

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SHELL PERDIDO

takes out the subsurface uncertainty. “This is a new reservoir,” All but the uppermost portion of the separator is inserted
Ju says. “There is no producing analog to tell us how the into the seabed. A 1,600-horsepower electric submersible
gas/oil ratio is likely to change over time. By separating pump (ESP) is deployed inside, near the bottom of the verti-
gas from the rest of the produced fluids on the seabed, we cal caisson.
don’t have to worry about the potential changes over the life At the top of the separator, just above the mud line, sits a
of the reservoir, or the differences between our three main 2-story tall inlet assembly. Above that, a 17-foot-long reducer
reservoirs. Subsea boosting, with two-phase separation and brings the diameter of the pipe down to 14 inches, matching
single-phase pumping became our obvious choice.” the diameter of the riser. From there, the riser extends some
7,800 feet to the Perdido spar.
HARDWARE ON THE SEABED Each caisson’s inlet assembly connects to the host through
The core of Perdido’s subsea boosting system (SBS) is a a top-tensioned riser that contains three separate flow paths.
cluster of five vertical gas-liquid cylindrical cyclonic (GLCC) The outer annulus of the riser carries the relatively dry gas.
separators. The body of each separator is a heavy pipe, 35 The middle annulus carries produced liquids, which are
inches in diameter and 350 feet long. Production from all of pushed to the surface by the power of the ESP at the bottom
the wells comingles in these vessels. The primary function of of the separator caisson, and a small diameter pipe in the
the caissons is to provide a surge volume for the separated center carries liquid sent down from the surface to prime and
production liquids. The passive system relies on centrifugal cool the submersible pump. The 14-inch riser allows direct
force to separate gas and liquids as they swirl down the vertical access to the boosting pump at the bottom of the
outer walls of the caisson. caisson.

SUBSEA TREES AND MANIFOLDS

With the water depth at Perdido approaching 10,000 feet,
using Shell’s existing first generation standard tree system was
not an option, since it is designed for water no deeper than
7,500 feet. In planning Perdido’s subsea trees, the team
also wanted to update the seals, actuators, materials and
connectors, and to be able to accommodate a wider range
of deployment and intervention options.
The new standard tree system they developed incorpo-
rates Shell’s experience with previous deepwater installations
as well as some recent innovations. The new system is rated
for 10,000 psi and 10,000 feet of water depth. It has a
retrievable flow module that contains both a multiphase flow
meter and a choke. The tree’s modular design allows it to be
configured for the requirements of the field, and its compact,
lightweight components make it easier to service and deploy
than previous systems.

Shell’s ultra-deepwater trees

are rated for 10,000 psi and
10,000 ft of water depth.

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Load-out of the subsea manifolds

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Subsea layout below the Perdido spar

All of Perdido’s wells are being drilled either from the BOP is a custom made 16-3⁄4-inch unit with a rating of 5,000
spar itself, or from moored or dynamically-positioned floaters psi. It is connected to a top-tensioned, high pressure drilling
with single or dual derrick systems. That difference in drilling and completion riser (DCR), which was also designed spe-
systems led to some variety in the way the subsea trees were cifically for the Perdido project.
installed. “Unlike surface BOP operations from floaters, no subsea
isolation device is needed on the bottom of the riser, because
THE SURFACE BOP the spar’s rig is considered to be a permanently moored
The idea of using wet-tree wells with direct vertical access structure,” Ju says. “The DCR is designed to stay connected if
from the spar helped minimize the size of the host platform. the rig has to be abandoned for a hurricane.”
All of the drilling, completion and subsequent maintenance of For most drilling and completion activities, well opera-
the spar’s 22 wells can be completed using the onboard rig. tions are similar to dry-tree DVA wells. The most significant
The rig is held in a fixed position over a well by adjusting the challenge in completing subsea wells with a surface BOP is
mooring lines on the spar. Tension on the mooring lines can running and landing the subsea tubing hanger with a subsea
be adjusted to reposition the rig over a different slot. isolation device.
This system is significantly less expensive than using a 5th “We had to address three main issues,” Ju says. “First,
generation floating rig to complete and service the wells. the umbilical lines required double terminations if a surface
Perdido’s onboard capability includes a custom well- spanner joint was used. Second, we needed a way to pres-
head, riser and blowout preventer (BOP) system. The surface surize the annulus for testing, and third, we needed to reduce

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the size and weight of the conventional installation and work-

over control systems (IWOCS) umbilical for this water depth.”
The Perdido solution is a hybrid configuration in which
the IWOCS umbilical is replaced by two six-line flat packs
for the hydraulic functions, and a single line for the electrical
connection. The lines are run with the landing string, just as
the control lines are run with the production tubing, so it is
not necessary to have a surface spanner.

MATURING THE TECHNOLOGY

Ju’s subsea team had a lot of confidence that their system
would work, but the fact was, no one had tried it before.
“It was a major challenge,” Ju recalls. “We had to show
senior management across three major oil companies, Shell,
BP and Chevron, that the whole investment could hinge on
the success of this technology. At this very early phase, when
we really didn’t have a project yet, we were asking for
Installing an inlet assembly

Subsea manifold

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SHELL PERDIDO

Installing a subsea
manifold

several million dollars to mature the technology and convince partners the confidence to invest in the new technology, even
managers that subsea boosting and separation would work.” without a pilot installation in the field.
With a test budget approved, the subsea team devised a “With the integration of wet-tree DVA and subsea boost-
technology maturation process to prove that the system could ing, we were able to reduce the diameter of the spar from
function in 8,000 feet of water. A pilot test at that water depth 180 feet down to 118 feet,” Ju says. “That directly affected
was out of the question, so the team did the next best thing. the cost of the spar and the weight of the topsides. Not only
“We convinced the venture that subsea boosting and were we able to mitigate the subsurface risk, we reduced
caissons with ESPs would be a good thing to do,” Ju says. the total project cost. We took some risk with new technol-
“And to demonstrate the system, we built a flow loop at ogy, but in reality, subsea boosting and separation was the
Shell’s Gasmer research facility in Houston.” enabler that allowed us to do this project.”
“At the Gasmer facility, we built a full scale flow loop of
everything that would be below the inlet assembly head,” INSTALLING THE SBS
Ju says. “We could generate 55 million scf of nitrogen and The subsea team grew to 60 people during 2008 and 2009,
pump 30,000 barrels of mineral oil through a system to the peak of the installation phase. The effort – concentrated
simulate the concept.” around the Perdido hub – required lots of coordination.
That allowed the subsea team to see how the separator “We had to work between two major activities,” Ju ex-
caisson worked, how the controls worked and if the system plains. “One was the installation of the spar, because some
was efficient. The Gasmer facility was used extensively for or our equipment had to go in first. The other major activity
more than a year. Practice sessions taught operators how to that competed with our portion of the installation was the top-
run the system and how to start the electric submersible pump sides, because we could not complete the subsea work until
using additional fluid from the spar. The testing, which was the topsides was in place. That made the subsea installation
completed in 2007, gave Ju’s team and managers of the JV a two-stage process.”

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FLOW ASSURANCE That became an increasing challenge during 2007 and

The inherent challenges of Perdido, including the extreme 2008.
water depth, low reservoir energy and challenging project “We were scheduling everything around two major activi-
economics, meant that flow assurance was critical. To un- ties. In an overheated market, you need to deliver in time,
derstand the potential problems, the subsea team analyzed otherwise you miss the installation window. We constantly
well fluid samples and conducted thermal-hydraulic studies at juggled the installation schedule. Nothing could happen
the onset of the project feasibility assessment. That allowed too early or too late. We had to manage the whole vendor
key flow-assurance considerations to be incorporated into community to deliver our equipment in time, and that became
the appraisal well campaign, then carried over into concept quite an art.”
selection and project execution. Unlike the spar construction, the Subsea team served
as the general contractor for the project manager. As such,
WORKING IN A HOT MARKET the team itself managed its portion of the project and is-
The Perdido development was sanctioned at the end of sued more than 100 purchase orders to different vendors.
2006. Soon after, the oil and gas market picked up and it The largest of the purchase orders went to FMC, which
became difficult to get equipment and to find skilled people provided the trees, manifolds, tie-in kits and some of the
to work on the project. subsea boosting equipment. Heerema installed the flowlines
“Quality was a major issue,” Ju says. “Everybody in the and manifold, and many smaller vendors provided other
industry was rushing. It was hard to get products delivered equipment and things such as chemicals and services during
on time.” commissioning.
“The team effort it took to deliver such a challenging
project in that kind of tight market condition was amazing,”
Ju says. “We also had a great relationship with Chevron and
BP. Although the JV partners were not required to contribute
directly to the design and fabrication, installation or commis-
sioning of the subsea equipment, they were very supportive.
They came to our subsea team meetings and offered their
candid opinions. It has been a constructive relationship and
a very friendly working environment.”

CONTINUOUS FOCUS ON SAFETY

Everyone who has been associated with Perdido comments
on the lasting culture of safety it has fostered. Those who
have been with the project the longest add that the continuity
of the personnel – some who were involved from the discov-
ery well through final commissioning – has also contributed
to the project’s success.
“I’ve had people who have been with me for six years,”
Ju says, “and I have been with the project for more than
seven years. Our project manager, Dale Snyder, set an
almost impossible safety goal, but through the entire subsea
construction and commissioning we had only one recordable
Subsea tree incident. That kind of performance is impressive.”

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SHELL PERDIDO

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BUILDING THE WORLD’S

DEEPEST DRILLING AND
PRODUCTION PLATFORM

Shell has more than 30 years of success in the design, capacities of the available transport and installation ves-
fabrication, installation and operation of the world’s most ad- sels. To complete Perdido, Shell needed two of the largest
vanced deepwater systems. Perdido is Shell’s first spar host installation vessels in the world: Hereema’s Balder for the
drilling and production platform – a system selected because spar and Thialf for lifting and setting the single-lift topsides.
of the extreme water depths, the nature of the reservoirs and Hereema’s project team, based in Leiden, The Netherlands,
remoteness of the field. worked directly with Shell’s transportation and installation
Technip was announced as the spar and mooring team in Houston.
contractor in April 2006 and began working on a detailed “On the construction side, we selected Technip based in
design in June. An engineering, procurement and construc- part on its previous experience building spars,” says Curtis
tion (EPC) contract was awarded to Technip USA in Novem- Lohr, project manager for the Perdido spar and mooring
ber 2006 for the design, fabrication and dry transport of the system. “That saved considerable time and expense on the
spar and mooring system for the Perdido development. front end, because we were able to use Shell’s extensive
For efficiency in building the overall team, the spar and deepwater project experience to build on Technip’s previous
mooring leads for Shell shared office space with Technip’s spar experience.”
project management, with integrated teams working at both Perdido was Technip’s 14th
companies’ offices in Houston, Texas. The spar fabrication spar project. When fabrication
site team was based at Technip’s fabrication yard in Pori, began, the same Technip yard
Finland. Senior managers from both companies attended was completing another spar for
an alignment workshop in October 2006, and subsequent one of Shell’s partners on Perdido.
team-building sessions in Finland and Houston helped estab- “We chose a design
lish an excellent working relationship from the start. similar to what Technip had built
Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) was named in the before,” Lohr says. “We made
spring of 2006 as the primary transportation and installa- modifications, of course, but Curtis Lohr, Spar and
Mooring System lead
tion contractor. It was a critical step, because the finished part of my job was to balance
spar and topsides would have to be designed to fit the which of those changes added

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SHELL PERDIDO

value to the project and which of them were just prefer-

ences. It was also very helpful to see another spar taking
shape in the yard.”

OFF TO A GOOD START

Shell team leads began working with their Technip counter-
parts early on to establish goals for project execution and
safety. Eight months before the EPC contract was awarded,
Shell and Technip held their first team-building meeting in
Finland, then met there again four months later. The effort
to develop working relationships at the site continued when
a portion of Shell’s site team moved to Finland two months
before the contract was awarded.
Senior managers went to Finland one month before the
contract was awarded, again to make sure that everyone
was aligned on safely delivering the project goals. Shell
employed a larger site team than Technip had traditionally
worked with, including a significant team of inspectors and
safety coaches. The continual presence of the safety coaches
at Technip’s yard helped ensure that the priority on safety
was maintained while delivering on the challenging con-
struction schedule. This proactive approach included safety
events and demonstrations to reinforce that safety was the
top priority and that “goal zero – one shift at a time” was
achievable.
The Shell site team at Technip grew to 14 members. Al-
though that’s small by Shell standards, it was the largest client
team that Technip had ever seen.
“The key was convincing Technip that we were not on
site to police the work,” Lohr recalls. “We were there as part-
ners working toward common goals. We brought the best
Shell had to offer in terms of our construction and deepwater
experience, and I think that the team, working together in
Finland and in Houston, delivered a superior product.”

THE SPAR
Perdido’s spar includes a cylindrical upper section (the hard
tank), a trussed midsection of tubular legs and braces, and
an enclosed octagonal bottom section (soft tank) to contain
the fixed ballast. The outer diameter of the hard tank is 118
feet (36 meters), which is small enough to allow offshore
installation of the topsides by the Thialf, yet large enough to

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Welders cut the first piece of steel on November 1,

2006, right on schedule, but in January Technip managers
told Shell that they needed to take some of the engineers and
fabrication people off the project for a while so they could
finish the other spar in the yard. The loss of the engineering
staff was especially bad news, because their work has to be
done before procurement and fabrication. Any delays were
critical, since offshore transport and installation vessels are
scheduled more than a year in advance.
“Even though fabrication started on time, the manpower
needed was reduced,” Dixon says. “Technip employed a
local engineering company that it had worked with before
and knew the process. Technip also brought a crew of 40
fabricators from Poland to the yard.”
The extra engineering staff and the fabrication crew
helped make up for lost time in the yard, but it was difficult to
keep up. To avoid any safety issues caused by a difference
provide the required buoyancy and to contain the platform’s in language, the Polish crew worked on specific areas of
various liquid storage tanks. the spar in a separate portion of Technip’s yard but used the
The spar is 555 feet (169 meters) tall, with a draft of same HSE management plan.
505 feet (154 meters) and gross weight of 20,000 tons
(18,143 tonnes). Strakes around the circumference of the
hard tank are standard equipment on deepwater spars. Paul Dixon,
Strakes help keep the platform from oscillating by disrupting senior staff
the flow of ocean currents around the spar. engineer, oversaw
construction of the
HANDS-ON MANAGEMENT IN FINLAND Perdido spar in
“One of my goals was to meet everybody who worked Finland.
on the spar,” says Paul Dixon, who was part of the spar,
mooring and riser design effort since 2003, and moved to
Finland in 2006 to oversee construction of the spar. Dixon
even learned to speak the Finnish language. “That actually worked to our advantage,” Dixon says.
“There were about 1,700 people at the yard every day “The Polish workers were good, so we’d tell the Technip
and I met as many of them as I could,” he says. “I wanted to guys, ‘Look how clean their area is.’ Later, we’d go to the
talk to people and make sure they knew me. I wasn’t critical Polish workers and say, ‘Look how well the Finnish workers
of their work, I just wanted them to know that I did not want are doing.’ Everyone knew we were teasing, but it helped to
to meet their families for the wrong reasons.” set up some friendly competition.”
One of the biggest challenges in building the spar was
a delay in the project ahead of Perdido. The oil market was SAFETY IN THE FAST LANE
booming, so every shipyard was busy. A huge new power Of all the Shell-sponsored safety promotions at the Technip
plant was also under construction just 60 miles south of the yard, one stood out. It was the day that the popular Finnish
Technip yard, so skilled workers were hard to find. race car driver, Kimi Räikkönen, came to visit.

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SHELL PERDIDO

A CONTINUING JOBSITE PRESENCE

Shell’s 14-member spar fabrication team let people know
they were interested in the work. At least once a week, two
site team members would visit on one of the three shifts. Their
primary role was to show Shell’s presence in the Technip
yard. Observations were written down after each tour.
“That was when those of us on the site team really got to
know each other well,” Dixon says. “The third shift was the
hardest. It was from 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. These were
different hours than the site team would typically work and
we would go in pairs to watch out for one another. We
Formula 1 race car driver Kimi Räikkönen didn’t want to ignore the night shift and all the hard work
being performed.”
“First thoughts of the event were in October 2006 and In April 2007, large individual segments of the spar were
we worked until August of 2007 to make this happen,” Dix- being assembled, and it started to look like a spar. By then,
on says. “At the time of Kimi’s visit, he was three wins away workers had logged some half-million safe hours on the job.
from winning the 2007 world championship in Formula 1.” One worker was injured, resulting in the first recordable. The
Räikkönen, who was driving that season for Ferrari and contractor was not sure what Shell’s initial response to the re-
sponsored by Shell, is a national hero in Finland. Dixon cordable incident would be, but Dixon decided it was time to
knew he would draw a big crowd. celebrate the project’s good safety results to date. T-shirts were
Dixon wanted something special, so he met with Räik- printed and Shell provided meals for all three shifts. Site team
könen before the event and spoke about it not being about members greeted workers and thanked them for the 500,000
Technip or Shell or Ferrari that day. “On that day, I wanted safe hours so far, and encouraged them to try for 1 million.
him to talk to the people of Finland about safety. They love Between management, engineering and fabrication, the
him. They respect him. I knew they would listen.” total workforce reached about 1,700 people at more than
Dixon asked the racer to talk about his job, how he a dozen sites throughout Finland. Site team members visited
prepares for a race, his personal safety gear and the safety them all. One major fabricator was 8 hours away from the
features of his car. “I asked him to show the people how site team’s base in Pori.
much he focuses on safety. I wanted the
people to see that it’s the same thing we
do here.”
That inspirational message, coming
from such a respected figure, captured ev-
eryone’s attention. About 1,200 attended
the event, and most went home thinking not
just about safety on the job, but also safety
in their personal lives and the lives of those
around them.
“If there was a special achievement in
that event, that was it, Dixon says. “I think
we had a lot of fun and changed a lot of
lives that day.” Regular site team visits helped keep the focus on safety.

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SHELL PERDIDO

Managers from the various subcontractors also visited the seabed by 18-foot diameter suction piles that range from 87
Technip yard. to 103 feet in length.
“We had a Contractor Day early on,” Dixon says. “We Hereema’s SSCV Balder entered the Perdido field on June
took them all around the Technip yard to show them what we 20, 2008, to install the first cluster of suction piles. Each pile
were doing, how we were doing it and why. Then we lis- was individually upended, lifted overboard and lowered to
tened to what the subcontractors were doing well and why. the seafloor, where it was oriented correctly before being
It was the first time that had been done, and I believe that allowed to penetrate the seabed under its own weight a few
it contributed to the project’s outstanding safety record. The feet into the mud. A remotely-operated underwater vehicle
Perdido development has logged more than 10 million man (ROV) was used to close the water relief valves at the top of
hours without a lost-time incident. About a quarter of it came the pile, then to apply suction until the pile reached its target
from the spar fabrication site, and I’m very proud of that.” penetration. The water depth of the mooring piles ranged
from about 7,600 to 8,600 feet. The installation of pile P6
SAIL-AWAY at 8,631 feet set a new world record for the deepest perma-
Fabrication at the Technip yard continued from November nent mooring pile.
2006 until May 2008. After more than 2.3 million man Since polyester rope is more difficult to handle in a
hours of work without a lost-time incident, the spar was winch, the ends of each mooring line are fitted with lengths
skidded aboard the semi-submersible Dockwise Shipping’s of chain. On the seabed, ground chains and mooring shack-
Mighty Servant 1 in Pori, Finland on May 27 for the 8,200- les connect the polyester mooring lines to the suction piles.
mile (13,200-kilometer) dry transport to Kiewit Offshore At the surface, dedicated chain jacks on the platform control
Services in Ingleside, Texas. tension on the lines. Perdido employs an “active” mooring
“That was an emotional day,” Dixon says. “Watching system, which means that the mooring lines can be pulled in
the spar sail away was like watching your child go off to or let out to reposition the spar over drilling locations on the
college.” seabed, reaching any point within an area roughly 350 feet
The spar arrived at Kiewit’s yard on June 19, 2008, for in diameter.
final outfitting. Kiewit also built the Perdido topsides at the
Ingleside fabrication yard. The spar spent a month and a INSTALLING THE SPAR
half at the Ingleside yard in preparation for offshore installa- From Ingleside to the field took two days, and from the mo-
tion. The spar sailed from the yard on August 8 for the final ment the spar arrived on August 10, 2008, the activity was
150-mile wet tow to its final location in the Perdido field. nonstop.
All eyes were on the weather until August 18, when the
THE MOORING SYSTEM spar became storm-safe with three mooring lines attached
All of Shell’s previous deepwater mooring systems have used The remaining six mooring lines were installed by August
steel mooring lines; Perdido is the first to use mooring lines 29, just in time for Hurricane Gustav, a storm that briefly
that are primarily polyester. “We’ve used polyester rope
before on drilling and storage structures, but this is Shell’s first
application for a permanent deepwater drilling and produc-
tion system,” Lohr says. “The 9-inch polyester lines are much Bert Ulbricht,
lighter than steel, so our decision to use them greatly reduced Construction lead
the payload requirements of the floating structure.”
Perdido’s mooring system consists of nine anchor lines
that average more than two miles in length. The nine taut
lines are oriented in a 3x3 pattern, and are anchored to the

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Once the spar reached Tugs pulled plugs on the With the water ballast hoses
the Perdido site, it was soft tank at the bottom of from the Balder connected to the
inspected for damage, the spar, allowing it to spar, a sequence of tanks were
then brought to the slowly fill with seawater filled to continue the uprighting
stern of the Balder to until the incline of the spar of the spar. Some 3.5 days after
connect the water bal- reached approximately operations began, the spar was
last hoses. 15 degrees.” upright in the water ready for the
mooring lines to be connected.

interrupted operations at the spar, but did not produce any One of the Offshore Coordination Team’s key responsi-
damage. “We spent a considerable amount of time evaluat- bilities was to manage all of the tugs, barges, supply boats,
ing the risks of installing the spar during hurricane season,” umbilical vessels, the dive vessel, support vessels, anchor
says Bert Ulbricht, Perdido Construction lead and Offshore handlers, seismic vessels, and the heavy-lift and drilling ves-
Coordination Team (OCT) lead. “We had statistical weather sels working in the field. The goal was to coordinate all the
data, weather windows and flow charts for every step of the offshore activities, from dockside sailaway to first production,
offshore operation, starting from when we began pre-setting and to manage and resolve any vessel conflicts that might
the first three mooring lines offshore until the time we had all impact the offshore schedule.
nine of them connected to the spar.” “The team was a huge success,” Ulbricht says. “During
Ulbricht, who joined the project in late 2004 during the two years of offshore operations, we had between 90
the concept development phase, was initially responsible and 100 different vessels that were in the field at one time or
for the topsides fabrication, offshore installation, offshore another. Throughout the installation of the spar and topsides,
hookup and offshore coordination, but as the project pro- there were no marine vessel safety incidents, and we had
gressed toward the offshore phases, the OCT became his very little standby time for any of the vessels waiting for
primary focus. another vessel to complete its work.”

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THE SINGLE-LIFT TOPSIDES

The Perdido team faced a tough decision. A conventional

topsides design required a series of modules that would
“One of the remarkable
have to be fabricated onshore, then lifted onto the spar and
things about the Perdido
integrated offshore, but what if the team could constrain the
development is that the
design enough that it could be built and lifted in one piece?
companies that have worked
They already knew that Perdido would be a wet tree DVA
on this project have turned in
spar, and were convinced that a single-lift topsides would
record safety performances,”
be safer to build and less expensive than a modular system.
says Robert Paterson, vice
The trick was giving the smaller topsides all the capability it
president Upsteam Major
needed to produce the field.
Projects, Americas.
“For a development this size we would probably need
three modules, so our first big goal was to get the topsides in
one piece and keep the weight under about 10,000 tons,”
says topsides lead, Kurt Shallenberger. “We designed the That was unique. The more familiar way for engineers to
deck in 2005 to match the lift capability of Heerema’s Thialf work is to let the facility they’re designing grow to the size
semi-submersible crane vessel (SSCV). Everything we wanted it needs to be. Early weight studies suggested that Perdido’s
to put on the Perdido spar had to fit within that box.” topsides needed to be several modules. Technical bench-
marking studies showed that BP’s design for Horn Mountain
had the best function-to-weight performance of any spar built
so far, so with the assistance of BP, Chevron and Alliance
Kurt
Shallenberger, Engineering, the Perdido design team evaluated Horn Moun-
Topsides lead tain’s design and operating performance.
“That led us to the lightweight Perdido concept,” Shallen-
berger says. “We selected Alliance as the engineering contrac-
tor because of its previous experience with Horn Mountain.”

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BUILT FOR SAFETY

Health, Safety and Environmental (HSE) needs drove the de-
sign of Perdido’s topsides. One of noticeable features is the
2.5-bar blast wall that separates the crew quarters from the Randall Hance,
drilling and processing equipment, but Perdido also has the structural verification
most aggressive fire suppression and gas monitoring systems engineer, was on
of any offshore platform. It is a reflection of how the industry the spar site team in
in general is maturing in terms of fire and explosion protec- Finland.
tion. Planning runs the gamut from how to prevent a release
and ignition, to how to mitigate the impact if you do have a
fire or explosion, and how best to evacuate the platform. “Integrating those systems was one of the most
“Industry has learned a lot, particularly since the 1988 complex things we’ve done on this project,” Shallenberger
Piper Alpha fire in the North Sea,” Shallenberger says. “If there says. “From a topsides perspective, we are looking at
is a gas release, for example, we now have sophisticated recovering oil and gas from a collection of low-energy
models to help us understand where the gas will go. Perdido reservoirs.”
has more gas detection than any other platform, probably by a The low energy reservoirs demand low boarding pres-
factor of five. If we were to detect gas, we can quickly depres- sures to be able to flow at reasonable rates. Gas flows to
sure the whole facility and divert the gas to our flare system.” the surface against 460 psi, while oil is pumped from the
The Perdido design team did extensive modeling of the seafloor against 160 psi at the surface. Elsewhere in the
onboard firefighting capability. Perdido’s twin 5,000 gpm Gulf of Mexico, deepwater wells flow on their own. On an-
firewater pumps and automatic foam system is the most other platform, production might come it at 1,600 psi, which
extensive fire protection layout of any Shell platform in the is normally enough to move fluids through the export lines to
Gulf of Mexico. One revolutionary feature is that the system sales. Since Perdido is so far from the nearest sales line and
is automatic. Rather than having a water deluge system the reservoirs are low pressure to begin with, the export pres-
and a supplemental foam system, both manually triggered, sure from the spar is 3,200 psi.
Perdido’s automatic fire suppression system covers the entire “It takes a lot of horsepower to make that happen,”
platform, including the heliport. Shallenberger says. “It helps that the liquids and gas are
“Computer modeling also helped us determine, if there separated on the seabed. On the topsides we separate the
were an explosion, what kind of overpressure to expect at oil and water. The gas and oil are exported via two export
various points throughout the facility,” Shallenberger says. pipelines, and the produced water is cleaned and dis-
“Blast walls shield not only the crew quarters, but also the charged overboard. We also have a waterflood, but for that
safety equipment, work areas and evacuation routes. There we use seawater.”
are no production offices in the process areas, and the
Incident Command Center is adjacent to the control room for FABRICATION SITES
real-time feedback. We spent a lot of time in the screening Steel and equipment for the Perdido topsides came from
process to make sure that in this compact space, our people around the world. What designers called the box – the
are well protected.” structure that was designed to fit the lifting capabilities of
the Thailf SSCV – was built at the Kiewit yard in Ingleside,
INTEGRATING THE SUBSEA SYSTEMS Texas, just across the bay from Corpus Christi. Ingleside is
Perdido’s subsea system, which includes separation and the same facility that completed the spar in 2008. The crew
boosting, direct vertical access wells and tiebacks to satellite quarters were built at Delta Engineering on the Houston
wells, is a first of its kind. Ship Channel.

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WORKING THROUGH STORMS

Katrina, the most expensive hurricane in U.S. history, made
landfall in southeast Louisiana on August 29, 2005. Much
of the Perdido team, then in the early stages of design and
engineering, was displaced for six months. It was the first big
storm to disrupt the project, but not the last.
“When Katrina wrecked the city and Shell’s offices in
New Orleans, we moved the Perdido team to Houston,”
Shallenberger says. “We began the front-end engineering
and design (FEED) process while we were displaced. That
was a big issue for our folks, traveling back and forth, fixing
our homes on the weekends and coming back to Houston
during the week.”
Three years later, when Hurricane Ike made a midnight
surge into Galveston Bay and up the Houston Ship Channel,
it passed right over the Delta Engineering (now Delcor USA)
fabrication yard and Perdido’s almost-finished crew quarters.
By early morning, much of Galveston was under water, 90
percent of Houston was without power and 100 miles of
Texas beaches were gone.
“After our experience with Katrina, we were prepared to
deal with Ike,” Shallenberger says. “We knew what prob-
lems the Delta yard was going to have and we responded
right away. Workers were displaced. Most had damage
to their homes and families to care for. Since the Delta yard
itself was heavily damaged, workers were also concerned
about their jobs. We stepped in very quickly to help Delta The design of the topsides depended on the capacity of the heavy
keep their contract labor employed.” lift vessel that would be used to place it on the spar in a single lift.
Shell responded with food, water and fuel. Shell’s emer- Heerema’s Thailf, named after a servant of Thor in Norse mythol-
ogy, is the largest semi-submersible crane vessel in the world.
gency response team even brought in temporary housing
Depending on the configuration of the load and angle of the lift,
and laundry facilities. That support continued for several Thialf’s dual cranes can handle up to 14,200 metric tons.
weeks, until Delta and the rest of Houston got back on its
feet. Fortunately, topsides construction at the Kiewit yard was
far enough down the Texas coast that it was not affected by
Hurricane Ike, and even the crew quarters survived the storm
in relatively good shape.
“Perdido’s living quarters, which were in the yard at the Keith Smith,
time of the storm, were not heavily damaged,” Shallenberger Transportation and
Installation lead
recalls. “Two days before Ike made landfall, we calcu-
lated that if the storm surge came up too high, our quarters
building would float off of its supports. We decided to pull
the doors off the bottom floor so that if the water did rise,

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The topsides design team used extensive 3D modeling

and the input from experienced operations staff to plan
the location of equipment aboard the spar.

HUMAN FACTORS AND MATERIALS HANDLING

As part of Perdido’s safe design, planners used 3D design
tools to make things easier for people to operate, service, re-
it would get in the lower floor and keep our building from pair and move around on the platform. To advise Shell’s own
floating. There would be wind and water damage, but we safety specialists, the design team called in operators with
wouldn’t lose the whole thing.” extensive offshore experience and outside experts in Human
Factors engineering.
AIR LOGISTICS “Every week for two to four hours, we would take a portion
Perdido’s distance from its air and marine base in Galveston, of the facility and walk through it in 3D,” Shallenberger recalls.
more than 200 miles to the north, means that most service “We wanted to understand where things should be: what
boats are 18 hours away, and even a helicopter transport elevation to put a valve, for example, or where to put a pump
takes at least 90 minutes. Shell, and many other operators in and how a person might work on it safely. We made frequent
the Gulf of Mexico are using relatively large helicopters so adjustments so that an operator servicing a piece of equipment
they can evacuate and service their platforms efficiently. would not be leaning over at an awkward angle or trying to lift
These bigger helicopters, like the twin-engine Sikorsky something that was too heavy. We made sure the equipment
S-92, can carry up to 19 passengers, but they need plenty was as accessible as possible and easy to maintain.”
of room and a sturdy landing space. Perdido’s heliport is His team studied Materials Handling in the same way.
large enough for two S-92s. It is built of aluminum, and “We looked at all the equipment and determined how often
equipped with advanced safety features to prevent fuel fires someone might have to work on it. Some things you might
on the helipad. not touch for a year, but other items, such as filters, might be
In case a helicopter goes down nearby, most platforms replaced twice a month. We wanted those items within easy
have small, 6-person Zodiac style boats that can reach reach and the replacement parts easy to move. They can’t
survivors quickly. With larger helicopters serving the platform, be too high or too low.”
however, the topsides designers needed something bigger. If something an operator handles regularly weighs
Perdido now includes a 24-person, enclosed, fast-rescue craft. more than 50 pounds, for example, the topsides designers

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At the peak of
activity, as many as
270 people per shift
worked to complete
the final hookup and
commissioning of the
Perdido spar.
Photo Courtesy of
Hornbeck Offshore
Services.

included room for a cart, dolly or small portable hoist. They “I think we got most of it right,” Shallenberger says. “But
also made sure that the cart or lifting system would have it would have been hard without 3D modeling; it’s a critical
room to move around the platform to reach storage areas or design tool.”
outboard cranes.
Other aspects of Material Handling include structural TRANSPORTATION AND INSTALLATION
engineering. If a 35,000-pound generator has to come out Since the spar had to be towed to site in a horizontal
of it’s place in the middle of the platform, will the pathway configuration, the deck and quarters had to be integrated
out be strong enough to support it? Can it be moved to the offshore. The topsides sailed from Kiewit’s Ingleside yard on
edge of the deck at a point where cranes can reach it? Will March 8, 2009. The topsides lift was completed on March
overhead pipes and trays be in the way? 13, and the living quarters were added three days later. At
Production people were core members of the Human 9,773 short tons, the single-piece lift of the Perdido topsides
Factors and Material Handling reviews. Sometimes they was the heaviest ever in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.
would bring along the mechanic or production operator who
performed a certain operation so they could explain to the A MODEL FOR ULTRA DEEPWATER
designers and engineers just how the operation was done. The design of any deepwater project depends on the
nature of the reservoirs, water depth, number of wells and
a host of other factors. While no single platform can serve
every need, the Perdido concept certainly adds new tools
to the box.
Scott Chitwood, “This is a very repeatable design,” says Dale Snyder,
Topsides Structural Perdido project manager. “We have put a high degree of
lead
functionality into a smaller package than the industry has
seen before. We and our JV partners are looking for ways
to replicate that in future developments. I wouldn’t be sur-
prised if the Perdido concept showed up in other places.”

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SHELL PERDIDO

Illustration courtesy of FMC Technologies

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DEVELOPING THE FIELD

Great White, Silvertip and Tobago – the Perdido develop- drilling from your own platform is less expensive than hiring a
ment’s three fields – contain many producing zones, large deepwater rig. Second, having access to the wells from the
volumes of hydrocarbons in-place, and a considerable host platform allows petroleum engineers to learn more about
amount of uncertainty. the producing zones and to make adjustments as needed.
Much of the oil and gas from Perdido will come from The downside of drilling most of the wells from a central
the Paleogene geological system, which includes the M. location is that the wells are often highly deviated, which
Oligocene Frio Sds., L. Eocene WM12 Sd., and the L. increases their cost.
Paleocene WM50 Sds. Together, these three reservoir zones Perdido’s first satellite wells, of course, were drilled from
are known as the “Lower Tertiary,” reservoir intervals in the mobile offshore drilling units (MODUs), which allowed
Gulf of Mexico that no other operating company in the gulf development of the field to start while the spar was being
has tapped before. Some industry analysts are calling the built. In December 2008, the Noble Clyde Boudreaux set
Eocene the most significant oil trend since the discovery of a world record by completing a production well in 9,356
Prudhoe Bay. feet (2,852 meters) of water. The Boudreaux also pre-drilled
“This is a frontier development, which is exciting, but 22 wells to about 2,500 feet below the mud line at the
risky,” says Vern Eikrem, Perdido’s subsurface team leader. spar location. Two of these wells have been deepened to
“We wanted as much flexibility as possible. We needed a
development plan that would allow us to learn over time.
That information is important not only for us, but for many
other operators in the Gulf of Mexico. What we learn here
Vern Eikrem,
will determine how we and our competitors go after similar Perdido
prospects in the future.” Subsurface
A major part of the current plan is to drill as many of the Team lead
wells as possible from the host platform, rather than from
mobile deepwater vessels that complete the wells, then leave
the drilling location. That offers two main advantages. First,

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SHELL PERDIDO

and pipelines, and the extreme water depth makes drilling

more difficult. We also have a wide range of permeability
in our reservoirs, the reservoir pressure is low, and there are
significant differences in the quality of the oil.”
On the heavy side, the API gravity in the M. Frio at Silver-
tip Field is as low as 16 degrees. The lightest oil runs about
38 degrees in the Great White Field’s WM50A Sd.
“But even with Perdido’s challenges,” Eikrem says, “there
is real growth potential out here because of the size of our
asset. The volume in place is phenomenal. If we can access
it economically, this project will go on for many years.”

EARLY DRILLING PROGRAM

Great White was discovered in 2002, and all of Perdido’s
exploration and appraisal wells were completed by the end
of 2004.
“From that point on, we had all of the pre-drill appraisal
This Great White amplitude and
structure map shows the firm de- information we were going to get,” says Ed Shumilak, Well
velopment wells in green and the Team lead for the spar. “One big question was, where to
contingent wells in yellow. Wells put the spar. We didn’t want it moored in a place where we
highlighted with blue circles are
had to deal with a lot of shallow hazards and subsurface
the six pre-drilled wells.
anomalies, so we picked a likely spot, then brought in a
floating rig to drill about 1,000 feet below the mudline to
the WM12 Sd. The remaining 20 wells will be deepened evaluate the shallow hazards.”
later to their reservoir targets and then completed. The By the end of 2009 the project had eleven exploration
MODU was released from the field in November 2009 after and appraisal wells including two sidetracks. In addition,
completing some 2.2 million man hours without a lost-time eight development wells had been drilled and six had been
incident. Development drilling is continuing now from the completed. The current plan calls for as many as 35 wells,
spar and from Noble’s newest ultra-deepwater rig, the Danny with about two-thirds of them drilled from the spar. The most
Adkins. distant satellite well so far is on the seabed about eight miles
from the host. Development drilling is scheduled to continue
A CHALLENGING ENVIRONMENT beyond 2016.
Great White, the largest of Perdido’s three fields, is one of a
series of very large, heavily-faulted anticlines known as the
Perdido Fold Belt, which is a very different geological envi-
ronment than most of the Gulf of Mexico. A deep submarine Ed Shumilak,
canyon cuts across the field, and one escarpment near the Well Team
spar is nearly 1,500 feet (457 meters) high. The reservoirs lead
are also far from other areas of oil and gas production in
the gulf.
“That is challenging for many reasons,” Eikrem says. “The
rugged sea floor makes it harder to install subsea equipment

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RIGGING UP THE SPAR

“When I first started on this project in January 2003, it was
wide open,” Shumilak says. “We were still trying to figure
out what the reservoirs were like, and how in the world we Erik Sorgard, Well Delivery
Team lead, Perdido Floater
were going to develop something in 8,000 feet of water.” Operations
Shumilak’s group moved from supporting the Subsurface
team to designing the wells, then turned its attention to the
spar’s drilling rig. Weight was always an issue. Putting well-
heads and much of the separation equipment on the seabed
made the spar itself smaller and lighter, but the drilling rig
was going to add a lot of weight that had to be supported “We demobilized the H&P 205 rig from Ram Powell and
by the buoyancy of the spar. took it to the Kiewit Offshore Services yard in Corpus Christi
“Once we decided we were going to put a spar out in February of 2007,” Shumilak says. “There we made some
there, our team began working on specifications for the rig upgrades, because the rig had been working on a TLP. The
and our interface with the spar,” Shumilak says. “We needed motions and stresses are different on a spar, so we needed
a rig powerful enough to drill long, complicated wells, and to modify the rig.”
a spar that could support it. There was a lot of give-and-take, A tension-leg platform, for example, has very little pitch
trying to marry the rig to the spar. We worked extensively and roll, but it will drift on its mooring lines in a slow figure-
with the spar and mooring team and with the topsides team.” eight. Spars don’t drift as much, but they will pitch more
Building a new rig for the spar would be expensive, and than a TLP. To compensate, the H&P 205 rig’s skid beams
as it turned out, unnecessary. Until 2007, the Helmerich & and skid base were modified. There were also structural
Payne (H&P) 205 had been on Shell’s Ram Powell deepwa- upgrades to the rig floor and derrick.
ter platform in the Gulf of Mexico. The rig had a good work- “The H&P 205 was in the Kiewit yard at the same time
ing history and safety performance, and it was no longer they were building our topsides,” Shumilak says. “That was
needed on Ram Powell. convenient, because we could easily go from one to the
other. There was a lot of interface
management.”
The work on the rig was
completed in December 2008, but
it was not taken offshore until July
2009. The H&P 205 installation
was completed the following month
and the rig was immediately put to
work installing Perdido’s first two
subsea separator caissons. Most of
the experienced crew that had oper-

Two horizontal wells in the

Silvertip field set new world
water-depth records.

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SHELL PERDIDO

By the end of 2009,

Shell employees
and contractors had
worked more than
10 million hours
without a lost-time
injury.

ated the H&P 205 on Ram Powell stayed with the rig and
are now on the Perdido spar.
“A number of H&P’s rotating crews also work exclusively
for Shell, and that enhances our safety program,” Shumilak
adds. “Even though they move from one facility to another,
they know our safety culture. They know the way we work
and operate, and they know our foremen and superinten-
dents.”
As the rig neared completion in the Kiewit yard, for
example, new crew members were brought in to work with
the experienced hands. As one of the foremen said, “We’re
building the safety culture here that we’re going to take
offshore with us.”
One popular safety program is called, I stopped a drop!
On a drilling rig that is 15 stories tall, dropped objects are
a serious hazard. A forgotten tool in the derrick or any small
item that vibrates loose can be deadly. As one rig hand
explained, “A one-pound bolt falling from 100 feet up makes
quite a dent.”
Workers who point out such hazards are rewarded, and
One popular and effective safety program with rig construction they have the satisfaction of knowing that they may have
workers stressed the hazards of dropped objects. kept someone else from getting hurt.

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SAFETY OFFSHORE
Working offshore is inherently dangerous. The work is non-
stop. People are moving equipment that weighs tons, yet the
offshore safety record for the Perdido development has been
outstanding.
“I give a lot of credit to the onsite leadership,” Shumilak
says. “Day in and day out, the Shell foremen and all the site
leads stressed safety. They focused on it in their pre-tour meet-
ings in the morning and in all of their pre-job planning. They
talked about safety again at the end of their shift. Safety has
been a continual theme offshore, and it really pays off.”
The way contractors managed their experienced people
is a good example. Anyone who was new to a particular
job – regardless of his or her time in the field – was called
a “short service” employee. The number of short service
employees was kept to a minimum, but when anyone did fall
into that category, mentors were always nearby.

Yvonne Gonzalez,
reservoir engineer,
was responsable for
surveillance planning.

Because of the extreme water depth, remotely-operated vehicles

(ROVs) like this one were used to complete much of the subsea work.

AN INTEGRATED TEAM
From the beginning of the project through the end of 2009, creativity and flexibility were the keys.
Perdido’s contractors and Shell employees logged more than “The solution we have right now didn’t even come up un-
10 million man hours without a lost-time injury. That is just til three months before we went to decision gate three, which
one measure of Perdido’s success. Shumilak credits a strong is System Selection,” Shumilak says. “We had decided to
integrated team and good management. build a spar with DVA dry trees, but artificial lift and flow
“One thing I’m most proud of is the integrated team we assurance were still problem areas. That’s when G.T. Ju, our
had throughout this project, and the freedom that manage- Subsea lead, suggested that we combine the two into a wet-
ment gave us to explore new ideas, ” he says. “We began tree DVA system instead.”
with a whole range of possibilities and solutions, so we The design team thought it over. Management gave them
gathered an experienced team of civil engineers, rig folks, two months to evaluate the idea and make a proposal.
subsea engineers and production specialists. The interface “We rounded up all the project leads, explained the idea
and communication was outstanding. Without that, we and started working,” Shumilak recalls. “We came back,
couldn’t have pulled this off.” pitched our case, and management bought in. The ability to
From the beginning, the team had few constraints. If do that was fantastic. Without it, I’m sure that our final solu-
a project as bold as Perdido was going to be successful, tion would not have been as good.”

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THE EXPORT SYSTEM

The team charged with designing Perdido’s oil export system THE OIL EXPORT CONNECTION
reviewed all their options. There were few. The Perdido spar In shallow water, it is not difficult to tap into a pipeline full
is moored more than 60 miles south of it’s nearest deepwater of oil, it’s called a hot tap, but no one had tried it before in
neighbor. It is 140 miles from the closest shallow-water plat- 4,500 feet of water. While the actual connection took just
form, and the distance in between covers some of the most 17 days to complete, preparing for the job took two and a
challenging terrain in the Gulf of Mexico. half years.
The gas export pipeline was routed to the Seahawk Pipe- “We learned a lot in that time, and the design evolved,”
line (107 miles from Perdido), which was installed with sub- Dupré says. “We applied some new tools, did plenty of
sea facilities for a future connection. The closest oil pipeline, 3D modeling, and practiced using ROV simulators to walk
however, had no such connection. Perdido is 77 miles from through the connection. Because we would be working with
the Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System, commonly called a pipeline that has been in service and the majority of the
HOOPS. Transportation through HOOPS would require the pipeline would still be full of oil, there was no room for error.”
first installation of a diverless, subsea connection. In a more typical subsea repair, the pipeline would be
“The alternative to a HOOPS subsea connection was to shut down, displaced and then cut. Fittings would be placed
build a pipeline twice as long to the nearest platform on which over each end, then divers or an ROV would measure the
risers could be installed,” says Mike Dupré, Pipeline and Flow-
line lead. “Taking advantage of the shorter route to HOOPS
would require development of a new connection concept.”
In a clear break with conventional tie-in projects, a new Mike Dupré,
technique was developed that utilized a truss structure as Pipeline and
Flowline lead
both a foundation and reference system for the installation
of the connection hardware. The foundation enabled the
Perdido export connection to be fabricated onshore and
reassembled on the pipeline. It was the first time that a tie-in
used a common foundation and prefabricated jumper spool.

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Final assembly of the

connection system

Pipeline End
Termination (PLET)
units like this one
were installed at
each end of the
flowline.

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Cutting the pipe

ROV-assisted installation of the flowline jumper Completed HOOPS connection

length and orientation of the jumper needed to connect them. The key component of the new connection system was a
The jumper itself would be fabricated onshore and returned truss-style structure. The structure is 100 feet long, 10 feet tall
to the field for installation. The process would take up to 90 and 40 feet wide, but made of large diameter members so
days. Even if divers could work at the depth of the HOOPS it could be made buoyant in water. Once it was landed over
connection, the pipeline could not be shut down for that long. the pipe, all of the ROV tools and connection components
The engineering solution was to create a single structure, referenced off the base, so every measurement was precise.
a common base that could straddle the pipeline and serve as “Subsea construction was limited to ROVs and ROV-
a positioning reference for tools and the placement of new based tooling,” Dupré explains. “Each tool that was
hardware. deployed was referenced to the foundation. ROV tooling
“We started with a simple, conventional design using was used to remove the pipe seam, remove the coating,
two sleds and a jumper in between,” Dupré says. “There make the cuts and prepare the cut ends. Positioning of the
were certain criteria to follow. We couldn’t release any oil, new connection hardware over the cut pipe ends was also
of course, we could use only proven components, and we referenced to the foundation, allowing precise alignment of
had to minimize the time the pipeline was out of service.” components. When it was time to install the final jumper, we
Another criteria was that the connection could be recon- didn’t have to take measurements and go back to the beach
figured in the future. Designers were looking ahead; Hoover- for fabrication. We knew exactly the length and orientation,
Diana had already been producing for 10 years, so at some so we were able to prefabricate the jumper. This allowed the
point, ExxonMobil might want to disconnect from HOOPS, entire operation, which was completed in March 2009, to
and new operators in the area might need to tie in. be completed while impacting production by only 17 days.”

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A DELICATE TOUCH To thoroughly clean the pipe, the team ran a series of
Since the HOOPS tie-in required placing a large structure four high-tech pigs from the Hoover platform. Radioactive
over an existing pipeline, designers of the system spent much markers inside the pigs allowed the pigs to be tracked and
of their time thinking about how to do it safely. Instead of try- positioned in the line.
ing to lower the heavy truss onto the pipe, the truss itself was Between each pig was a slug of water. Pigs one and two
designed to float. If the truss broke free, the structure was were allowed to pass the point where the pipeline would
going up, not down. be cut, while pigs three and four were stopped before they
As the truss neared its target, ROVs secured clamps to pull reached the cut point. Between pigs two and three, the pipe-
it down over the pipeline. Once the truss was positioned prop- line would contain only water, but no one wanted to take a
erly, the hollow pipes in its frame were progressively flooded chance on spilling any oil.
until the 100,000-pound structure was embedded fully in the “In addition to the positioning of slugs of water and oper-
seabed. Using this stable base, the pipeline was then raised a ational procedures applied at the upstream and downstream
short distance to allow 360-degree access for the tools. risers, we had a contingency repair clamp positioned on the
“So the frame went in first,” Dupré says. “Then we had to pipeline next to the cut point to re-seal the pipe in case there
clean and cut the pipe. We needed to take out a total of 28 was still some oil in the line,” Dupré says. “We also had a
feet from the middle.” pollution dome over the top of the frame, so if we had any
oil, we could capture it and pump it into a subsea reservoir
The HOOPS connection system has four main components: a single for recovery. We had all of these contingencies in place, but
hub assembly affixed to the upstream pipeline, a dual hub as- when we made the cut, nothing came out. The pipeline was
sembly affixed to the downstream pipeline, a foundation that serves
completely clean.”
as the structural support and reference system, and the pipeline
jumper to restore the flow path of the existing pipeline.

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THE FLOWLINE SYSTEM “On the flowline side, we’re having to contend with ex-
As pipeline engineers like to complain, drillers always tremely deep water,” Dupré says. “Some of our flowlines are
manage to find oil in the worst possible place. Perdido is more than 9,700 feet deep. That means some of them are
a prime example. Besides the extreme water depth, there’s shorter than the water depth, which makes it much harder to
a wide and 1,000-foot deep canyon just north of the spar, install the lines from a vessel on the surface. At some point,
between the spar and the export systems. To the south and the entire flowline is hanging below the vessel.”
east, the export and the subsea lines to satellite wells also The flowline system is comprised of production flowlines,
had to avoid steep slopes and chemosynthetic communities water injection flowlines, and utility lines to circulate oil for flow
of environmentally-sensitive creatures. assurance. Each had it own unique design criteria. Insulated
Surveys covered more than 1,000 miles of the sea floor with GSPU (a wet insulation for subsea pipelines), the produc-
to find suitable routes. As a result, all of Perdido’s flowlines tion lines extended to the deepest portions of the field, routed
now run through very narrow corridors. Even the export lines around deep slopes and seafloor features. The water injection
exit the spar to the south, then make a large u-turn before flowlines utilized both an internal and external fusion-bonded
heading north. epoxy (FBE) coating. An alternative to a clad pipe or poly-
mer liners, the internal FBE provides corrosion protection to
prevent potential plugging of the water injectors. Even the small
diameter circulation line provided unique challenges in routing
across a difficult seafloor, where piles had to be installed to
Sally Simmers,
accommodate the multiple spans. In addition, because of instal-
flowline engineer,
managed the lation vessel availability, this majority of the construction was
flowline and completed during an active 2008 hurricane season.
riser installation “The Perdido Pipeline and Flowline Team kept its focus
contracts.
on safety, overcoming many technical challenges to deliver a
robust solution for the Perdido Project,” Dupré says.

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OPERATIONS AND
SURVEILLANCE

Experienced operators practice running a new field long tools. Their job was to detail all the steps needed to start the
before first oil. What’s unique about Perdido is that some of facility and keep it running safely.
the systems – such as the wet-tree direct vertical access wells “They were looking for ways to do things safer, better,
and the subsea separators – are industry firsts. and faster,” Marsden says. “In doing that, the operations
“On Perdido, the design team pulled Operations into people become very familiar with the system.”
every aspect of designing the topsides,” says Chris Smith, Another part of the work was to document all of the
Perdido Operations manager. “At the end of the day, the major health, safety and environmental risks, and to
project had our handprints all over it. Operation’s Arthur demonstrate how they are being managed. That helped
McAlpin was so instrumental in the design of the helideck, the Operations team identify all of the procedures, mainte-
for example, that it’s nicknamed McAlpin International.” nance jobs, inspections, emergency response people and
“Four years before first oil, we began drawing staff from equipment they’d need. The goal was to minimize risks. A
eighteen upstream and downstream locations to build the helicopter landing officer, for example, is responsible for
Perdido Operations team,” Smith says. “As we built the orga- making sure the helipad is clear of debris, that people aren’t
nization, we focused on team building to insure the success on the pad, and that a firefighter is standing by when an
of our operation and the people who run it.” aircraft is coming in.

THE HOME TEAM

“The core of Perdido’s operating staff joined the project during
the front-end engineering and design process,” says Arnold
Chris Smith,
Marsden, who recently took over for Bert Garcia in April
Perdido Operations
2009 as Perdido’s Safety lead. “That team grew over time to manager
the full complement of people it takes to operate the platform.
Twelve months before startup, we were fully staffed.”
Much of their time was spent running simulations, first on
paper, then using advanced simulators and system modeling

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“That’s what we call an HSE Critical Activity,” Marsden

says. “We put someone in charge because it is a major
risk. In this case, we specify that certain duties are critical
to preventing a major helicopter incident. We have identi- Arnold Marsden,
fied hundreds of HSE Critical Activities for different people. Perdido Safety
lead
We make sure they know that what they’re doing not only
protects them, but everyone else on the platform.”
Learning is an ongoing activity, but much of the train-
ing for Perdido’s Operations staff came from being involved
early on with the design and construction of the facilities. By
the time Development was ready to hand over the keys, the TRANSIENT ENGINEERING SIMULATOR
Operations people were all experienced hands. One of the first operating and surveillance tools the Perdido
“The HSE case at the end is kind of anticlimactic, team developed was the Transient Engineering Simulator (TES).
because, quite frankly, all of the operations folks are all very “To understand and model the behavior of our wells,
familiar with the platform, the risks, and their roles in prevent- flowlines, and especially the artificial lift system, we needed
ing accidents,” Marsden says. “Unless there has been a to know Perdido’s fluid properties and flow conditions
last-minute adjustment, even the newest operators have been throughout the system,” says Gill Purdy, Production
on board for some time. Their training was excellent.” Technician.

Illustration courtesy of FMC Technologies

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A typical steady-state multiphase flow analysis yielded

overall pressures and temperatures, which allowed the
Operations team to plan for chemical injection, pipeline
sizes and strategies for insulating the pipe. To predict the
complex multiphase physics of Perdido’s closed-loop artificial
lift system, however, they needed a Transient Engineering
Simulator.
“Our simulator has a very intuitive interface,” Purdy says.
“It is similar to operating the field with a Distributed Control
System (DCS) that is equipped with a human-machine interface
(HMI). Even parameters that are not instrumented in the field,
such as pressure, temperature and liquid holdup throughout the
flowlines and wellbores, are available in the simulator.”
On a PC laptop, the program can simulate three flow-
lines, five caissons with electric submersible pumps (ESPs), up
to five multiphase concentric annular risers and more than 20
wells, all at speeds up to 20 times faster than real time.
“With this tool, we can study the health and behavior
of our ESPs, manage the complex subsea boosting system
and guide ourselves through transient situations, such as
unplanned shutdowns,” Purdy says. “And since the simula-
tor can run in a stand-alone mode, onshore surveillance
support people can use it to optimize procedures as the field
ages, or as a risk-management tool to study rare events such
as aborted startups, interrupted blowdowns and cold-oil
sweeps. Since the interface runs much faster than real time,
it’s easy to investigate many circumstances and responses.”

OPERATIONS TRAINING SIMULATOR

Safety was the guiding principle in Perdido’s design and the
The TES model itself became the calculation engine for an training of its operating staff.
Operator Training Simulator (OTS), which runs the actual
control code on the distributed-control system’s human-ma-
chine interface offshore. That allowed operators to train using ESP SURVEILLANCE TOOLS
realistic scenarios. The accurate physics of the simulator The Subsea Boosting System is one of the major new tech-
helped them test and refine procedures in relation to controls, nologies deployed at Perdido. It consists of a 350-foot-long
instrument readings and human response. cyclonic vertical caisson separator that separates oil and gas
“Our operator training program was a mix of class- on the seabed, directly beneath the spar. A powerful electri-
room theory, guided lectures using the OTS, and hands-on cal submersible pump (ESP) at the bottom of the separator
exercises with one of our quad-monitor workstations,” Purdy pumps liquids to the surface, while the gas flows to the
says. “That realistic interaction generated both a high-quality surface on its own.
learning experience for the operators and an extended The ideal operating condition for the ESP is to maintain
shakedown of the operating system.” the liquid level at a point about half way up the separator

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SHELL PERDIDO

pump curve limits and the impact of changing fluid properties

Jason Gage, on a pump’s performance.”
senior civil To make the IPSM more user friendly for those with less
engineer, was
modeling experience, a model manager was built in Excel
responsible for
the structural software. It allows users to run scenarios in three modes:
design First, with only the reservoirs and wells, second, up to the
verification of caissons and the ESP, and third, with simplified surface
the spar.
facilities on. Results of multiple scenarios are automatically
recorded in the model manager so the user can easily com-
vessel. The ESP’s performance depends on the properties of pare potential gains or losses.
the fluid it is trying to move. More viscous fluids decrease
the pump’s boost at a given flow rate, while entrained gas INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES
reduces the effectiveness of the impellers. Performance and Satellites connect Perdido to onshore engineering support
reliability in general require a good understanding of the sub- centers in Houston and New Orleans. These links provide
sea boosting system and the caisson riser, and there is plenty secure access to the process control network in one of two
of incentive to keep them running for a long time. Changing ways. First, through the Process Control Access Domain
out an electric submersible pump can cost millions of dollars (PCAD), and second, through direct connection to the Re-
and weeks of deferred production. mote Control Room in New Orleans.
In addition to voice communications, the link supports a
INTEGRATED PRODUCTION SYSTEM MODELING range of data acquisition and collaboration, enabling sup-
Building a fit-for-purpose Integrated Production System Model port staff and subject matter experts to work remotely.
(IPSM) for Perdido posed several unique challenges. The
production system uses unconventional separation and lift
technology that is difficult to model, and even trickier to
integrate with other models.
“Perdido’s phased development plan needed a model
that worked for both daily surveillance and for long-term
development planning.” Purdy says. “Through a collaborative
effort that drew on global expertise across many disciplines,
the ISP and the model that Shell developed for Perdido
began to add value long before first oil.”
The challenge in developing the IPSM for Perdido was
the complex nature of its unique production system. Perdido
also produces from fields that vary significantly in fluid
properties. Recirculation lines that can route production from
the surface back to the separator caissons adds yet another
layer of complexity.
“The process of simplifying this complex technology into
an integrated model required many approaches,” Purdy
says. “By sharing knowledge with other Shell surveillance
teams, we developed an improved solution to model the Perdido’s first oil was announced in New York City’s Times Square
subsurface boosting system. The final product addresses both on March 31, 2010.

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The Process Control Access Domain allows controlled ac- tions people offshore. Video links between the RCR and
cess to specific computers within the process control network. Perdido’s control room enable operators in these two loca-
Through the PCAD, technical support staff in remote locations tions to interact directly. Remote access also allows surveil-
are granted access to select systems, which eliminates the need lance engineers and vendors to see exactly what the offshore
for the additional support staff to actually be aboard Perdido. operators are seeing on their computers, which achieves a
The remote control room (RCR) in New Orleans is an higher level of support.
extension of the Perdido-based central control room. It is “Although operating in ultra-deepwater is very challeng-
staffed by experienced control room operators who have full ing, the early use of our Surveillance and Operational tools
access to systems on Perdido. This facility allows surveillance allowed a smooth startup of this important asset,” Purdy says.
engineers, Operations support staff, and technical support “These technologies will also let us continue learning the reser-
located in New Orleans to directly interact with the Opera- voirs and improving our operation for many years to come.”

PERDIDO’S FLOATING HOTEL

For more than eight months in 2009, most
of Perdido’s offshore workforce lived aboard
the HOS Achiever, a 430-foot multi-purpose
service vessel (MPSV) operated by Hornbeck
Offshore Services.
The dynamically-positioned Achiever,
which normally carries fewer than 30 peo-
ple at a time, was reconfigured to accom-
modate as many as 283 passengers and
crew. Over the course of Perdido’s hookup
and commissioning phase, there were more
than 47,300 cumulative personnel transfers
between the Achiever and the spar.

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COMPANY PROFILE

Company Page

Alliance Wood Group Engineering, L.P. 47

Baker Hughes 48
Emerson Process Management- 46
Federal Flange, Inc. 51
FMC Technologies 52
GE Oil & Gas 54
Heerema Marine Contractors 53
Halliburton 56
Helmerich & Payne, Inc. 60
Hornbeck Offshore Services 58
Kiewit Offshore Services 61
Noble Drilling Services Inc. 62
Oceaneering 64
Schlumberger 66
Technip 68
The Bayou Companies, Inc. 63

COMPANY PROFILE

FISHER® DIGITAL VALVES WITH PREDICTIVE DIAGNOSTICS

PROVIDE OPTIMAL PERFORMANCE AND INCREASE
PROCESS SYSTEM UPTIME

E
merson Process Management worked in The Perdido platform’s central control Utilizing reliable Fisher digital valves
partnership with Shell to develop and system utilizes Fisher digital valves with with performance diagnostics has provided
manufacture nearly 100 custom and severe Emerson-developed Asset Management Perdido personnel the opportunity to make
service Fisher® digital valves. These valve Software (AMS™) and the AMS ValveLink™ better-informed decisions, leading to increased
solutions cover all process control aspects SNAP-ON™ application to monitor the safety, increased availability, reduced
of the challenging, ultra-deepwater Perdido process control equipment for optimal variability, process optimization, increased
platform located in the Gulf of Mexico. performance. This unique software solution throughput and enhanced product quality.
utilizes predictive diagnostics to open a
window to the process by giving a view of
the valve’s actual position and operating
characteristics as well as diagnostics of the
entire valve assembly and instrument. Emerson Process Management
Fisher Controls International LLC
Fisher digital valves with predictive diagnostics 301 S. 1st Ave.
provide Shell with the power to improve process Marshalltown, IA 50158
availability and increase platform reliability. www.emersonprocess.com/fi
__________________ sher

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COMPANY PROFILE

ALLIANCE ENGINEERING’S LIGHTWEIGHT TOPSIDES

DESIGNS RESULT IN EFFICIENT, LOWER COST FACILITIES
FOR PERDIDO

Alliance Engineering uses 3D design software to bring projects to life before they are built.

A
lliance Engineering, a Wood Group and results in improved deck space utilization, including topsides, hull, and subsea, can
Company, has expertise in successfully lower installation cost, more complete pre- be managed from Perdido’s central control
developing topsides for major offshore fields commissioning, and faster offshore hook-up room. The process control portion of Perdido’s
for a variety of project types, including deep- and commissioning. A lightweight topsides facility control system is based on Yokogawa’s
water platform topsides, floating production, reduces hull displacement and mooring loads, Centum CS 3000 distributed control system
storage and offloading (FPSO) unit topsides, provides a faster overall project schedule, (DCS). For safety shutdown and emergency
and fixed structures. In particular, Alliance and improves overall project economics. support, Yokogawa’s ProSafe RS for safety
has a well-established and well-earned In partnership with Shell, Alliance integrated systems was used. The ProSafe RS
reputation for designing and implementing demonstrated ingenuity and flexibility is a TUV SIL-3 rated safety system.
lightweight, single-lift deepwater topsides. by engineering a fit-for-purpose topsides The Centum CS 3000 DCS and ProSafe
Alliance is associated with numerous world design by investigating and implementing RS safety system communicate seamlessly,
records, including the deepest tension-leg many solutions to reduce weight. Alliance allowing safe integration of the controls and
platform (TLP), deepest spar, deepest semi- challenged equipment suppliers to reduce shutdown systems for the facility.
submersible platform, deepest dry tree unit, the size and weight of their equipment.
first dry tree mini-TLP, and first mini TLP. Combined with Shell’s innovative solutions Project success
This reputation is one reason Shell chose to reduce the riser load on the spar, this The topsides were installed onto the Perdido
Alliance to provide front-end engineering approach resulted in significant weight spar in March 2009. At 9,350 short tons of
and design and detailed design of the reduction and a significant savings in the deck, excluding rigging and materials, this
Perdido spar topsides. Alliance also provided time and cost. The facility accommodates lift is the heaviest ever made in the U.S. Gulf
conceptual design services, fabrication and production from five subsea direct vertical of Mexico. At a water depth of 7,817 feet,
installation support, and commissioning access separation caissons. Perdido is the world’s deepest spar.
support for the unique topsides.
Sophisticated instrumentation and
Reducing weight at every opportunity control
The topsides design techniques were a Alliance worked very closely with the main Alliance Wood Group Engineering, L.P.
key enabler to permit Shell to advance the automation contractor to design and implement 330 Barker Cypress Rd.
Houston, TX 77094
Perdido project. Designing a deck for single- a world class facility control system for Tel: 281-828-6000
lift installation avoids redundant steel weight Perdido. Every facet of the facility’s processes, Website: www.alliance-engineering.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

FIVE ENHANCED RUN LIFE ESPS AT THE HEART OF

PERDIDO SEAFLOOR SEPARATION, BOOSTING STATIONS
Installed in 350-ft caissons where cyclonic separation takes place, pumping systems can move up to
125,000 b/d while helping conquer extreme back, spar riser head pressures

B
ecause the Perdido Regional Develop-
ment involves three widely spaced, ultra-
deepwater fields whose reservoirs are made
up of older rock with tighter porosity and
permeability along with low temperatures and
pressures, Shell Exploration and Production
(Shell) decided early on to handle all produc-
tion via equipment placed on the sea floor,
including artificially lifting production liquids to
the Perdido spar topsides from a water depth
of more than 8,000 ft (2439m).
Under this accelerated production plan,
Shell would route the gathered oil and natural
gas from 35 subsea completions – including
22 wet-tree, Direct Vertical Access (DVA)
wells clustered beneath the Perdido spar
Baker Oil Tools’ MPas one-trip isolation packers are the industry’s only non-inflatable mechanical packers that
itself – through two seafloor manifolds and conform to irregular wellbore geometries.
then into five separate vertical processing and
boosting stations, each installed on the sea inlet/outlet connection system on top, would exhibit sub-normal flowing tubing head
floor in close proximity to the spar and each be installed by a construction vessel to await pressures – about 750 psi – compared to
armed with a powerful electrical submersible first production. younger Gulf of Mexico pools. However,
pumping (ESP) system. Combined, the 10-in. diameter,1,600- once arriving directly below the Perdido spar,
For this vital system, Shell in December hp ESPs are capable of delivering up to the fields’ multiphase flow will be confronted
2006 chose Baker Hughes Centrilift and its 125,000 b/d of oil and associated natural with a head pressure exerted by 8,000 ft of
innovative array of enhanced ESP run life gas from the Perdido fields – Silvertip, Tobago fluid in the risers, hence the need for artificial
subsea production solutions. Other Baker and Great White – to the spar topsides. lift. ESP systems were chosen for this project
Hughes products, including a number of Baker The Perdido seafloor production handling because they were the only subsea pumping
Oil Tools downhole safety and production setup is the world’s deepest application of a systems designed to operate at these water
management and monitoring products, are full host-scale subsea separating and boosting depths and corresponding pressures.
being installed during completion of the system, and will remove fluid back pressure In caisson separation, the multiphase fluids
subsea wells, which is still ongoing. on the wells, particularly those completed at are conditioned in the inlet piping and enter
The Centrilift ESPs, however, would be set Silvertip and Tobago, which will reach the the caisson at a downward angle and at a
just below the mud line inside five pre-drilled, processing/boosting system in lengthy 10-in. tangent, which causes the fluids to disengage
350-ft (92-m) deep, 36-in (91-cm) diameter (25-cm) seafloor flow lines, some up to 30 from the gas. Gravity, in turn, causes the
caissons directly connected to the spar’s miles (48 km) or more in length. separated gas to travel upward inside the
production risers. There, cylindrical-cyclonic production riser tubing annulus. Meanwhile,
separation and ESP boosting would take ESPs the only subsea boosting the tangential velocity inside the caisson
place. The caissons, lowered into five so- system qualified for ultra-deepwater keeps the oil/water fluids from re-entraining
called shallow “dummy” wells, and the ESPs, As noted, Perdido Regional Development with the gas, which swirl downwards to the
each encased in a pressure vessel with an wells tap older Paleocene reservoirs, which bottom of the caisson, where the ESP then

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pumps them through dedicated tubing inside others. Baker Hughes also was awarded Rounding out hardware installations for the
the production riser for topsides handling. with the first fill contract in 2009, along with ESP installations are the Baker Hughes ESP
Whatever the horsepower/pump rating, a one-year contract to supply chemicals and cable/control line cutting tool, a mechanically
Centrilift ESPs are specifically designed to chemical services. operated device designed to cut through the
handle high gas volume fractions (GVF). ESP cable, the tubular encased conductor
This is particularly important for seabed SURELIFT gauges, monitoring tools (TEC) wire and chemical injection pack in the
boosting systems, where gas content can Each Perdido ESP package is equipped event the tubing inside a production riser must
be significant, such as at Perdido. The with a number of Baker Hughes Intelligent be cut and retrieved. The cutter is a critical
multiphase pump technology includes Production Systems’ SURELIFT™ gauging and component of a systems solution approach to
the ESPs’ patented split-vane impeller monitoring instruments designed to optimize intervention.
design, which is key to keeping gas from output from the ESPs. All SURELIFT instruments While Baker Hughes is in the forefront of
accumulating in the pump and locking it. are connected inside the ESP pressure vessel subsea processing and boosting technology,
Under certain circumstances, Centrilift ESPs by a single mono-conductor cable to power it also historically has been a key provider
can handle up to 70% GVF without gas the sensors and transfer the signal cleanly to of drilling and completions equipment
locking. the surface. and services, and continues to contribute
Subsea separation/boosting exhibits a Among the SURELIFT sensors and gauges significantly to preparing Perdido wells for
number of enhanced run life benefits. For on each ESP package are: production.
example, once the gas is removed from the • The SURELIFT/E Pod, which connects to
flow stream, the heat retained in the fluid the bottom of the lower ESP motor and One trip, multiple sampling
phase, coupled with the high flow capacity interfaces with resistance temperature In the realm of formation evaluation, Baker
of the ESP, helps prevent hydrate formation. device (RTD) sensors for real-time motor Hughes is providing new downhole tools
For that reason, Shell did not specify winding temperatures along with lower- designed to record formation pressures
physical heating elements for the Perdido caisson pressures/temperatures. and collect multiple, high-purity samples of
caissons or pumps. • The SURELIFT/E Fixed-Venturi Flow Meter formation fluid types and behaviors and then
However, Shell did award Baker Carrier, which houses a dual gauge for deliver the data to the surface in real time, all
Hughes with the contract for chemical monitoring real-time ESP flow rate and in a single trip of the tool array.
engineering and design services, with a list discharge data. Chief among those being utilized
of deliverables that included flow assurance, • The SURELIFT/E Dual-Gauge Carrier, which in Perdido wells is the Reservoir
monitoring and surveillance, chemical houses a dual gauge whose lower end Characterization Instrument™ (RCI) string, a
injection, chemical product development and supplies density and temperature data wire line-conveyed package that takes large-
and whose upper end supplies real-time volume, early development samples of well
pressures/temperatures from the middle- fluids, along with formation pressures and
caisson level. temperatures, and takes them during only one
• The SURELIFT/E Single-Gauge Carrier, trip into the hole.
which supplies upper-caisson level The RCI tool can be configured with a
pressures/temperature. straddle sealing array, which employs a
• The SURELIFT/E Vibration Sensor, which modular design for operational flexibility. This
connects to the ESP intake pump to overcomes limitations placed on the standard
measure dual X and Y vibrations. probe configuration in fractured, vuggy and
tight-borehole formations. The twin inflatable
Additionally, Baker Hughes’ ESP/ sealing elements are set in the borehole mud
Intelligent Production Systems data specialists cake wall to isolate a 1-m (3.3-ft) test section,
are working closely with Shell’s Perdido exposing a larger sampling area that requires
commissioning team to assure that all less draw down.
SURELIFT real-time data interface with Shell’s Included in the RCI string being used in
Baker Hughes’ multi-phase pump technology includes
ESP split-vane impeller design. SCADA worldwide monitoring system. Perdido wells is Baker Hughes’ new In-Situ

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The Baker Atlas IFX tool has transducers for measuring fluid density, viscosity and sound speed. The optical sensor array provides light absorbance spectra,
UV fluorescence spectra, and a continuous refractometer.

Fluids eXplorer™ tool, which monitors the Run as an integral part of the casing For ease of interpretation, SBT
real-time physical properties of the fluids or liner string, the MPas packer uses an measurements are displayed in two log
being pumped from the formation through elastomeric element with composite structure presentations, both of which are available in
the RCI tool. This tool also takes samples in that is hydraulically set. Shifting a balance the logging mode as the data are acquired,
volumes that total up to 4.8 quarts (4.5 liters) sleeve allows wellbore hydrostatic pressure to processed, and plotted in real time.
and holds them in multiple sealed carriers for act against an atmospheric chamber, which Finally, on some Perdido wells, Baker
later hands-on examination. This capability far applies the setting force. A lock mechanism Hughes completion engineering specialists
exceeds that of traditional wire line formation maintains the setting force for the life of the are running Real-Time Compaction Imaging
test tools, which are capable of taking only a well, even if hydrostatic pressure is removed. (RTCI) logs, which use fiber-optic sensors to
few, sometimes highly contaminated formation Also, as part of well completion monitor sand screen and casing deformation.
fluid samples. hardware, Baker Atlas ran cement bond The RTCI service was co-developed by Baker
Other RCI tool applications include integrity measurements using its segmented Hughes and Shell.
vertical interference testing, rock strength bond tool (SBT), which provides 360-deg. Because undetected completion
determination and cased-hole testing and evaluation of cement bonding to identify deformations can lead to costly workovers,
sampling. any channels in the cement annulus which lost production, and even the potential of
could result in a poor hydraulic seal and, loss of the entire well, Shell took advantage
SCSSVs, real-time completion conversely, find zones of uniform bonding of the RTCI technology, which uses
measurements across only a few feet of casing. The data thousands of sensors incorporated within the
For well completions, Baker Hughes is can help avoid costly squeeze cementing sand screen instrumented with optical fibers
supplying Perdido wells with Neptune™ procedures. to monitor strain and acquire a 3D, high-
nitrogen-charged, tubing-retrievable surface resolution deformation image of the screen
controlled subsurface safety valves (SCSSV), in real time.
which feature innovative non-elastomeric seal Shell plans to re-run compaction logs
technology – an industry first for nitrogen- throughout the life of the wells.
charged valves.
Additionally, for the 22 subsea
completions in the Great White field, Shell
Baker Hughes
chose Baker Oil Tools’ MPas™ one-trip 2929 Allen Parkway
mechanical isolation packers, the industry’s Houston, Texas 77019
The Baker Oil Tools Neptune series nitrogen-charged
tubing-retrievable surface-controlled subsurface safety
Tel: 713-439-8135 • Fax: 713-439-8600
only non-inflatable mechanical packer that Email: [email protected]
valve is designed for completions requiring low oper-
conforms to irregular wellbore geometries. ating pressures due to control system limitations. Website: www.bakerhughes.com

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FEDERAL PROVIDES THE KEY CONNECTIONS

FOR SHELL PERDIDO

F
ederal Flange Inc. (Federal) has been client’s specifications. A truncated list of the
providing specialty pipe connectors items provided in this undertaking include
and flanges to the oil and gas industry for bulkhead anchors, pressure transmitter tees,
over 30 years. Our business has been built flow tees, reducing tees, block elbows,
upon a platform of unsurpassed quality, riser hang off collars and swivel flanges. In
custom-engineered solutions and a passion addition, we sourced a wide range of ANSI/
for customer service. This is supported by a API flanges in sizes from a nominal 6–in. to
state-of-the-art manufacturing facility, a world- 16–in. with varying wall thicknesses for the
class engineering staff and a business model various flow lines and sleds. Design conditions
which provides the flexibility to meet our varied from Class 1500 ANSI to 10K API
customers’ most challenging demands. over the sizes and materials aforementioned.
Our responsibilities included detailed
The Shell Perdido Challenge design, materials procurement, heat treatment,
Federal was asked to provide the majority of quality control and manufacture and post fabri-
the pipe fittings and flanges for the Perdido cation inspection. Over the course of the proj-
Host tie-in to the Silver Tip, Great White and ect there were several required amendments
Tobago fields. This included requirements significantly affecting item quantities with an
Dedicated professionals assure all project expecta-
in a range of materials suitable for the overall order magnitude totaling some 780 ft tions are achieved.
unforgiving environment in which these of forged pipe and 240 assorted components.
components would be placed in service. Even with these requirement modifications the Driving Forward
The fitting’s materials of construction project was successfully completed without a As a leading provider of specialty pipe
comprised a microalloyed steel of SY of 70 corresponding shift in schedule thanks to the connectors and flanges for both subsea and
ksi, and a martensitic stainless steel alloy in close communication and partnership between topside applications, Federal continually invests
both ANSI and API geometries to meet the the Federal and Shell teams. in its manufacturing and intellectual capabilities
to ensure it keeps pace with the ever-increasing
demands of the industry. We work hand in
hand with our customers to deliver solutions
whether it is for a high pressure, harsh
environment application or custom-engineered
components with a tight deadline.
Federal is proud to be a part of the Shell
Perdido success story and we look forward
to being a part of many such successes in
the future.

Subsea components
are engineered
to the highest
standards.
Federal Flange, Inc.
4014 Pinemont Drive
Houston, TX. 77018
Tel: 800-231-0150
www.federalconnects.com

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FMC TECHNOLOGIES SETS THE GLOBAL STANDARD

FOR ADVANCED SUBSEA TECHNOLOGY
Subsea separation and boosting
S
hell’s Perdido project is FMC Tech- use the same standard tree design anywhere
nologies’ second full field development in the world. The added value brings versatility, system
utilizing subsea oil and gas separation and installation savings and operational efficiency The Perdido project contains five caisson
boosting following the contract to supply trees to ultra-deepwater fields. The EVDT earned separators that were installed on the seabed.
and other equipment for Shell’s Parque das FMC the 2008 Spotlight on Technology This innovative system separates gas and
Conchas (formerly called BC-10) deepwater Award at that year’s Offshore Technology Con- liquids before the hydrocarbons are pumped
project offshore Brazil. Parque das Conchas is ference. The trees are rated for high pressure back to the surface, enabling increased oil
the first full field development utilizing subsea conditions up to 10,000 psi. recovery by removing about 2,000 psi of
oil and gas separation and subsea pumping The EVDT system also enables deepwater back pressure from the wells.
in Brazil. A number of new and advanced completions from a small drilling rig contain- “Gas flows up the riser while liquid is
technologies and innovations were designed ing only a surface blowout preventer (BOP). boosted by the electrical submersible pumps
by FMC to meet Parque das Conchas’ numer- This capability allows operators to eliminate using multiphase separation,” Beitler explained.
ous challenges. Many of those Utilizing the seabed separa-
technologies are deployed in tion system reduced the number of
Shell’s Perdido field. production risers to the spar to five,
“Shell wanted to exploit saving significant weight and cost.
subsea heavy oil reserves,” said FMC’s subsea systems encom-
Brad Beitler, FMC’s Vice President pass a wide range of equipment
of Technology, explaining the and technologies to explore, drill
similarities of the Perdido and and develop offshore oil and gas
Parque das Conchas fields. fields. Whether it’s high-pressure/
“Shell had experience with high-temperature (HP/HT) trees
submersible pumps but not with and wellheads, subsea controls
seabed pumps. and systems or production optimi-
“Shell designed the systems zation services, FMC adds value
and we worked with them as an to its customers throughout the life
alliance partner.” of the field.
A caisson separator being deployed in the Gulf of Mexico.
FMC’s scope of work for FMC Technologies capitalized
Perdido included the supply of 17 subsea the need for expensive deepwater rigs with a on the growing demand for deepwater oil
trees, two subsea manifolds, five subsea cais- subsea BOP, resulting in significant time and and gas production with its subsea separation,
son separation and boosting systems, topside cost savings. boosting and processing systems. The com-
and subsea controls, and related subsea The EVDT was used to set a subsea pany provides the technology to increase oil
equipment. The project utilized FMC’s globally deepwater completion record of 9,356 ft recovery for mature projects and develop new
managed product standards, supporting manu- installed in Shell’s Silvertip field, a part of the projects that may otherwise be considered
facturing and supply networks and project Perdido development. FMC set the previous economically unviable or inaccessible.
management processes. water depth record of 8,995 ft, also in the
Gulf of Mexico, in 2007. This record may be
Record-setting innovative enhanced surpassed yet again during 2010 with a well
vertical deepwater trees planned for the Tobago field, also one of the FMC Technologies
The Perdido field includes 17 of FMC’s fields feeding into the Perdido spar. This well 1803 Gears Rd., Houston TX 77067
Tel : 281 591 4000
Enhanced Vertical Deepwater Trees (EVDT) that would be in about 9,600 ft of water and will Fax: 281 591 4102
provide added value by allowing customers to be completed using an EVDT system. Website: www.fmctechnologies.com

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FLEXIBILITY OF DEEPWATER CONSTRUCTION VESSELS

EXPEDITES PERDIDO SPAR, FACILITIES INSTALLATION
With its giant DCV Balder and SSCV Thialf heavy-lift/pipe lay vessels, Heerema Marine Constructors
brings more certainty to Spar deployment in ultra-deep water

W
hen Shell Exploration and Production • Installation of production flow lines and
drew up the logistics timetable for the pipeline end structures in world’s record
record-setting installation in summer 2008 of water depth at 9,790 ft (2,984m).
the Perdido Regional Development Spar in the • Installation of integrated topsides (new
deepwater Gulf of Mexico (GOM), the com- GOM record lift weight at 9,773 short
pany could not have accurately anticipated tons (8,866 tonnes).
that pre-installation operations would be con- HMC also installed the spar’s steel
Heerema Marine Contractors’ semisubmersible
fronted by not one, but two major hurricanes catenary export risers (SCR), water injection crane vessel (SSCV) Thialf engaged in making
Perdido spar’s Quarters lift.
and at least two significant tropical storms. system, manifold piles and manifolds, electri-
Such unsettled weather could have increased cal submersible pump (ESP) caissons and entire mooring system was optimized by use of
the potential for significant delays. inlet assemblies. a proprietary mooring line hook-up software.
Fortunately, this was not the case, thanks Because it can marshal the world’s largest However, short delays were caused by
to significantly detailed pre-planning, includ- dual-crane, heavy lift/pipe lay vessels to any approaching storms and tardiness in the
ing comprehensive probability estimates of offshore point in the world, HMC has been spar’s arrival at the Perdido site, so the flex-
weather contingencies. The flexibility avail- called upon for installation of more than half ibility afforded by the multifunctional construc-
able from the offshore heavy construction and of all deepwater spars in the Gulf of Mexico tion vessel Balder allowed Shell and HMC
pipe lay equipment was crucial to Perdido alone. The Balder is adapted for deepwater to interrupt certain flow line and seafloor
operations, including mooring system setup, pipe lay in the J-lay mode for installation of component installation operations to handle
installation of seafloor production piping and SCRs and flow lines. It also is equipped with the spar when it did arrive.
equipment, and float out and installation of the world’s largest mooring line winch for the
the spar. This flexibility also was evident in safe deployment of all known types of mooring Paves way to higher safety awareness
placement of the spar’s topsides and drilling lines, including those made of ultra long, large- The experience HMC has gained in install-
and production equipment. diameter polyester fiber, such as those used ing deepwater floating production facilities
For that and other important reasons, Shell at Perdido. Both the Balder and Thialf boast shows that with the right equipment, the right
contracted early in the planning stages with extremely powerful dynamic positioning (DP) tools and the right approach, critical installa-
Heerema Marine Constructors (HMC) for use systems for work in the hostile loop currents tion windows, particularly for deepwater spar
of its Deepwater Construction Vessel (DCV) and eddies found in the GOM and elsewhere. installation, can be minimized in duration and
Balder and Semi Submersible Crane Vessel Installation of the Perdido spar was the associated risks actually reduced. The com-
(SSCV) Thialf, along with a support vessel, the scheduled to take place during the summer pany’s flexible, problem-solving approach actu-
M/V Union Manta, for many of the never-be- 2008 Gulf hurricane season, which called ally strengthens its uncompromising attention
fore-attempted operations destined for Perdido. for meticulous logistical planning and a firm to safety. This was made clear in the fact no
interface among all parties involved, includ- HMC lost-time injuries were recorded during
Setting the records ing a number of regulatory agencies. the entire Perdido installation sequence.
HMC’s Perdido work scope included the The Balder was instrumental in ensuring
following record-setting operations: that when floated out and upended, the Heerema Marine Contractors
Vondellaan 55
• Deepest ever installation of a spar in Perdido spar hull could be brought to a “storm
2233 AA Leiden
7,820 ft (2,384m) of water. safe” mooring status in the shortest amount of The Netherlands
• Installation of permanent suction mooring time. This involved earlier installation of three Tel: +31 (0)71 5799000
Fax: +31 (0)71 5799099
piles in world’s record water depth of of the mooring system’s nine-point polyester Email: [email protected]
8,360 ft (2,630 m). lines. In fact, the installation sequences for the Website: www.heerema.com

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RISER SYSTEM AT PERDIDO FEATURES NEWEST

GE OIL & GAS TENSIONERS
Top-tensioned production, drilling risers only alternative for record deepwater truss
spar installation over DVA wells

I
n the post-Katrina/Rita Gulf of Mexico From the beginning Shell, as operator riser for drilling and completions. Instead of
hurricane era, new met ocean criteria and for BP and Chevron, planned to employ a being connected with individual wells, the
acceptance requirements for “100-year and direct vertical access (DVA) configuration at production risers would be connected to five
1000 year” events calls for both new and the Perdido spar’s host location in the Great seafloor caisson/electric submersible pump
improved elements to be incorporated into White field in order to bring oil and natural (ESP) boosting stations that would handle
the design of deepwater drilling and produc- gas production from the field’s subsea wet flow from 22 subsea DVA wells and 11
tion equipment. tree wells to the spar’s topsides for subse- subsea offset wells. In addition to increased
Because the spar is the industry’s deepwa- quent handling and export back to shore. efficiency due to lighter weight, having only
ter and ultra-deepwater floating production This would be the first such DVA setup to be six risers would help keep the spar’s topsides
platform of choice, new changes are being installed on a truss-type spar. decks smaller and thus, less capital intensive.
made in the tensioning and motion compen- Top-tensioned risers were essential for The single, high-pressure DVA drilling riser
sation hardware necessary to stabilize risers the Perdido spar, at a record depth of some would be used to allow a topside-mounted
on spars against heavy storm wave and 7,820 ft (2,384m) from spar topsides to the rig to drill, complete and to perform interven-
wind forces. One such progression involves sea floor. Buoyancy can tensioned risers em- tions on wells at significantly lower cost than
the choice of ram-type, or “push-up” tension- ployed on spar platforms in much shallower employing deepwater mobile rigs for such
ers for top-tensioned vertical production and water would have been impracticable. purposes. In addition, the topside rig would
drilling/workover risers. Shell Exploration & Additionally, instead of having a riser use this riser to gain access to the seafloor
Development’s Perdido Regional Develop- and dry tree for each well, the spar would booster stations for possible change-out of ESP
ment Spar is equipped with this type of riser be equipped with only six risers – five pipe- equipment, should that become necessary.
tensioning equipment supplied by GE Oil & in-pipe risers for handling production from
Gas (formerly GE Vetco Gray). multiple subsea wells and one high-pressure First offshore installation
Six GE Oil & Gas hydraulic/pneumatic
tensioners were installed to support the risers
aboard the Perdido spar. The installation was
made at the spar’s offshore site rather than
the conventional installation at a shore base
prior to float-out. This was the first time such a
remote offshore ram riser tensioner installation
has been made.
In general, riser tensioners are designed
to provide the necessary interface to support
riser weight and to compensate for relative
motion due to spar offset, heave, thermal
expansion, payload changes and subsid-
ence. A typical MODU drilling riser tensioner
consists of a hydraulic cylinder with sheaves
at both ends. The cylinder is connected to a

Perdido spar riser tensioners in various stages of installation prior to installation of the topsides. The six ten-
number of high-pressure gas bottles, or ac-
sioners are in two rows in the center square of the spar deck. The three units on the bottom row are installed cumulators, via a medium separator. A wire
complete and stroked down (closed) awaiting commissioning. The remaining units on the top row are in
various stages of installation. rope is rigged in the cylinder with one end

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An assembled Perdido riser tensioner during factory acceptance testing, partially stroked out, but without the accumulators.

connected to the fixed part of the tensioner increase tensioner life. Being small in footprint with a newly developed coating that virtually
and the other end is connected to the riser. versus their capacity, they also allow for more eliminates the threat of degradation by acids
Top-tensioned risers connected directly available topsides deck space. contained in oilfield chemicals.
to the spar hull provide a range of stiffness Each of the GE Oil & Gas tensioners Tensioner pressure feedback is monitored
at the hang-off point. This stiffness variation is equipped with four hydro-pneumatic and adjusted with equipment located in the
provides a tradeoff between riser stroke rela- cylinders, each operating independent of Spar topsides control room.
tive to the hull and the tension on the riser, the other but combined, constitute a “team.”. Significant to its continued innovation and
and combined with lower operating costs, Should trouble be experienced with any development of new hardware, GE Oil &
are the practical alternative to buoyancy can- one cylinder, it can be easily removed and Gas riser tensioner technology was a finalist
supported riser systems. either repaired at the site or sent to shore. for the Woelfel Best Mechanical Engineering
The GE Oil & Gas ram-type riser tensioner Meanwhile, as evidenced by testing under Achievement Award at the 2009 Offshore
configuration uses multiple (four) hydro- load at GE’s Houston manufacturing center, Technology Conference.
pneumatic compression cylinders that employ the remaining three cylinders are capable of
efficient, low-fluid volume to allow for large holding sufficient tension to continue required
internal accumulator volumes that, depending motion compensation.
upon the application, minimize the require-
ment for external accumulators while providing Coating reliability enhanced
GE Oil & Gas
for the required range of stiffness. Combined To help meet Shell’s 25-year lifespan design 4424 W. Sam Houston Parkway North
with durable construction and relative low requirement and provide high reliability in Suite 100
Houston, Texas 77041
accumulator pressures, the GE Oil & Gas a corrosive environment, the rods of the Tel: 281-448-4410
tensioners help reduce risk elements and Perdido spar riser tensioners are protected Website: www.geoilandgas.com

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HALLIBURTON PROVIDING LIFE-OF-FIELD SOLUTIONS

FOR SHELL PERDIDO
Cementing Services with Zero NPT
T
he Shell Perdido project represents an Subsequently, Halliburton deepened some of
industry milestone in overcoming the tech- the batch- set wells and used the Geo-Pilot ®
Halliburton completed Shell’s batch-set project
nology challenges of ultra-deep waters, subsalt rotary steerable system with the GeoTap® within the specified time window, delivering
drilling, and complex completions under LWD formation tester to help evaluate the maximum efficiency without sacrificing
extreme downhole conditions. Halliburton has compartmentalized formations in real time. quality. This included the installation on the
been associated with Shell’s deepwater Gulf Halliburton also drilled horizontal wells in rig of a steady flow bin, continuous metering
of Mexico projects since the Cognac field in the Silvertip field using all the basic services system,150-bbl batch mixer and Halliburton’s
1979 and has been an integral part of the plus StrataSteer 3D Geosteering Service
®
state-of-the-art HCS Advantage™ cementing
Perdido successes since its earliest phases, and InSite ADR™ Azimuthal Deep Resistivity skid for cementing operations and well
providing drilling, cementing, permanent moni- Sensor to optimize wellbore placement. This control contingencies.
toring, and chemical injection solutions. stage of the project was completed in Octo- Halliburton used two-man crew teams to
ber 2009. Based on the value Shell and the ensure continuous cementing operations with
Comprehensive Drilling Services Perdido team gained from the application of coordination through its facility in Alaminos
Halliburton’s involvement in the Perdido these advanced technologies and enhanced Canyon. The key to helping improve the
project began in 1999 during the early ex- personnel experience, Halliburton was probability of getting cement slurry to seabed
ploration of the Great White field. In 2006, awarded subsequent drilling services work was the ZoneSeal® Isolation Process, an
Halliburton began drilling “batch-set” wells for the spar and subsea wells. Drilling for the automated control system for foam cementing
for the Perdido spar, providing Sperry perfor- infield subsea wells will begin in April 2010 services. By using a fully automated nitrogen
mance mud motors and basic LWD services. and drilling for spar should begin in June. unit, the cementing crew was able to foam
the standard Type-1 cement before injection
of the unfoamed tail slurry. For some wells,
the spacer was also foamed to increase the
sweeping efficiency, reducing hydrostatic
pressure and assisting successful placement
of foamed lead and conventional tail slurry.
On inner-string cementing jobs, a drill pipe
dart was released and latched into the float
shoe to help address cement slurry residue/
contamination on the walls of the drill pipe.
In total, Halliburton batch-set 23 wells by mix-
ing and pumping 96,000 sacks of cement
in an offshore environment of over 8,500-ft
water depth. In all, this was a very successful
cementing operation with zero NPT related
to the cementing operations.

Permanent Monitoring and Chemical

Injection
Halliburton WellDynamics has supplied Shell
with permanent monitoring and chemical
injection systems for their subsea installations
Halliburton has drilled “batch-set” wells as well as horizontal wells with geosteering for the Perdido project. since the mid-1990s. Due to the reliability

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Halliburton’s HCS Advantage™ cementing skid aboard the Perdido Spar.

and success of these previous installations, in October 2008 and the equipment installed
Halliburton won the contract to supply the is designed to supply downhole pressure and
permanent monitoring and chemical injection temperature data for the life of the wells.
systems for the Perdido project. Since the Perdido project has low energy
Conventional subsea completions, which reservoirs, subsea separating and boosting
are to be completed from both the Perdido systems (SBS) are installed on the Perdido
spar and mobile offshore drilling units, consist Spar to lift the hydrocarbons to the surface.
of 20 Kpsi ROC™ series dual-quartz gauge As part of this SBS system, Halliburton
assemblies, shallow and deep-set chemical WellDynamics installed three specially
Halliburton WellDynamics SBS Level Monitoring System
injection systems, and multi-line spooling ser- calibrated ROC series gauges in the lower
vices. All equipment was manufactured to meet completion to allow real-time measurements Continued Commitment
Shell’s specific material requirements for the Per- of fluid levels. These fluid measurements Halliburton will continue to provide the full
dido project. As part of the systems approach are used to ensure optimum fluid levels at extent of oilfield services for the Perdido proj-
to the installation of permanent monitoring the electrical submersible pump (ESP), and ect through all its phases and is Shell’s willing
systems, Halliburton WellDynamics also sup- therefore, extend the life of operation before partner as we extend the search for oil and
plied and installed the electrical feed-through a workover is required. Along with the fluid gas to future frontiers in the Gulf of Mexico
systems for the FMC direct vertical access level measurements, Halliburton WellDy- and around the world.
subsea wellhead systems. This was the first namics supplied multiple chemical injection
installation of this feed-through system design in systems and multi-line spooling services.
the Gulf of Mexico and the installation process During the first two SBS installations, changes
ensured that multiple checks were carried out were made to the installation process and
on the wellhead systems between installation equipment resulting in a substantial reduction
and subsea deployment to confirm they were in the installation time of the systems. Plans Halliburton
10200 Bellaire Blvd., Houston, TX 77072
fit for purpose. The first successful subsea instal- are to provide additional subsea installations Tel: 281.575.3000
lation on a satellite subsea well was completed and SBS systems. Website: www.halliburton.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

HORNBECK OFFSHORE SHELTERED SOME OF

PERDIDO’S MOST VALUABLE ASSETS

A
s many as 220 people per shift came
to work aboard the Perdido deepwater
spar during the peak of commissioning and
hookup, but it was a short commute – they all
lived next door.
Their offshore home was the HOS
Achiever, a new 430-foot, third-generation
dynamically-positioned (DP) multi-purpose
support vessel (MPSV) that Hornbeck Offshore
(NYSE:HOS) had turned into a floating hotel.
“The workers called it their flotel,” says Ben
Todd, Vice President of Hornbeck Offshore’s
MPSV and Specialty OSV Fleet. “When Shell
came to us in 2008, no vessel in the area met
Shell’s needs for its offshore workforce.”
The multi-purpose DP-3 HOS Achiever
certainly was large enough for the job,
but not set up for as many guests as Shell
required; so in early 2009, Hornbeck
spent six weeks reconfiguring the vessel to
accommodate 283 passengers and crew.
Additional galleys, lounges and sleeping
quarters were added, with common areas
including wireless internet service, satellite TV
and sat-phones available any time.
Not only did the workers need a
comfortable place to live, they and their gear
had to be lifted safely across open water back
and forth from the spar each day. During the
HOS Achiever’s 244 continuous service days
in the field, there were more than 47,300 For more than eight months, the 430-foot DP-3 HOS Achiever MPSV served as Perdido’s floating hotel.
personnel transfers between the vessel and the
spar. At the peak of activity, the HOS Achiever A logistics challenge board,” Todd says. “While our marine crew
also received as many as three of the big Working on the spar, in transit, or asleep was responsible for vessel operation and vessel
Sikorsky S-92 helicopters a day. in their room on the ship, the safety and safety, the rest of the staff cooked, cleaned,
“Shell really supported us on the comfort of every person was accounted for made up rooms and washed clothes, so that
inhabitability of the vessel,” Todd says. “Shell’s at all times. Hornbeck’s onboard staff even Shell’s team could focus on their jobs.”
people participated in the design and layout tracked those who had rotated home, to Industrial-strength trash compactors
of the additional mess rooms and galleys, and make sure there was a bed available on the minimized the volume of solid waste until it
the deck where we did the personnel transfers. HOS Achiever when they returned. could be taken to an onshore landfill. Reverse-
A lot of thought went into all of that, and it “We had 25 crew members for the vessel osmosis filters purified seawater to supply all of
made for a very smooth evolution.” and another 28 catering and hotel staff on the ship’s water for drinking and bathing.

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“Over the course of the Perdido project, before going to the spar, so everyone knew
we received more than 1 million gallons of what to expect.”
fuel for consumption by the HOS Achiever Dale Norman, Shell Construction team
with no environmental incidents,” Todd says. flotel lead for the Perdido project, commented,
“Hornbeck Offshore’s ability to provide
Safety success reliable and safe performance in supporting
The HOS Achiever began it’s transformation Perdido with the HOS Achiever made a
from MPSV to a floating hotel in February significant contribution to the overall success of
2009. It was deployed to Perdido on April Shell’s global ‘Goal Zero’ safety program.”
16, and maintained station alongside the
spar on continuous DP operations 24 hours About HOS
a day for more than eight months with no Through its fleet of over 80 vessels, In January, 2010, Ben Todd, Vice President of
Hornbeck Offshore’s MPSV and Specialty OSV
downtime or operational interruptions. By Hornbeck Offshore provides technologically- Fleet (left), accepted an award for outstanding
safety performance from Dale Norman, Shell’s
the time the HOS Achiever and its crew left advanced marine services for some of the Construction team flotel lead for the Perdido project.
the field in mid-December, the vessel had energy industry’s most demanding projects.
logged nearly 184,000 work hours without The 66-acre HOS Port marine base in Port
a recordable incident. Fourchon, Louisiana, includes nearly 3,000
“From the beginning, our primary linear feet of dock space. From there, HOS
concern was safety,” Todd notes. “A lot vessels provide logistical support for drilling,
of the contractors were not accustomed to production and construction operations
working on vessels, so we had to orient throughout the Gulf of Mexico. Elsewhere,
them to the hazards of working in a marine HOS vessels are working for select upstream
environment. Many workers came from and downstream customers along the East
shipyards, with limited experience offshore. and West Coasts of the United States, the
With Shell’s help, all of the contractors Great Lakes, Puerto Rico, Mexico, Brazil,
Cranes aboard the 430-foot DP-3 HOS Iron Horse
completed orientation and training programs Trinidad and Qatar. MPSV can lift up to 400 tons of cargo.

The 260-foot DP-2 BJ Blue Ray is a new breed of

deepwater OSV well-stimulation vessel.

HORNBECK OFFSHORE
Service with Energy ®
103 Northpark Boulevard, Suite 300
Covington, LA 70433
Tel: 985-727-2000 • Fax: 985-727-2006
HOS operates some of the world’s most advanced offshore service vessels. Website: www.hornbeckoffshore.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

H&PS RIG 205 READY FOR PERDIDO SPAR DRILLING,

COMPLETIONS, INTERVENTIONS
With special modifications, 20,000-ft SCR rig to tackle subsea wells located in up to 9,627 feet of water

W
hen Shell Exploration and Production “Interfacing with
Co., as operator for the Perdido Shell was required for
Regional Development Spar, decided to installing and tying
contract for a small-footprint, fit-for-purpose down several individual
drilling rig in order to access 35 existing support packages,”
wells connected to the spar as well as to drill he pointed out. These
as many as nine additional wells from the included a pipe rack
spar itself, it chose Helmerich & Payne, Inc. module, with engines
(H&P), Tulsa, for the job. and the SCR house; a
With nearly four decades of platform drill- porch for the third mud
ing experience and more than two decades pump, P-tanks, a diesel
of experience working for Shell on a number tank and four auxiliary
of fixed and floating platforms both in the mud tanks, among other
Gulf of Mexico and overseas, H&P assigned attributes. Helmerich & Payne’s offshore Rig 205 rests tightly atop the Perdido Spar.

its Platform Rig 205 for the Perdido spar. Considerations for the
The self-erecting rig was modified for drill- design of a more robust hurricane tie-down The rig also is equipped to install and
ing, completions and well interventions spe- system included anticipated spar accelera- intervene on the five electric submersible
cifically from a truss spar, and was mobilized tions due to high winds and sea states, said pumps contained in seafloor caissons that
to Perdido in summer, 2009. No stranger to Freeny. For increased safety and environmen- are used for the spar’s subsea separation and
drilling from both fixed and floating produc- tal protection, the rig also features beefed-up boosting system.
tion facilities, H&P built Rig 205 in 2002. It systems for handling increased hook load
was then used by Shell on its Cognac fixed and setback, as well as more user-friendly rig Close cooperation pays off
and Ram Powell tension-leg platforms (TLP), floor equipment to eliminate manual torque Freeny and his Rig Managers, Jimmy Welch
both located in the deepwater Gulf. wrenches, hammers, etc. and Tony Miller, were included in both pre-
The Perdido spar features the first applica- liminary planning and actual topsides design
Rig upgraded for spar topsides tion of wet tree, direct vertical access (DVA) meetings by Shell, he said.
According to Rig 205 superintendent Tom wells from a spar-type floating production “It became necessary to add some
Freeny, the rig was upgraded due to the system. It is fitted with a single high-pressure unique features to the rig to meet Shell’s
increased motion and acceleration forces drilling and completion riser suspended from requirements,” said Freeny. “Without constant
affecting the Perdido spar, which is anchored the topsides for access to the 34 subsea communications between both companies,
in some 8,000 ft (2,383 m) of water. The trees, 22 of them located directly below working together as a cohesive team, there
rig’s drilling module is supported by a custom the structure. This configuration will allow could have been delays. As it was, the rig
skid base that spans the spar’s 65-ft (19.8 Rig 205 to use a surface blowout preventer was modified and ready for mobilization to
m) capping beams and is designed to be as- (BOP) to drill, complete and later sidetrack the spar at the appointed time.”
sembled by the spar’s two pedestal cranes. those and subsequent individually drilled
Rig 205 also has been upgraded in a wells to 19,000 ft (5,795 m) or more.
number of other areas, Freeny said. These Because the DVA configuration permits
include draw works disc brakes, a 49-1⁄2-in. the rig to access a larger number of subsea Helmerich & Payne, Inc.
rotary table with PS-21 slips, a “Cyclone” Iron completions, Shell anticipates the benefit of 1437 South Boulder Ave., Tulsa, Oklahoma 74119
Tel: (918) 742-5531
Roughneck, and a 16-3⁄4-in. x 5,000-psi BOP significant drilling and completions savings
Fax: (918) 742-0237
with setback dolly positioning, among others. without loss of rig flexibility. Website: www.hpinc.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

KIEWIT OFFSHORE SERVICES’ EXPERIENCE AND

“NO SURPRISES” APPROACH RESULTS IN QUALITY SERVICES
FOR THE OFFSHORE OIL AND GAS INDUSTRY

K
OS’ extensive experience in fabricating
large, complex topsides enabled the
company to meet the challenges associated
with the multi-discipline Perdido Project.
KOS’ topsides scope required the installation
of 82,000 linear ft of piping, and over
800,000 linear ft of electrical cable. In
addition, KOS fabricated 1,500 tons of
skidshoes to support the structure during the
construction, loadout and transportation
phases. The 10,000 ton structure was
completed in 24 months.
Perdido topside lift and spar hull at the KOS fabrication facility.
The fabrication sequence for constructing
the topsides was designed to permit all Once testing was complete, the drill rig was
craft disciplines to start work as early as dismantled, loaded out and shipped offshore
possible, optimizing the number of craft on to the spar hull.
each component of the Perdido Project. KOS and its subcontractors worked over
The topsides were fabricated in three major 2 million manhours on the Perdido Project,
sub-assemblies, or deck levels, and lifted into completing the job with only two incidents.
position using heavy lift cranes. The largest As an OSHA Voluntary Protection Program
of these sub-assemblies weighed over 1,300 (VPP) site, KOS is recognized as having
short tons and was lifted into place using one of the safest yards in the industry. It’s
twelve crawler cranes. not just the company’s safety practices that
The Perdido topside loadout at KOS’ facility.
In addition to the Perdido topside make KOS stand alone, but the facility itself
fabrication, KOS facilitated the outfitting is truly impressive. Accessible by highway, resources available at KOS and the talented
of the 22,000 ton spar hull for offshore rail and water, the KOS fabrication facility people building them.
installation. Utilizing KOS’ deep hole, boasts more than 2,900 linear ft of high- No job is too large or too complex for this
the spar was offloaded from the heavy capacity bulkhead. Water depths along leading fabricator for the oil and gas industry.
lift transport vessel, grillage and supports the bulkhead range from 25-55 ft with the KOS takes a “no surprises” approach to every
removed, motion dampening strakes installed entire length supported by a continuous-pile- project, enabling the company to plan ahead
and a dead weight survey conducted. founded relieving platform. This allows for and mitigate risks. This mentality, coupled
KOS’ third scope in the Perdido Project the docking of several large scale projects at with their state-of-the-art facility, has enabled
was the drill rig refurbishment, where the same time. For heavy lift vessel projects KOS to help its clients build the industry’s most
the company focused on upgrading an such as Perdido, KOS has a deep hole with well known projects such as Perdido.
existing rig’s capacity and equipment, as water depths up to 78 ft. The facility also
well as updating its hurricane tie down has unimpeded access to the Gulf of Mexico
requirements. After pieces of the drill rig through the Corpus Christi and La Quinta
arrived at KOS, they were further dismantled shipping channels, and boasts the world’s
and reconditioned. These components were only Heavy Lifting Device capable of lifting Kiewit Offshore Services
2440 Kiewit Road, Ingleside, Texas 78362
assembled into modules and the drill rig was up to 13,000 tons. Projects like Perdido are
Tel: 361-775-4300, Fax: 361-775-4433
stacked, commissioned and function tested. executed successfully due to the extensive Website: www.kiewit.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

NOBLE CORP.’S INNOVATIVE ENGINEERING HELPS

SHELL TO DEVELOP PERDIDO

L
ong before the industry dared to dream that The rig was outfitted with the latest auto- upgraded to 18 metric tons from 12 metric
operating in the ultra-deepwater of the U.S. mated drilling and pipe handling equipment tons. Shell employed a suction pile system for
Gulf of Mexico could be possible, Noble took designed to take rig workers out of harm’s the Perdido wells so the larger anchors were
a bold and pioneering step in that direction. way and to increase performance while sav- not used during the project.
Believing that the deepwater was the future, ing time. This upgrade included an automated In order to accommodate the extra weight
the Company undertook the conversion of sev- pipe racking system and two iron roughnecks. of the larger chain and wire rope and the 16
eral shallow water submersibles into mooring winches, the rig was made
semisubmersibles known as the “EVAs.” more buoyant by the addition of smaller
The EVAs, which stood for “economic columns to each of the four corner
value advantage” leveraged Noble’s columns and “blisters” to each pontoon.
considerable engineering expertise
and well-deserved reputation for ef- Safety first
ficient and safe operations. While the Noble Clyde Boudreaux
The EVA rigs immediately was drilling the Perdido wells,
demonstrated why they were so it received the U.S. Minerals
named. Several set water depth Management Service’s (MMS) Lake
records. If there was any skepticism Jackson District SAFE (Safety Award
in the offshore drilling industry that a for Excellence) Award for 2007 and
converted submersible could begin 2009. The rig was delivered in June
a new life capable of drilling in 2007, and during the first year of
7,000-8,000 ft of water, it was working for Shell on Perdido, the
quickly swept away. One of the The Noble Clyde Boudreaux batch drilled 23 wells for Shell’s Perdido rig completed the year with 1,086
development project while moored in water depths up to 9,000 ft.
forward-thinking oil companies that days without a recordable or lost-time
contracted an EVA semisubmersible early on Upgraded mooring system incident. The rig was visited and inspected
was Shell, beginning a15-year (and count- The Noble Clyde Boudreaux originally was nine times by the MMS during its first year of
ing) partnership of continued innovation in designed to have a standard 8-point mooring operations, with no non-compliance issues
the industry. system but after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita reported.
More recently, Shell contracted another devastated the Gulf drilling industry with Noble Corporation’s innovation and
one of Noble’s new ultra-deepwater semisub- Category 5 winds, Noble conducted studies commitment to safety has helped Shell to
mersibles, the Noble Clyde Boudreaux, to to make the rig capable of withstanding a successfully complete the Perdido project, itself
batch drill 23 wells in water depths ranging 100 year storm. an innovative endeavor. These attributes have
from 7,800-9,000 ft of water for its innovative “With participation from Shell, we helped to build Noble into one of the world’s
ultra-deepwater Perdido development project. redesigned the mooring system to a 16-point largest offshore drilling contractors capable
system based on the results of the studies,” of handling the most complex projects around
Upgrade project said Dave Petitjean, Noble’s Project Manager the world with extra value added.
The Noble Clyde Boudreaux began life as a during the rig’s upgrade. “We also redesigned
Russian-built hull that Noble had purchased. it to be a larger and more robust system.”
The hull was completely stripped of all of its The mooring wire was increased to 3 3⁄4-in.
original drilling equipment, offering Noble diameter from 3 1⁄8-in. diameter for greater Noble Drilling Ser vices Inc.
and Shell a clean slate that eventually became breaking strength. Likewise, the chain was 13135 South Dairy Ashford, Suite 800
Sugar Land, TX 77478
one of the largest and most technologically increased to 3 1⁄4-in. from 2 3⁄4-in. Finally, Tel: 1-281-276-6100 • Fax: 1-281-491-2092
advanced drilling rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. the size and weight of the anchors were Website: www.noblecorp.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

THE BAYOU COMPANIES PROVIDE WELDING, COATING

AND INSULATION SERVICES AROUND THE WORLD
Full array of services
S
traight on the heels of successfully
fabricating and supplying pipe line end The Bayou Companies was established
terminals (PLET) for Shell’s Ursa/Princess in 1942 as a one-man, one-welding truck
waterflood project, Bayou Welding Works operation and has grown to provide welding
(BWW), a subsidiary of The Bayou Com- and coating services to the some of the largest
panies Inc. (TBC), was awarded a contract offshore oil and gas production projects in
to fabricate 14 additional PLETs for Shell’s the world. Today, the company provides a
Perdido development. The Perdido PLETs are full array of welding and coating services,
installed in nearly 10,000 ft of water, making including pipe multi-jointing, pipe-in-pipe Perdido PLET sled S-2 and a double-jointed flowline
with FBE and GSPU coating loaded to barge.
them some of the deepest in the world. fabrication and insertion, and steel catenary
The Ursa/Princess project saw the first riser, flowline welding and flow assurance
use of the technology of another Bayou insulation products.
Companies subsidiary, Commercial Coat- The company has provided fusion bond
ing Services International (CCSI). CCSI’s epoxy coatings for more than 40 years
internal fusion bond epoxy (FBE) InnerGard™ and today operates multiple FBE operations
coating improves the flow of water, oil and locations in Louisiana, Texas, California
natural gas by creating a smooth, defect-free and Canada. The facilities can handle pipe
surface. The company constructed a new diameters from 2-in. to 60-in. and up to 80
coating plant specifically to apply internal ft in length. TBC provides ID coating services The PLETs for Perdido being loaded to barge at
Bayou’s waterfront facility.
FBE for the Ursa/Princess water injection for a smooth, defect-free surface at facilities
lines. This new facility also was used to in Louisiana, Texas and Canada, and can The Bayou Companies strives to continually
internally coat the flowlines and pipelines accommodate 2-in. to 48-in. diameter pipe improve workplace safety and operations in
supplied to the Perdido project. in varying lengths. CCSI, which provided its order to provide quality products and services
The first load out of PLETs and other InnerGard ID FBE coating, operates facilities in an environmentally friendly manner. The
flowline and pipelines were completed on in Louisiana, Texas and California. company’s Quality Management System is
schedule while the second load out was In addition to providing PLETs, PLEMS, in accordance with the requirements of ISO
completed ahead of schedule with no lost- manifolds and jumpers, BWW also offers new 9001:2008, ISO 14001:2004 and OSHAS
time incidents. Among the welds and coating offshore platform fabrication, production pack- 18001:1999.
provided by TBC were double joint welding ages, living quarters and heliports. The com- It is The Bayou Companies’ extensive ex-
to combine two 40 ft joints prior to coating pany’s onshore fabrication facilities include a perience and expertise and its commitment to
operations, FBE coating, triple layer polyeth- waterfront capable of handling up to a 100 ft quality products and services that has resulted
ylene (TLPE) coating to provide abrasion and x 400 ft barge, 10,000 sq ft of covered stor- in large and small oil and natural gas compa-
corrosion protection for pipes contacting the age area, and 90 ft x 150 ft and 50 ft x 150 nies around the world to choose the company
seabed, glass syntactic polyurethane (GSPU) ft fabrication shops equipped with overhead for their pipeline and flowline welding and
coating of line pipe, forging production cranes. Bayou Companies’ port of Iberia coating requirements.
welding of end pieces for installation and facility offers more than 280 acres of storage
forging collar coating. and access to the Intracoastal Waterway and
The steel catenary risers were counter the Gulf of Mexico with 6,000 linear ft of
The Bayou Companies, Inc.
bored at the end of each pipe to provide a waterfront. The facility also features a 250 ton 5200 Curtis Lane
smooth ID. A total of 1,108 joints of 10-in. and 70 ton crawler cranes, a 70 ton cherry New Iberia, LA 70560
Tel: 1.800.619.4807 or 337.369.3761
and 16-in. pipe were counter-bored for a total picker and the capacity to load more than 20
Fax: 337.365.9747
of 2,216 bores. 89 ft flat railcars within the facility. Website: www.bayoucompanies.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

OCEANEERING INSTALLS RECORD DIVERLESS DEEPWATER

HOOPS TIE-IN

The Oceaneering International, Inc. Olympic Intervention IV vessel working near the Shell Peridido spar. Shell and Oceaneering have a long-standing relationship that
has achieved excellent results in subsea projects in the Gulf of Mexico and other deepwater regions throughout the world.

Tie-in Concept
W
ho would cut a perfectly good Oceaneering’s Deepwater Technical Solutions
pipeline? Oceaneering worked with The Perdido host facility operates in ultra-deep (DTS) group developed many of the cleaning,
Shell to add a new tie-in for the Perdido waters of the Alaminos Canyon Block 857 clamping and cutting tools used in the Perdido
oil export pipeline to the currently operat- that had no production export infrastructure. operation.
ing Hoover Offshore Oil Pipeline System The closest tie-in opportunity was at HOOPS,
(HOOPS) pipeline. This is the first time in which extends from the ExxonMobil Hoover Mission Simulation
deepwater operations anywhere in the world platform to Freeport, Texas. HOOPS did not Oceaneering used their onshore ROV
that a flowing pipeline without a pre-existing have a connection link so it was necessary to simulator system to perform the preinstallation
connection has been shut-in and re-config- perform the deepwater installation of a connec- sequence. This process allowed the ROV
ured to tie-in a new pipeline. tion point to a working pipeline with minimal pilots to become familiar with the tools they
The installation took place as the result of production shut in. Based on its experience would be using and to practice installation
the partnership between Shell’s design team with the repair of the Mars pipeline after Hur- procedures under true subsea conditions.
and Oceaneering’s installation team. Con- ricane Katrina, Shell designed the hardware Once the installation vessel mobilized, a
tributing to the remarkable success story were and a subsea process for the Perdido tie-in. portable ROV simulator system was used
Oceaneering’s high-technology Olympic Inter- Oceaneering facilitated Shell’s design feasibil- offshore on the job.
vention IV support vessel, remotely operated ity using diverless intervention with ROVs.
vehicles (ROVs), ROV simulation capabilities, Oceaneering’s scope for the tie-in consisted Olympic Intervention IV Vessel
and a diverless installation team that worked of fabricating and assembling the subsea The 312-ft Olympic Intervention IV subsea
in concert to achieve the desired results with hardware components, then performing system support vessel and crew performed the
only a short, 17-day interruption of down- integration, operations planning, simulation, installation using built-in dual Millennium® Plus
stream production of the HOOPS pipeline. and subsea execution in 4500 fsw. ROVs. The Olympic Intervention IV features a

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150-mt active heave compensated crane that foundation, which served as a structural Success Story with No Ending
was used for overboarding the connection support and work table that provided the The HOOPs tie-in is only one of Oceaneer-
equipment. The vessel transmitted streaming means to align the pipeline connection. The ing’s success stories for Perdido and many
video for real-time work observation by shore foundation remains in place on the sea floor, other deepwater projects. Whenever or
personnel during the job. The heave-com- where it can be used for future repair and wherever there is a challenging subsea op-
pensated ROV launch and recovery system maintenance operations. portunity, Oceaneering is always available
onboard the Olympic Intervention IV lowered Two lift frames were used to raise the 18- with its intervention expertise and experience.
the ROVs from the surface and transported the in pipeline about 3 ft off the seabed. Using
specialized tooling required for the job. winches and buoyancy gauged to 60,000
lb, Oceaneering’s crew pulled the founda-
ROV Operation tion into place between the lift frames. With
The two separate ROV systems were staffed the foundation in place, Oceaneering used
with multiple crews for 24-hour operations an ROV-operated Fusion Bond Epoxy (FBE)
and were utilized for around-the-clock sub- and weld seam removal tool to clean the
sea work. The two systems usually worked existing HOOPS pipe and prepare it for
together to complete the required tasks. In connector installation. The pipeline was The weld seam and Fusion Bond Epoxy (FBE)
removal tool used subsea to prepare the HOOPS
many cases, one ROV would perform the then sealed off locally on each side using pipeline for adding a tie-in connection. Photo
courtesy of Shell.
work while the second ROV directed the isotope-embedded pigs. An ROV verified the
task from a better position near the worksite. pig locations before a 28-ft section of pipe
High-definition cameras allowed the pilots to was cut and removed. Spool assemblies
view the hardware in finer detail than pos- were then landed onto the foundation, rolled
sible with conventional filming technology. into place and connected to the pipelines,
leaving vertical hubs to re-connect the exist-
Subsea Execution ing pipeline via a pre-fabricated jumper and
The Perdido tie-in was accomplished using an additional hub to connect the Perdido Oil
Two Millennium® Plus ROVs work in tandem to check
an innovative 70-ft long, 14-ft high, 50-ton Export pipeline. pipeline ovality prior to pipeline cutting operations.

Millennium® Plus ROV surveys the completed jumper

installation and subsea tie-in at 4500 fsw.
OCEANEERING® and MILLENNIUM® are registered
trademarks of Oceaneering International, Inc.

Oceaneering International, Inc.

11911 FM 529, Houston, Texas 77041 U.S.A.
Tel: +1 (713) 329-4568
Oceaneering lifting the dual-hub connection assembly using the 150-mt active heave-compensated crane on Fax: +1 (713) 329-4951
the deck of the Olympic Intervention IV. Website: www.oceaneering.com

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COMPANY PROFILE

SCHLUMBERGER PIONEERS RECORD DEEPWATER

OPEN-HOLE GRAVEL PACK COMPLETIONS
Designing the completions
T
wo extremes define Perdido’s early develop- To overcome these challenges, Schlum-
ment wells: The water is very deep, and the The fracture gradient of the targeted Oligo- berger used two of its flagship technologies,
reservoirs are very shallow below the mudline. cene-Frio sands was about 7,100 psi. With the OptiPac* Alternate Path† systems, and its
The difficulty for drillers is the small difference reservoir pressures of 6,700 psi, that meant ClearPAC* MS gravel packing fluid system,
between the amount of pressure required to the pressure window for placing the gravel to ensure a complete pack around the sand
control the wellbore and the amount of pressure pack was only 400 psi. The risk of such a control screens.
required to fracture the rock around it. narrow operating window is that the reservoir OptiPac Alternate Path systems use shunt-
In the Silvertip field, where Schlumberger rock can fracture during treatment, causing tube technology to fill the voids that can form
completed Perdido’s first two development premature screen-out and insufficient packing during gravel packing even under fracturing
wells, the narrow pressure window is so low around the screens. conditions. The shunts are installed along the
that conventional open-hole gravel pack treat- The requirement for the gravel packing screens, each with a series of evenly placed
ments would be at risk. carrier fluid needed to have enough carrying nozzles.
“The challenge is to pump the gravel slurry capacity to suspend the gravel and remove “When a bridge forms, the slurry naturally
at a low enough pressure to keep it from the filter cake after the gravel was placed. diverts into the shunts,” Al-Harthy says. “When
fracturing and entering the formation, without It also needed to have a low corrosion rate slurry encounters a nozzle facing a void in
reducing the effectiveness of the gravel place- around the sand control screens, since the the open hole, it flows out to fill the unpacked
ment,” says Salah Al-Harthy, Schlumberger wells were being completed more than a annulus, and the process continues until the
well completion engineer. “The efficiency of the year before first oil. interval is fully packed.”
gravel pack directly affects the productive life of
an open hole well. Any voids will expose the
screens to erosion and possible well failure.”
Perdido’s first two development wells were
drilled from a floating rig in the Silvertip field,
in 9,400 feet of water. The targeted zone
was the Oligocene-Frio sands, a portion of the
Lower Tertiary that consists of as many as six
separate reservoirs from 1,500 to 2,500 feet
below the mudline.
The wells reached a maximum total depth
of 16,513 feet, with horizontal open-hole
length of 2,300 feet. Since the Oligocene-Frio
sands may compact as they are produced,
Horizontal open hole completion with OptiPac
well planners decided to complete these
sands with a horizontal open-hole gravel pack
to enhance the longevity of these completions
in a highly compressive reservoir.
“There were two primary challenges in
completing these sands with horizontal open-
hole gravel packs,” Al-Harthy says. “The first
challenge was the narrow pressure window
and the second challenge was the selection of
OptiPac screens and cutaway section
carrier fluid.” of a nozzle

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OptiPac systems are part of an inte-

grated approach that ensures that screens
are fully protected in high flow-rate wells, and
is utilized in-conjunction with SandCADE*,
gravel-pack design and evaluation software to
help engineers design, execute and evaluate
the entire job.
ClearPAC MS, which is an advanced
viscoelastic surfactant, was selected as the
carrier fluid on the first two Silvertip wells
because of its excellent sand suspension
capabilities, even at very low shear rates.
Schlumberger DeepSTIM II stimulation vessel
The sand suspension and low friction pressure
characteristics allow it to perform exceptionally This equipment, called the POD* pro- Monitoring in real time
well in the long intervals of both open hole grammable optimum density blender, mixes Throughout the process, Shell and Schlum-
and cased hole completions. The ClearPAC the fluid and the gravel before it enters the berger engineers in distant locations were
MS fluid also incorporates a breaker system pump. The POD normally operates at rates able to collaborate efficiently in real time
(based on MudSOLV technology) to help of above six barrels a minute, but for the using the InterACT* connectivity, collabora-
dissolve filter cake that remains in the wellbore Perdido wells the equipment was modified tion, and information system. InterACT’s robust
after the gravel pack is completed. By combin- to accept half the rate of fluid and proppant, design allows it to continue working, even in
ing the breaker system with the carrier fluid this to maintain pumping pressures within the areas with marginal communication links.
allowed Shell to eliminate the need to reenter narrow margins.
the well, saving valuable rig time. “We conducted a number of trials and Working the plan
“To compensate for the narrow operating extensive modeling beforehand to make sure “We really did our homework,” Al-Harthy
pressure, we also modified the mixing equip- that the equipment, fluid and overall design adds. “Using powerful models and
ment on our stimulation vessel,” Al-Harthy says. would perform as planned,” says Al-Harthy. simulations, we worked together in a highly
collaborative environment with Shell, to
evaluate all the risks and to ensure successful
execution. Perdido is a frontier development,
so there were many uncertainties, but at the
end of the day the modeling was correct
and these jobs were performed as designed.
The work we did on those first two wells
will guide many of Perdido’s future well
completions.”

*Mark of Schlumberger
†
Mark of ExxonMobil Corp.; technology licensed
exclusively to Schlumberger

MudSOLV: Filter Cake Breaker

Part A shows nonaggressive, slow-acting, MudSOLV
solutions remove the filtercake more uniformly,
resulting in higher retained permeability across the Schlumberger
entire interval. 1325 S. Dairy Ashford
Houston, TX 77077
Part B shows aggressive treatments like acid create
ClearPAC MS Fluids are used in OptiPac operations localized open areas (wormholes or pinholes) in the U.S.A.
to ensure proper gravel transportation and controlled filtercake, leaving large areas of filtercake unremoved, Tel: +1 281 285 1300
leakoff through the nozzles of packing shunts. generally over areas having lower permeability. Website: www.slb.com/sandcontrol

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“We are building on a Shell’s long history of

successful deepwater projects. That combina-
tion of experience and ability has allowed us
to take this next big step.”

1000 ft
Joe Leone
Vice President, Developing Assets

2000 ft

“The second deepest drilling and production platform

in the world is in 6,050 feet of water. The idea of
3000 ft
bringing full functionality to waters nearly 8,000 feet
deep and 200 miles from the onshore base is a big
step for the industry.”
4000 ft Dale Snyder
Perdido Project Manager

5000 ft

“Perdido demonstrates Shell’s ability to com-

bine creativity and technology to safely push
back deepwater boundaries. This develop-
6000 ft
ment paves the way for going beyond water
depths of 10,000 feet.”

Bill Townsley
7000 ft
Perdido Venture Manager

8000 ft
• Deepest spar in the world / Deepest drilling and production facility in the world

9000 ft

• Deepest producing subsea well

10,000 ft 1

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SHELL PERDIDO

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COMPANY PROFILE

TECHNOLOGY AND TEAMWORK ACHIEVE WORLD CLASS

SUCCESS FOR SHELL PERDIDO

Perdido Spar at Technip’s fabrication yard in Pori, Finland.

I
n the high-risk ultra deepwater environment, Shell’s choice of Technip as its EPC its engineering design expertise, industrial
success depends on two key components: company is a natural outcome of their long- assets (manufacturing plants, spoolbases,
technology and teamwork. Shell and Technip term working relationship and Technip’s construction yard) on five continents, and its
have applied innovative technologies and extensive experience in Spar development. own fleet of specialized vessels for pipeline
worked in concert as a team to achieve proj- In fact, the Perdido Regional Host is the installation and subsea construction.
ect success and set several world records for fourteenth Spar delivered by Technip. In
the Perdido Regional Host. 2004, Shell and Technip had accom- Spar at Record Ultra Deepwater Depth
plished the world’s first installation of steel Moored in close to 8,000 ft of water, the
Resources for Results catenary risers at 1,939 m (6,360 ft) for Perdido Spar is the deepest Spar production
Shell selected Technip to provide Engineer- the Na Kika project. facility in the world and the first with DVA
ing, Procurement and Construction (EPC) of Technip was able deliver the special (direct vertical access), which will reduce
the Perdido Spar hull and mooring system. aspects of the Perdido project because of drilling costs, simplify workovers, and facili-

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tate access to subsea equipment. The Spar

has a robust design that will help the facility
weather extreme hurricanes better than other
traditional production platforms.
Technip’s responsibilities encompassed
Spar hull and mooring system design and
fabrication, loading out onto a transportation
vessel, transportation, and quayside delivery
at a yard of the Gulf of Mexico. Technip’s
operations and engineering center in Hous-
ton performed the overall project manage-
ment and the global engineering design. The
detailed hull design and fabrication was car-
Technip used its high-technology Deep Blue vessel to lay pipelines and risers for the Shell Perdido project.
ried out by Technip’s yard in Pori, Finland. It
should be noted that the Perdido project de- Technip’s operating center in Houston (169,723 ft). Prior to manufacture of the
livered the best safety performance to-date, executed the project. The pipeline was main umbilicals for the project, Technip’s
for a Spar delivered from Pori, with no LTT’s welded at the Group’s spoolbase in Mobile, DUCO division had built a prototype
in over 2.5 millions manhours worked. Alabama. The offshore installation was umbilical that was subjected to a series of
performed using the Deep Blue, Technip’s qualification tests to prove the design for the
Extended Length Flowline and Pipeline deepwater pipelay vessel. challenging ultra deepwater environment.
Technip has helped set two new industry
records associated with the flowlines and Umbilicals
risers. Perdido is the deepest reeled flowline Technip provided the engineering and manu-
installation at a water depth of 2,961 m facture of a total of four dynamic umbilicals,
(9,713 ft). The facility also features the three static umbilicals, and two steel tube
deepest reeled steel catenary riser installa- flying leads with associated topside and
tion at a water depth of 2,469 m (8,100 ft). subsea hardware. Technip set another
The flowline and riser have a total length of industry record for the umbilicals: the Perdido Duco 1TOB 3 pass umbilical
13.2 km (8.2 miles). The pipeline reached 1TOB umbilical is the deepest umbilical
a maximum water depth of 9,713 ft along at 2,946 m (9,666 ft). The total umbili- Technology Driving Opportunity
the route. cal length was approximately 51,729 m Shell Perdido’s success is a testament to the
leadership of both Shell and Technip in turning
high risk challenges into safe and high-reward
opportunities in the ultra deepwater subsea
market. The Shell Perdido project is a great
milestone for Technip towards achieving its
goal to become a reference company for
HS&E, on-time delivery and new technology.

Technip USA, Inc.

11700 Katy Freeway - Suite 150
Houston, Texas 77079
Tel: (281) 870-1111
Perdido Spar as it is being transported to the final outfitting yard in the Gulf of Mexico. Website: www.technip.com

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EnergyWorkforce For the industry’s career-minded professionals • Summer 2010

Evaluation of Leadership
Teamwork Interventions
at DTE Energy

Workforce Mentorship:
Graycor Companies

HR Innovation: A Different
Approach at Brazil’s Petrobras

Well-Engineered Education

Deep Impact: 2010 Project

Management Trends will Help
Drive Knowledge Transfer

Making Social Media Work for

Oil & Gas

A s u p p l e m e n t t o P e n n W e l l p u b l i c a t i o n s • __________________________
www.PennEnergyJOBS.com

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Stacey Schmidt, Web Publisher

[email protected]

Chris Posey, J.B. Avants, Editors

EnergyWorkforce
[email protected]
[email protected]
JOBS INSIGHT
Candice Doctor, Sales Manager
[email protected] Recruitment and Selection Strategy 1
Stanna Brazeel, PennWell
Chad Wimmer, Art Director
[email protected]
WORKFORCE MENTORSHIP
Dorothy Davis, Production Manager
[email protected] Workforce Mentorship: Graycor
Companies 2
Tommie Grigg, Audience
John Murrel, Lee Petcu, Graycor Companies
Development Manager
[email protected]
CASE STUDY
HR Innovation: A Different Approach
at Brazil’s Petrobras 4
Celso Fernando Lucchesi, PETROBRAS

PennWell Corporation ENERGY WORKFORCE REPORT

1421 South Sheridan Road
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74112
Evaluation of Leadership Teamwork
918 835 3161 Interventions at DTE Energy—Fermi 2
PennWell.com
_______ Nuclear Power Station 6
––––––––––––––––––––––––––– M a r y J o R o g e r s , P h . D . S t r a t e g i c Ta l e n t S o l u t i o n s a n d
C o l l e e n M . W a l k e r, D e t r o i t E d i s o n
Recruitment Advertising Sales:
EDUCATION EXTRA
Candice Doctor
Sales Manager Well-Engineered Education 9
918 831 9884
[email protected]
PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Stephanie Brown
Power & Petroleum Account Executive Deep Impact: 2010 Project Management
918 832 9228 Trends will Help Drive Knowledge Transfer 12
[email protected]
B y J . L e R o y W a r d , P M P, P g M P

Brent Eklund RECRUITER’S PRACTICUM

Petroleum Account Executive
720 535 1264 Making Social Media Work for Oil & Gas 15
[email protected] Ya g y a A h u j a , C E O , G l o b a l E n e r g y Ta l e n t

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Cover photo
© Kts |________
Dreamstime.com

www.PennEnergyJOBS.com
_________________________________

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J O B S i n s i g h t

Recruitment & Selection in the Near Future

2010 seems to be off to a positive start. There are signs that the economy is back on the upswing,
and the job market will soon follow. Before too long, it will be an employee market again and
recruitment activities will increase. This time around many companies could see a considerable
increase in turnover activity because employees have a very fresh perspective of their company’s
allegiances, or lack thereof, towards employees in times of hardship. For companies who did not
successfully keep a long-term workforce strategy in sight over the last year, the time to pay the price
is fast approaching. What that means to human resource professionals is that we are in the midst
of the calm before the storm. Right now is the time to develop a strong recruitment and selection
strategy to counter the effects of turnover and increase the opportunity to gain top talent.
Among the many aspects of your strategy, one focus should include identifying the
recruitment and selection actions that should be emphasized in order to develop a robust
workforce foundation. Seems simple and insignificant, but determining how recruitment will be
conducted could generate stronger interest from
the job candidates you seek.
The top talent of today is The top talent of today is technically savvy
technically savvy and looks for and looks for companies that fit characteristics
companies that fit characteristics synonymous with their own. The activities and
synonymous with their own. approaches companies use to recruit and select
are providing these individuals with the first
glimpse of that potential fit. One example is
video interviewing. Video interviewing leverages both technology and time. At the click of a
button, interviewer and interviewee can be connected from anywhere. Interfacing via video
communicates to the job seeker that the company is interested in meeting the standards of
current technology, and ultimately complimenting the characteristics of the technologically savvy
worker of today and tomorrow.
Additionally, decisions made now about what methods will be used in your hiring process
will help to maximize your selection choices. A data driven approach to building a competitively
advantageous employee base further adds to a thorough recruitment and selection strategy.
Sometimes a company falls short of taking all necessary steps when they leave selection decisions
solely up to managers. Assessments are an excellent way to add an analytical dimension into your
process. Companies driven to quantify hiring decisions will only strengthen their edge in the
fight for talent.
These are only two of the many activities and approaches human resource professionals
should be reviewing now for their recruitment and selection efforts in the near future. Beginning
your preparation now means having an advantage over the competition in the future.

Sincerely,
Stanna Brazeel,
Manager, Staffing and Salary Administration, Human Resources
PennWell

E n er gy Wo r k f o r c e F o r j o b o ppo rtu n i ti es , visit _________________

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WORKFORCE MENTORSHIP

Workforce Mentorship: Graycor Companies

Over the course of 2010, Energy Workforce will • Remember to thank everyone personally after each individual
interview and then follow up with a small thank you email
be interviewing executives at energy sector
or letter reinforcing your interest and one or two points as to
companies worldwide. In this issue, we spoke
why you feel you fit the position requirements.
with John Murrel and Lee Petcu of the Graycor
Companies. • If you have not heard anything from the employer after a
week, it is acceptable to inquire with the human resources
representative as to the status of the position and your candi-
1. What do you see as the single most dacy, but you do not want to check in too quickly or too often.
important trait any prospective employee
should bring to the table, regardless of 3. What do you see as the ideal balance
the specific position being sought? between the education and the previous
• Beyond having definite experience that meets the position experience of a prospective employee?
requirements, the most important trait any prospective em- Does one weigh heavier, and why?
ployee should bring to the table is to be engaged. Be alert, well • Typically education is valued more highly in entry level
informed and prepared. This includes knowing the job descrip- positions where there is less background and experience to
tion, knowing the company, and knowing what you bring to the be measured.
table that will make you the best candidate for the job.
• After a person has successfully proven themselves in their
2. How might a prospective employee career after time, formal education becomes less important.
impress you before, during, and after the However continuous improvement and education is always
interview process? helpful.
• Before the process they should have a professional, error-
free resume and cover letter that closely match the position 4. What do you feel is one of the more
requirements. significant current issues in human
resource management in the energy
• During the interview process they should be professional, industry, and how do you feel this issue is
meaning that they should present themselves well by being best addressed?
dressed in a suit or other appropriate attire. • One of our biggest challenges in human resource
management, including the energy industry, is that the
• Also during the interview, the candidate should be able positions we are seeking require very specific skill sets,
to communicate well, demonstrate that he/she has the which are sometimes difficult to find. In addition, we have
appropriate experience and knows the work required for the experienced a decrease in the influx of personnel into the
position, show leadership abilities, and explain how his/her industry.
background would help meet the company’s expectations.
• There are many ways that we address this, but the most
• They should be prepared by knowing the position for which significant is by continuing to train and develop our existing
they are interviewing and by researching the company so that employees, giving them a safe operating environment
they can ask and answer questions appropriately. that offers appropriate challenging work and growth
opportunities, and also helps to reduce unwanted turnover.
• It is also important to answer interview questions in the
following way: not too short, more than one-word answers, • Another way that we address this is through professional
but be sure not to ramble. Career websites, such as monster. networking, as well as our own internal employee referral
com and careerbuilder.com, have interview tutorials that can system, which helps to help attract additional potential
be utilized for advice. employees.

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WORKFORCE MENTORSHIP

5. What suggestions would you give to Internet Recruiter (CIR). Murrel is a member of the Society
current job-seekers in your industry? of Human Resource Management (SHRM) and the Staffing
• Looking for a job is a full-time job. Management Association of Greater Chicago.

• Have a professional, error-free resume. Have it reviewed by a As senior vice president for Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc.
professional or double-checked by different resources. – the industrial subsidiary of the Graycor Companies, a leading
North American industrial and com-
• Utilize the internet job boards, such as monster.com and mercial contractor in business since
careerbuilder.com, as well as specialized employment search 1921 – Lee Petcu is responsible for
engines, like simplyhired.com and indeed.com. Also, niche Graycor’s expanding presence across
trade publications such as Energy Workforce, are a great way the country in the power industry. The
to research and find new, targeted opportunities. 39-year construction industry veteran
has a wide variety of experience in
• Utilize professional and social networking resources such as industrial and commercial construc-
facebook.com, linkedin.com and other professional affilia- tion markets. Since joining Graycor in
tions. 1986, Petcu has held many increasingly
responsible positions including senior project manager, manager
• Only apply for jobs for which you are qualified. Read the re- of quality assurance/quality control, manager of estimating, con-
quirements carefully. struction manager, vice president and now senior vice president.
For the past decade, Petcu has been focused on developing client
• Most positions are filled by referrals, so utilize your network relationships and overseeing work in the power market. He holds
of friends, relatives, professional organizations and col- a B.S. in civil engineering from Washington University and is a
leagues to seek out opportunities or to use as referral sources. Registered Professional Engineer in the state of Pennsylvania.

About Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc.

For more than 80 years, Graycor Industrial Constructors Inc.
(Graycor Industrial) has been taking on the toughest heavy
industrial construction projects across North America in
a variety of markets including power, process and metals.
The company has earned a reputation in the industry for
developing long-term, collaborative partnerships that result
in projects being completed efficiently, effectively and, most
importantly, safely.

About the Graycor Companies

The Graycor companies – Graycor Industrial Constructors
As Staffing Manager for the Graycor Companies, a leading Inc., Graycor Construction Company Inc., Graycor Blasting
construction services firm with more than 1,200 construction Company Inc., and Graycor International – provide a wide
professionals working throughout North America and beyond, variety of industrial and commercial construction services,
John Murrel has more than 20 years of experience in recruiting, as well as industrial maintenance technologies, across North
talent acquisition, human resources project management and America. As a top ranking industry leader, Graycor commits
consulting with Fortune 100 corporations, international entities to safe working environments, demands excellence and
and third-party agencies. For the Graycor Companies, he is rewards passion. Established in 1921, Graycor employs more
largely responsible for full-cycle talent acquisition, recruitment, than 1,200 construction specialists at its Chicago headquarters,
and staffing activities throughout North America. Murrel regional offices and project locations across the United States,
holds a B.B.A. from Michigan State University and studied for Canada, Mexico and beyond. For more information on the
his M.B.A. at Eastern Michigan University. He is a certified Graycor family of companies, visit www.graycor.com or call
Professional in Human Resources (PHR) and a Certified 1-800-455-0440.

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CASE STUDY

HR Innovation: A Different Approach at Brazil’s Petrobras

Celso Fernando Lucchesi
Managing Director of Business Performance and Corporate Strategy, PETROBRAS

initiatives that will reinforce a global corporate emphasis

As the fourth largest energy company and on “Skills Driving the Strategies” and “Commitment to
the top deepwater drilling expert in the Sustainability”.
world, Brazil’s Petrobras has long held a
reputation for recruiting and hiring some Petrobras has so far proven itself prepared to take the
of the world’s top geoscientists, engineers qualitative leap to meet such goals and add value to the
and other highly-skilled employees. In fact, business. But how did we approach this challenge?
the integrated company’s success in human
resources planning, management, training and Identifying our Needs
One primary HR concern is the need to provide the skills
retention led Petrobras to be ranked a global
necessary to operate across several areas of the company,
benchmark in the category of Human Resource
always focusing on attention to quantity, quality and deadlines
Development by the Dow Jones Sustainability
as required by company operations.
Index (DJSI) for four years running.
In line with this, in mid-2009, Petrobras conducted an internal
But when we made a globally significant oil discovery in study to identify the most critical positions in the company,
2007, a new frontier opened up presenting new technical, taking into consideration such criteria as availability, degree of
logistical, management and human specialization, and the nature of day-to-day
resources challenges. In this issue of activity. A follow-up survey was carried out
By surveying, we
Energy Workforce I am happy to share through internal and external analyses of
were able to more
insights on how, faced with this exciting those positions, in order to devise innovative
new opportunity, Petrobras maneuvered to clearly identify our and proactive HR programs in line with
support our company’s most valuable asset HR needs, which Petrobras’ goals.
– our human resources. led to an increased
emphasis on knowl- This was a fundamental and instrumental
A Game-Changing Discovery edge management, step. By surveying, we were able to more
In 2007, Brazil announced the discovery of clearly identify our HR needs, which led
massive oil reserves off the southern coast to an increased emphasis on knowledge
of the country. The “Pre-Salt” deepwater oil fields, which are management, since the study indicated an immediate need to
estimated to contain 10 to 16 billion BOE of light oil beneath acquire, transfer, record and retain knowledge.
layers of rock and salt over 21,000 feet below the sea, are the
largest discovery in the Americas in three decades. Specialized Training
Following our research and analysis, our second step was to
Our “Vision 2020,” set out in the Petrobras Strategic Plan, is expand our specialized training offerings. In that regard, last
to become one of the five largest integrated energy companies year, Petrobras University, which leads the company’s training
in the world. Thus, in recent years, Petrobras has aimed to and development initiatives, launched PRODESAL (Program
accelerate growth with investments, in Brazil and abroad, in for Development of Pre-Salt) in order to meet the demand for
six business segments: exploration and production (E&P); personnel in pre-salt exploration activities, considering both
refining, transportation and commercialization (RTC), gas and the required timeframe and the required expertise.
energy (G&E); petrochemicals; distribution; and biofuels.
PRODESAL’s actions range from specialized training courses
Within this context, and with the new dynamic presented by for newcomers to the development of new skills for pre-salt
the Pre-Salt discovery, Petrobras’ top HR priority is to launch activities. The program is available in Petrobras units across

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CASE STUDY

the country, and is aligned with the technology programs

conducted by Cenpes, the company’s research center. Petrobras strategically blends new
employees with more experienced ones
Cross-Industry Collaboration to rev up the transfer of knowledge and
In addition to focusing within our internal training facilities, to extend our corporate culture.
we also placed emphasis on reaching out for cross-industry
collaboration. With a much more comprehensive focus, appointed managers, attend development programs that cover
Petrobras, along with other energy companies and institutions, both theoretical and behavioral management techniques.
participates in PROMINP, the Program for Mobilization of the
National Oil and Natural Gas Industry. Petrobras’ HR initiatives are reviewed and adjusted every year
based on the Petrobras Strategic Plan, with the 2030 horizon
PROMINP aims to meet the personnel demand of the planned having been established for this year. With all the changes we
expansion of Brazil’s oil and gas sector by enhancing the are facing with regard to technology, the labor environment,
professional qualifications of industry technicians. By 2009, and growth areas, our HR strategy is becoming increasingly
approximately 50,000 professionals had been trained through more daring and innovative.
the program. An additional 28,000 selected candidates will
be qualified by the end of the first half of 2010, totaling Celso Fernando Lucchesi joined Petrobras in 1973 as a well
approximately 78,000 professionals. Looking ahead to 2013, site geologist. During the 1980’s, he managed exploration
PROMINP forecasts the qualification of an additional 207,000 teams in Pelotas, Santos, Espírito
professionals to serve in our industry. Santo, Recôncavo and Campos
basins. In 1990, he was appointed
Furthermore, to enhance personnel development through general manager of Petrobras’
higher education professionals, Petrobras also partnered with exploration department in Rio
the energy sector’s regulatory agency, ANP (National Agency of de Janeiro, and was promoted
Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels), to finance graduate and to executive general manager of
post-graduate scholarship programs. Petrobras just launched exploration and production in 1995.
its Program for Training of Human Resources (PFRH), similar In April 1999, he was appointed
to the ANP’s Human Resources Program (PRH), which aims general manager, corporate
at training personnel at technical and academic levels, in planning. In November 2000, he
addition to fostering Masters and PhD degrees in the industry’s was appointed managing director of Business Performance and
professions through the granting of scholarships. a member of Petrobras business committee. Since February
2003, Mr. Lucchesi has been serving as Petrobras’ managing
Maintaining Corporate Culture & Long- director of Business Performance and Corporate Strategy.
Term Leadership
Finally, recognizing the importance of maintaining our Mr. Lucchesi obtained a degree in geology at the university
corporate culture and cultivating leadership for long-term of Rio Grande do Sul in 1972. He has attended advanced
success, Petrobras strategically blends new employees with management/strategy programs at Fundação Dom Cabral,
more experienced ones to rev up the transfer of knowledge and Insead, and The Wharton School of the University of
to extend our corporate culture. The degree to which this mix Pennsylvania.
is implemented depends on the activity, always based both on
the skills required by the unit that will receive the employee, as ABOUT PETROBRAS
well as those of the employee’s original unit. Petrobras is an integrated international energy company
present in 28 countries with strong presence in West Africa,
The issue of leadership is a major focus given the tremendous Gulf of Mexico and Latin America. Petrobras is known as one
opportunities facing Petrobras in the coming years. To help of the global leaders in exploration and production offshore,
prepare potential managers, we are expanding our Management chiefly in deep and ultra deep water environment. Petrobras
Succession Project, which consists of identifying employees with has almost 15 billion oil-equivalent barrels of proven reserves
strong management profiles, and having them, along with newly and a daily production around 2.6 million.

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ENERGY WORKFORCE REPORT

Evaluation of Leadership Teamwork Interventions at

DTE Energy—Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Station
Mary Jo Rogers, Ph.D. and Colleen M. Walker

responsible for the daily operation of the plant, as well as,

Commercial nuclear power site leadership together have some accountability for addressing the longer
teams face daunting challenges to keep their term concerns of the station (e.g., equipment reliability).
operating units running safely and reliably
throughout the entire fuel cycle. Our The assessment looked at critical aspects of team functioning,
experience and research on nuclear senior such as horizontal alignment and processes and structure
leadership teams tells us that there are steps that support teamwork. We used semi-structured interviews,
teams can take to improve the functioning team observations and a team survey to collect information.
of the team and its ability to lead the station The STS Operational Senior Team Assessment areas are
summarized in Table 1.
to perform. In partnership with internal
organizational effectiveness and human
Table 1. STS Operational Senior Team Assessment
resources at DTE Energy, Strategic Talent
Solutions (STS) conducted a series of team Area Description
assessments and interventions that included
a review of the effectiveness of the work. Horizontal Alignment Degree and quality of cross-functional
coordination, cooperation and
Results showed that the systematic approach communication
to team building had a positive impact on the
functioning of the senior team. Vision, Mission & Agreement on station vision, mission,
Priorities priorities and how to achieve station goals
Expectations—Roles Expectations regarding roles and
DTE Energy—Fermi Unit 2 Performance & Responsibilities responsibilities are clear and understood
DTE Energy’s Detroit Edison has a single nuclear generating Processes & Meetings, schedules and shared
facility—Fermi Unit 2. Fermi 2’s generation capacity, Structure that accountabilities are structured to foster
industrial safety record and other performance indicators Support Teamwork cross-functional coordination and challenge
had started to show decline in 2006-2007 after a few years of
Standards A shared pursuit for higher standards of
good performance. In 2007 DTE named a new Chief Nuclear
excellence, measuring gaps and continually
Officer, Jack Davis, and Site Vice President, Joe Plona, who strive to improve
asked STS to help them turn around station performance by
addressing organizational concerns, starting with the senior Urgency A common, appropriate level of urgency to
leadership team (SLT). address issues and obtain safe results
Accountability Consistency in holding organizations
The senior leadership team effectiveness work at Fermi accountable; performance issues are
was part of a larger organizational change effort to make addressed in a timely manner
significant and sustained behavioral changes and performance Workforce Consistent efforts to involve employees in
improvements. The analysis of and interventions with the Engagement improvements
site senior leadership team were important first steps in this
process. (Additional information on the larger program is
available from the authors). The survey questionnaire asked team members to rate
themselves and the SLT on eight aspects of teamwork, such
Operational Senior Team Assessment as communication and working together to achieve site-wide
The Fermi team assessment included all the key managers goals. Participants also rank ordered each of the departments
and directors (15 people) from various departments who are on cross-functional teamwork.

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ENERGY WORKFORCE REPORT

Senior Team Assessment Results Organizational Adaptations

The team assessment revealed a number of underlying issues To provide ongoing support for teamwork and alignment
that contributed to the gaps in team performance. Senior efforts and create a forum for addressing issues, the following
managers were not aligned on expectations and did not organizational changes were made:
respond consistently to performance problems. They were
reluctant to jump in and help one another and did not drive • Weekly management alignment meetings were
improvements across the station in a coordinated manner. held with the senior team to keep team initiatives
Structures and processes did not adequately support ongoing and the expected results in front of people.
teamwork at the time. • Organizational change and teamwork behavior
initiatives were integrated into the site business
The survey ratings on team behaviors showed that the plan; action plans were created and progress was
following were the most problematic cross-functional team reviewed regularly by the SLT.
issues: • Training was conducted to reinforce skills related
to communication and mutual accountability.
• Timely sharing of information across
departments
• Helping other departments Effectiveness Review
• Getting feedback on being a poor cross-functional In 2009, the team and the station had made noticeable
team player progress. The site had improved operational performance,
including greater capacity factor and a better industrial safety
Team Interventions record. The effectiveness review was conducted to validate
After reviewing the results of the team assessment, STS and organizational improvements as well as to identify new areas
Fermi OE/HR worked closely with line leaders on a series that needed attention. The team survey that was taken in 2007
of interventions. Teamwork sessions were designed to build was re-administered and was accompanied by the STS Team
alignment on standards, accountability and on how team Audit, a 36-item questionnaire assessing team alignment,
members were going to work together better. Each session capability, cohesion and communication.
had a written agenda with objectives that were discussed in
advance with top leaders. The team sessions progressed from Team members’ perceptions of cross-functional teamwork
smaller to larger circles of senior leadership. were much more positive in the 2009 survey (see Figure 1).
Most improvement was seen in:
Teamwork Session Example
The first full team session included the top 15 managers from • Getting help across departments when needed
various departments. The objectives of the session were to • Departments sharing information and
clarify expectations regarding teamwork behavior, to identify communicating in a timely manner
gaps in cross-functional team behavior and to build agreement • Clear expectations for cross-functional
and commitment on improving teamwork. The core of the teamwork
team activities in this session involved going through the • People getting feedback when they are being a
results of the teamwork survey. poor team player

Seeing the results of the forced ranking on team behavior

stimulated earnest and challenging discussion of why groups The STS Team Audit showed strong alignment and
were ranked low or high. Team members were struck by the capability across the team. Team members reported that
impact of their own actions and how their peers saw their they are clear on the strategy, understand what they are
behavior. The team reviewed the results of the ratings on team accountable for delivering, are supportive of the team’s goals
behavior and discussed which items were more crucial. This and are focused on getting results. The area of cohesion
session was seen as pivotal in aligning senior managers on was the lowest rated area. Follow-up team sessions were
team behavior and in obtaining commitment to one another to held focusing on cohesion in order to continue to build the
improve cross-functional cooperation. strength of the SLT.

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Conclusions Solutions, she worked in management development for

Fermi made good use of the team assessment and intervention Exelon Corporation, where she developed numerous talent
work. Getting alignment from the top and expanding team management and leadership assessment processes. Dr.
sessions methodically helped obtain results in subsequent Rogers is also an accomplished team and individual coach,
team sessions. Rigorous follow-up on recommended actions helping leaders accelerate their own development and increase
was critical as the site made the oversight of team behavior performance levels within their organizations. She received her
part of its ongoing processes. The effectiveness review is a Ph.D. from Loyola University Chicago.
useful tool to validate improvements, highlight new areas for
growth, as well as to ensure that team development resources Strategic Talent Solutions (STS)
are used wisely. Strategic Talent Solutions is a consulting partnership founded
on a deeper understanding of what competitive strategies
Figure 1. Fermi Cross-Functional Team Effectiveness 2007 vs. 2009 demand from talent and a contemporary definition of
leadership. STS counsels executives on how to personally
Respondents were asked to rate the extent to which the
following statements were true for the team lead their teams and engage their employees to be passionate
(1 = not true and 5 = very true). about their business. STS provides executive assessment,
leadership development, coaching, succession and talent
Our leader’s expectations for management as well as organizational assessments, surveys
cross-functional teamwork are clear and interventions. STS works to build inspired, talent-rich
When another department needs help organizations that create stronger business results and more
from my department, we give it productive workforces. For more information visit www.
immediately
strattalent.com.
We challenge one another in meetings
to arrive at the best answers
Colleen M. Walker is the Director,
During refueling outages, we are effective Nuclear Organizational Effectiveness
at cross-functional teamwork at Detroit Edison’s Fermi 2 Nuclear
Power Plant. Walker is responsible
All departments work together to achieve
site-wide goals for Performance Improvement,
Departments share information and
Quality Assurance, Licensing and
communicate with one another in a Training programs. Prior to joining
timely manner
Detroit Edison, Ms. Walker served
When someone is being a poor team
player, they get feedback and are held in variety of technical, human
accountable for it resources and operational roles at
When we need help from another Ontario Power Generation for 28 years. Most recently, she
department, we get it immediately was the Director of WANO and External Interfaces at Ontario
1 2 3 4 5 Power Generation where she led a recovery plan resulting in
improved performance being recognized by external evaluators.
2009 2010 Key elements of this recovery plan included leadership
development in the areas of alignment and teamwork. Prior to
Mary Jo Rogers, Ph.D. is a partner this role, Walker was the Director of Training at Ontario Power
at Strategic Talent Solutions where Generation, including Leadership and Management Training
she leads the company’s utility Development.
and nuclear industry consulting
practice. Dr. Rogers delivers incisive Fermi 2 Nuclear Power Plant is an 1100 megawatt boiling
assessments and interventions to water reactor located in Newport, Michigan. The facility
teams and organizations that result employs about 900 workers and produces approximately 15
in better operational performance. percent of the power generated by Detroit Edison, a subsidiary
Prior to joining Strategic Talent of DTE Energy.

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EDUCATION EXTRA

Well-Engineered Education
Energy Workforce Staff

Engineers make up one of the largest Founded in 1894, UT’s Department of Engineering, now
professions within the energy industry. the Cockrell School of Engineering was ranked 9th out of
approximately 300 accredited engineering schools nationwide
According to the US Bureau of Labor and
by US News and World Report. Its petroleum engineering
Statistics, “Engineers typically enter the
department was ranked second among domestic petroleum
occupation with a bachelor’s degree in an
engineering undergraduate programs, and first among
engineering specialty,” and engineering petroleum engineering graduate programs in the US.
employment is expected to grow by 11% over
the 2008-2018 decade.

Corporate layoffs and downsizing are necessitating an Texas A&M

unexpected return to higher education for many, and It just makes sense that a state with such a prolific history of
engineering, especially within the energy industry, is one petroleum discoveries, both on land and offshore, is on our list
field in particular in which people are migrating. With twice. Texas A&M is well known for its legacy of producing
median earnings figures between $82,160 (starting at competitive petroleum engineering grads. Its undergraduate
$60,125) for electrical engineers and $108,020 (starting program was recognized as the best in the nation by U.S.
at $83,121) for petroleum engineers and the potential for News and World Report in 2002-03. A&M’s graduate program
growth in the field, it is no surprise that engineering is a received the Report’s top honor among graduate schools in
major of choice among universities internationally. 2009. As of the 2009-10 school year, the university had 3
faculty members on board who are considered Honorary
While employers weigh a number of factors when Members of the Society of Petroleum Engineers and 10
considering potential engineering hires, education is one Distinguished Members of SPE.
consideration that is high on the list. Students have many
schools to choose from, but a handful of universities have Texas A&M has skillfully whittled its focus down to
engineering schools that may make employers look twice. three essential educational objectives that emphasize the
We took a look at ten such public universities, five that excel competitive abilities and skillful practice of its students, as
in petroleum engineering and five that excel in electrical well as the overall excellence of the petroleum engineering
engineering, and while this list is far from exhaustive, it program itself. Undergraduate department scholarships
does attempt to address some of the traits of schools that, topped half a million dollars in 2009-10, and research
combined with hard work and proactive, unwavering focus, expenditures have increased almost 5 million dollars in the
may contribute to one’s success in the field of engineering in past decade.
the energy industry.

Petroleum Engineering:
Colorado School of Mines
The Colorado School of Mines is the only university in our
The University of Texas list that is devoted specifically to engineering and applied
Over 25% of Petroleum PhDs in the world graduated from science. Despite having been founded in 1874, Mines is
the Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering department at involved with a number of modern, progressive initiatives
the University of Texas. The university boasts a $100 million in petroleum engineering. For example, in January 2010, the
portfolio in energy research that continues to grow. One U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced a $33.8 million
of their more recent initiatives, the Energy Institute, is an investment in a National Advanced Biofuels Consortium
ambitions effort to promote energy independence in Texas-- (NABC), led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
and the rest of the country. (NREL) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory,

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EDUCATION EXTRA

with Colorado School of Mines as one of the partners in the The Mewbourne School provides petroleum engineering
consortium. The Consortium will lead research to develop students with contemporary, progressive opportunities
sustainable, cost-effective biomass-based hydrocarbon fuels. In in academia through a number of research consortia and
late 2009, Mines established the Unconventional Natural Gas resources such as the school’s Unconventional Reservoirs
Institute (UNGI) for the upstream research and development Workshop, as well as many opportunities for practical
of natural gas. application, with the implementation of one-of-a-kind tools
such as the university’s Interactive Drilling and Well Control
Mines ranked 34th in the “Top 50 Public National Simulator made available by National Oil Well VARCO.
Universities” and 77th among “Best National Universities,”
both private and public, according to the 2010 edition of Power Generation-,
U.S. News & World Report’s America’s Best Colleges. Mines Transmission-, and Distribution-
also ranks No. 1 among state schools for starting salaries of Based Engineering:
graduates with bachelor’s degrees, with a starting median
salary of $60,000, according to Payscale.com.
California Polytechnic State University
Ranked third in the nation among public, non-doctoral
engineering schools in US News and World Report’s 2010
Pennsylvania State University Best Colleges ranking, and first among public Electrical
Known for its multiple laboratories devoted exclusively to Engineering programs in the US, Cal Poly’ reputation in the
energy and mineral engineering, as well as its state-of-the-art industry is more than noteworthy. The university was also
analytical facilities, the EMS Energy Institute and the Materials named by Kiplinger’s Personal Finance as one of its “100
Research Institute, Penn State has been a leader in petroleum Best Values in Public Colleges 2009-2010” in its February
and natural gas engineering since 1929. magazine.

In 2009, Penn State received accolades from US News and Cal Poly opened its doors to aspiring engineers over 100
World Report, Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine, years ago, and its College of Engineering is the largest of the
Newsweek, Washington Monthly, and Entrepreneur university’s six colleges. Cal Poly regularly turns out students
Magazine, and the university was ranked 1st for student employed by the likes of San Diego Gas & Electric (SDGE) and
fellowships in the Big Ten by the National Science Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E). The practical learn-to-work
Foundation. Penn State engineering faculty ranked first in nature of Cal Poly’s College of Engineering is exemplified in
the 2007 Faculty Scholarly Productivity Index, an index that the university’s admonition to “Learn by Doing.”
analyzes the productivity of university PhDs with regard to
research, journal articles, books, grants, Fulbright scholars
and Nobel prizes.
University of California-Berkeley
With a legacy of engineering accomplishments that include
contributions to Silicon Valley, the Hoover Dam, and the
Oklahoma University Golden Gate Bridge, it is no surprise that the University of
Since its first degree in geologic engineering was awarded California-Berkeley’s College of Engineering is on our list.
in 1919, Oklahoma University has granted more than Both UC Berkeley’s undergraduate and graduate engineering
5,000 petroleum and engineering degrees--a number departments hold the #1 spot among public schools ranked by
which surpasses all but two other programs in the US. The US News and World Report in 2010.
Mewbourne School of Petroleum and Geological Engineering,
the first named school in the OU College of Engineering, UC Berkeley’s most recent resource for engineering excellence
claims five faculty members who have received the Society of includes the proposed Helios Energy Research Facility, whose
Petroleum Engineering’s Distinguished Achievement Award, research will actually be conducted under the auspices of
and eight OU graduates have served as presidents of the Berkeley’s bioengineering program as well as the BP-funded
organization. Energy Biosciences Institute. The facility is brainchild of

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EDUCATION EXTRA

former Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory director launched. At the same time, the university is sensitive to
(and head of the US Department of Energy), Steven Chu. international humanitarian issues. Michigan Engineering
Its very construction is in and of itself a “green” effort, as it sponsors the relief effort Blue Lab, a student-run organization
will necessitate the demolition of an existing building that is that finds sustainable solutions to development problems
currently wrought with “hazardous-materials issues.” domestically and abroad.

UC Berkeley’s Nuclear Engineering Department recently

received five DOE R&D awards under the Nuclear Energy
University Program (NEUP). These projects were selected Georgia Institute of Technology
based on what DOE refers to as “cutting-edge nuclear energy Georgia Tech’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering
research and development.” Projects address complex topics is the largest of the university’s engineering schools and
such as Fuel Utilization in Fast Reactors and Liquid Salt Heat departments. The university’s undergraduate College of
Exchanger Technology. Engineering was ranked 5th in the latest US News and World
Report rankings and 2nd among public schools in the list. The
school boasts 5 NAE members and a total of 38 IEEE fellows,
five of whom were awarded at the end of 2009. Georgia Tech
University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign was also recently awarded a $10.5 million U.S. Air Force Center
With an internationally renowned and widely published of Excellence to design nanostructures for energy harvesting
faculty and the largest engineering library in the US, the and adaptive materials, and to develop tools to optimize critical
University of Illinois at Urbana - Champaign serves as cognitive processes of the modern warfighter.
a guidepost in the milieu of engineering education. The
undergraduate engineering program at the University of More recently along the power generation front, Georgia
Illinois at Urbana - Champaign ranked 5th in the 2010 Tech has been chosen as a collaborative partner by California
America’s Best Colleges edition of U.S. News and World company PAX Streamline for a project that will focus on
Report. The graduate engineering program at Illinois also adapting circulation control technology currently used in
ranked 5th. aircraft wings and helicopter rotors to wind turbine blades.
The goal of the two-year project is “to make generation of
Of most recent significance to the electrical engineering electricity from wind turbines less expensive by eliminating
community, the IEEE named four University of Illinois at the need for the complex blade shapes and mechanical control
Urbana - Champaign engineering faculty members as Fellows systems used in current turbines,” said Robert J. Englar,
for the class of 2010. This honor is given to IEEE Senior principal research engineer at the Georgia Tech Research
Members with “an extraordinary record of accomplishments in Institute (GTRI).” This forward-thinking research will take
any of the IEEE fields of interest.” The tribute is the highest in place at GTRI’s low-speed wind tunnel research facility located
the IEEE. in Cobb County, north of Atlanta.

University of Michigan -Ann Arbor

In 2009, the University of Michigan’s undergraduate While this piece examines only ten universities,
Electrical Engineering department was ranked 6th by US
prospective students of petroleum and power-
News and World Report. On the graduate school side,
Michigan ranks 7th in electrical engineering and 1st in generation, transmission, and distribution engineering
nuclear engineering. will find prestigious opportunities in both public and
private institutions across the US and internationally.
The University of Michigan’s College of Engineering has
a strong practical focus, with 70 patent applications, 48
Invention Disclosures in Agreements, and six startups

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Deep Impact: 2010 Project Management Trends will

Help Drive Knowledge Transfer
By J. LeRoy Ward, PMP, PgMP

These metrics will help quantify organizational performance

While organizational survival was the focus
improvement for senior management.
for 2009, the key theme for 2010 is clearly
assessment. Metrics will play a key role in
The impact: Getting the requirements right will help
keeping management informed about project organizations keep costs down, contribute to timely
performance, its impact on the bottom line completion of projects and increase customer satisfaction.
and customer satisfaction. Efforts to build an Aside from the benefits of documenting their processes,
organization’s corporate brain trust to endure organizations will be able to maintain a database of best
‘the big crew change’ will be essential to ensure practices to ensure project and program success.
continuity in the energy sector over time.
Project and Program Governance Will Be
Highly Valued by Management
Late last fall, ESI International assembled a global panel of The trend: To improve overall organizational performance,
experts to identify specific trends for 2010. The focus of this project and program governance will be embraced on all levels
article is the impact on knowledge management in light of of the enterprise.
these new developments.
The impact: Governance is a way to manage the knowledge
New PPM Solutions Will Be Key of any project from the C-suite down to the project manager
The trend: Program and project managers, under pressure level. Aligning organizational resources and goals with
from senior management to demonstrate project portfolio the actual portfolio, programs and projects will contribute
performance and its impact on the enterprise, will secure greatly to performance improvement while institutionalizing
resources to implement project portfolio management (PPM) knowledge transfer.
solutions. This will provide for comprehensive fact-based
decision-making that senior management needs project and PMOs Will Continue to Grow
program managers to make, as opposed to the “seat of the The trend: The positive impact of program management offices
pants” style many employ. (PMOs) on business operations has grown significantly over
the past ten years. PMOs will use this position of strength to
The impact: The energy sector has discovered that PPM establish business analysis centers of excellence either within
solutions provide for documentation retention, and lessons the PMO or as a complement to them.
learned. For energy projects and programs this will help
mitigate knowledge loss when key personnel leave the
organization. Whether it is a decade-long wind farm project
or one involving nuclear power, PPM keeps track of project Aligning organizational
knowledge, greatly contributing to organizational knowledge resources and goals
management. with the actual portfolio,
programs and projects
Requirements Metrics for Performance will contribute greatly to
Measurement Will Increase
performance improvement
The trend: Much like in 2009, requirements management and
while institutionalizing
development (RMD) will continue to play a greater role in
knowledge transfer.
2010. Applying RMD to determine metrics that track project
performance and customer satisfaction will be a focal point.

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT

The impact: PMOs will play an even larger role as a knowledge

repository for all projects and programs, acting as a reference As organizations
point to properly manage and maintain the organization’s “best continue to do more
practices” library. with less, outsourcing
will once again take
Outsourcing Remains Key
center stage in 2010.
The trend: As organizations continue to do more with
less, outsourcing will once again take center stage in 2010.
Thought-leading organizations will use project management effectively measure and communicate progress to senior
principles to guide their contracting and outsourcing management.
processes, leveraging project managers’ skills and knowledge
in schedule, risk, requirements and quality management to The impact: Crises can quickly destabilize an organization.
eliminate uncertainty and hold the contractor’s “feet to the PPM principles will help answer the question of what to
fire.” address first.

The impact: Vendors can play a vital role as a stabilizing Demand for Agile Project Metrics Will
partner during times of workforce transition. In certain Increase
instances, vendors will have been involved in projects longer The trend: With the increased use of Agile project
than the project managers themselves. When an organization management approaches, including the various
experiences a changing of the guard, vendors can provide implementations of Agile methods (e.g., Scrum), senior
the common thread in the project to maintain the level of management will demand quality metrics that clearly
knowledge necessary to sustain the project or program over demonstrate the value of Agile over other PM approaches for
the transition from one project manager to another. specific projects, as well as Agile’s impact on the achievement
of organizational objectives.
Risk Management Will Move Front and
Center The impact: Agile methods hold great promise for an
The trend: There will be an even greater focus on PM risk organization yet knowledge of its use is limited and many people
management with an emphasis at the program as well as the use it for the wrong reasons. Establishing sound agile practices,
portfolio level. Organizations will seek a clear distinction including its targeted use for specific projects, will be necessary
between systemic and non-systemic risks; the determination for any organization that wants to benefit by its approach.
and management of risk factors that might hinder success; and
dependencies between program and portfolio components. PM Learning Measurement will Become
Imperative
The impact: Mentoring programs are essential in risk The trend: In 2009, forward-looking organizations viewed
management as one generation hands down its wisdom about pre-assessments as a requirement to measure progress and
managing risks to those newer to the field. Communities of demonstrate performance improvement. 2010 will see an
practice in knowledge management, as well as PM and BA unprecedented increase in organizations using assessments to
Centers of Excellence can help manage risk significantly by pinpoint their PM learning needs, track progress and identify
offering a forum for knowledge exchange. the ROI senior management is looking for in this critical
investment.
Project Portfolio Principles Will Be Applied
to Crisis Environments The impact: Organizations will be able to develop
The trend: Whether it’s rebuilding power stations in a war comprehensive learning and professional development
zone, bringing power back online after a natural disaster or programs ensuring the right person has been chosen for
even addressing an unexpectedly high workforce turnover critical positions. And, in the event one of the organization’s
rate, PPM approaches can effectively address crises head-on. key project managers leaves, it will be able to replace
PPM principles will help ensure proper project selection that person with another who has had the benefit of a
to achieve favorable results. PPM also will serve to help comprehensive professional development program.

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PROJECT MANAGEMENT
PennEnergy ™

WHAT IS IT?
PM Learning will Push out of the
Classroom
The trend: To improve learning retention rates while keeping
employees on-the-job, organizations will seek to leverage one-
on-one mentoring alongside recent technological advances
such as online learning to provide adult education outside the
traditional classroom.
Need the latest and greatest information source
on oil and gas products and services? Look The impact: To augment eLearning programs, in-house
no further than PennEnergy.com and Oil, Gas & coaching and mentoring programs in which less-experienced
Petrochem Equipment. employees shadow those with years of experience in the
business can also be implemented to help institutionalize
As the best source of new product and service knowledge transfer.
information, OG&PE has moved from ogpe.com
to PennEnergy.com. It still delivers all the same These trends affect how organizational knowledge is handled.
great product information but now you also get The key to success is to position the organization to anticipate
the latest industry, news, research, and insight.
workforce issues before they even occur by building a culture
and infrastructure that values knowledge retention and
All information is organized into topic areas
transfer.
containing thousands of product and service
features making it quick and easy for you to
J. LeRoy Ward brings more than
find the information you need. Just click on the
30 years of expertise in project
big, black-and-yellow “Free Product INFO Here”
and program management to the
button to get started.
refinement of ESI International’s
portfolio of learning programs.
OG&PE has always been all about products and
He works closely with ESI clients
now along with PennEnergy.com, it is products
worldwide to guide the assessment,
information and much, much more.
implementation and reinforcement
of knowledge and skills that allow
for the effective measurement and
successful adoption of learning program objectives. ESI, a
subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE:INF), helps people around
the world improve the way they manage projects, contracts,
requirements and vendors. For more information, visit www.
esi-intl.com.

About ESI International

ESI, a subsidiary of Informa plc (LSE:INF), helps people
around the world improve the way they manage projects,
contracts, requirements and vendors. In addition to ESI’s
more than 100 courses delivered in 22 languages at more
than 85 locations worldwide, ESI offers eight certificate
programs through our educational partner, The George
Washington University in Washington. Founded in 1981,
ESI’s worldwide headquarters are in Arlington, Va., USA. To
date, ESI’s programs have benefited more than one million
professionals worldwide. For more information visit www.
www.PennEnergy.com
_________
esi-intl.com.

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RECRUITER’S PRACTICUM

Making Social Media Work for Oil & Gas

By Yagya Ahuja, CEO, Global Energy Talent

filtering and no time for reflections or recantations. Whatever

Even today the first thought that enters you say is out there in a second and in plain sight – no place
anyone’s head upon seeing or hearing the to hide, no caveats to cite, no disclaimers to duck under
terms “social media” and “oil & gas industry” and no fine print to save you. Make a mistake or respond
in the same sentence is that the latter must be intemperately and the whole world will know in real time. Far
enduring a siege of some kind. A video-clip too many companies in very many industries have jumped on
of seagulls drenched in crude on a desolate to the social media bandwagon without really understanding
beach going viral on You Tube, or hundreds of it, only to find themselves wallowing in a mire totally of their
citizen-activists twittering away about the latest own making.
decision to drill offshore, or perhaps a new
“Save the Arctic from Big-Oil” campaign on Using social media successfully involves taking the following
Facebook – the first impression is usually about steps; we hesitate to call it a strategy because it’s all so
commonsense:
the industry being on the defensive and on the
wrong side of a disaster.
• Be prepared – imagine every possible contingency and have a
plan for it in advance
But the times, as always, are a changing and one of the world’s
most introverted industries is taking a fresh look at social media, • Monitor your social media interfaces constantly and (re)act
as an enabling ally rather than as a weapon for its countless quickly but not rashly to challenges and negativity
adversaries. A casual Google search reveals a dozen articles
about how the industry can embrace social media (like this • Give social media the same importance & stature as all other
one), an annual survey of the industry’s usage and attitude forms of external communication that your firm employs and
towards social media by Microsoft and Accenture (75 % of oil use in conjunction, not in isolation
and gas professionals see value in using social media), industry
demystifying blogs (such as by API’s Jane Van Ryan) and even • Be firm about your firm’s convictions but always nicely
O&G’s very own social network (Energy People Connect).
Having been on the receiving end for so long, it’s as if the industry • Last the distance – individual interactions on social media
has finally lifted its collective eyes at the social media hammer and even crises may be short but the overall engagement is
bearing down on it and seen the helpful claw on the other side. A perpetual
claw with which to prize open the doors of communication, and
indeed of perception. • Have the right people in charge of your social media programs
– people who not only know understand social media but are
Coming on Board empowered to manage your company’s reputation.
So the discussion has moved on from whether the Energy
Industry should “adopt” social media to how best it can leverage A Two-way Street
it. And it’s no longer about merely having a presence on Any discussion on communication practices by the energy
Facebook, Twitter or Linked-In, but about being effective on industry presupposes a defensive posture – after all it’s fair
these and other networks. But therein lies the rub. to say that no other industry has quite the same image and
reputation issues as does ours. No doubt social media was
The thing to remember about social media is that though once viewed suspiciously by everyone in oil and gas; signing
everything is one-on-one and instantaneous between company on would be tantamount to exposing the industry to ridicule
and individual, the conversation is totally public. Unlike, and attack from its traditional detractors on yet another front.
traditional forms of communication such as advertising, PR or But the initial nay saying has gradually given ground to the
even direct mailers, there is nobody in between, no third-party notion that the industry can use social media to effectively &

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meaningfully engage customers, activists, organizations and Effective engagement through social
communities. media will “unformalize” relationships
and speed up feedback
While Blogs, Facebook and Twitter are often used to criticize
the industry, they can also be the most effective ways for us
to actually engage our diverse audiences instead of merely
addressing them as we did in the past. Effective engagement Social Media expert Jon Gattrell of Pragmatic Marketing hits
through social media will “unformalize” relationships and speed this particular nail on the head when he says, “The concept that
up feedback, thus helping the industry to preempt an issue before there is a good deal of good resources available on the market
it becomes an issue and even to test new ideas & technologies. is somewhat flawed. While some of the people looking for new
In fact one of my pet dreams is about seeing social media as the jobs are talented, organizations typically retain the best talent
means by which the industry and public work together to make in a downsizing event, so finding good talent is increasingly an
oil and gas a cleaner and greener business. outbound set of activities, rather than sifting through inbound
resumes and social media provides real tools for access and
Social Media Within discovery.”
While the Energy Industry has been quick to embrace social
media in its communication mix, recognition of its multiple Saying Goodbye to Employees, not their
utilities for internal uses has been surprisingly slow, apart from Knowledge
the obvious advantages it gives for talent recruiting. Another serving that social media brings to the industry’s table,
but one that is rarely discussed and not yet adopted, is that it can
Collaboration without Duplication help ameliorate the Energy Industry’s next big human resources
Few industries can match the Energy Industry for the crisis. Major oil corporations across the globe are faced with the
complexity of its technologies, the multiplicity of its prospect of the retirement of half of their workforce over the next
disciplines and the global spread of its operations. No one in 10 years, meaning they will be kissing goodbye to about 231,000
the industry needs reminding of the gains to be made through years of cumulative experience, learning and knowledge – a
efficient real-time collaboration and information sharing. forced brain drain of epic proportions. While it is easy to suggest
Something easier said than done because collaboration social media as the tool that can retain some of this knowledge,
without effective communication only leads to duplication implementation is going to be daunting. After all we’re talking
and wastage. Social Media because it is online and informal about capturing the knowledge of half your workforce. So the key
lends itself well to workplace collaboration without factors are:
duplication and the number of cloud computing options
already available (Chatter, Yammer, Sharepoint, Google • Identifying what is worth retaining – unconventional usage
Wave to name a few) is testament to that. Energy firms need of equipment, unique technical problems and how they
to assess which will work best for them, a public forum like were solved, protocol and cultural peculiarities of different
those named, a cloud application or a vehicle developed and geographies, experiences with governments, on-field
maintained internally. innovations, to give some examples;

A Talent Hunting Tool • Choosing the people whose experiences are to be documented
One great feature of Social Media that many Energy Industry and preserved – it would be naïve (and expensive) to record
execs (though it has to be said, not all) have discovered straight every departing individual’s 30 year history, particularly if half
away is in the area of talent recruitment. Some benefits of the workforce is leaving.
recruiting through networks like Linked-In are well known
and don’t require elaboration here – its cost effectiveness, its • Incentivizing those leaving to sharing their experiences;
usually up-to-date and accurate profiles and the fact that it allows
anonymous verification. But the key advantage of using social • Selecting the right media – there has been talk of employee
media for recruitment (and really the most compelling) is that it blogs, proprietary wikis, company intranets, etc. We suggest to
can lead you to the best talent available – people who are in a job each its own, as long as the technology ensures that knowledge
and aren’t really looking for a new one. capture is wide and employee access is easy.

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• Securing the information – after all it’s proprietary and an division in China, Australia, Iran and
internal wealth. India. At BP he was instrumental in
creating strategy and implementation
• Making it a continuous process so that knowledge integration plans for a series of next-generation
and sharing becomes part of your corporate culture. projects.

Looking Ahead He holds a BEng from the Indian

So will the Energy Industry’s embracing of social media be Institute of Technology and an
transforming? It’s early days but meaningful social media MBA from Duke University. www.
engagement does have the potential to make the industry globalenergytalent.com.
appear less anti-social to the world at large than it is perceived
to be currently. The biggest changes will take place internally About Global Energy Talent:
as companies begin to reap the dividends from closer Global Energy Talent manages the human capital development
teamwork, knowledge sharing and talent spotting. Perhaps needs of public and private organizations in the Energy sector. It
then we’ll see an improvement in the following statistic from is staffed with a worldwide network of senior energy executives
the Microsoft and Accenture Survey: “only 11 percent of social with more than 2000 years of industry experience. Building on its
media adoption is driven by the executive suite.” deep industry and domain expertise it works with companies to
address complex personnel issues that are unique to the energy
Yagya Ahuja is CEO of Global Energy Talent. He previously industry. It has provided specialized recruitment, training and
worked at Schlumberger managing operations in the Wireline human resources advisory services to clients in three continents.

Take the current pulse of the energy industry when seasoned oil and gas industry journalists
chime in with their thoughts and prognostications on the challenging issues facing the industry.

Engaging. PennEnergy Oil & Gas Blog Topics:

• Engrossed in Energy

Expert. •
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Health, Safety, & Environmental
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Informative. • Washington Pulse
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