Hess contracts for Tubular Bells FPS

Offshore staff

TULSA, Oklahoma – Hess Corp. has awarded Williams Partners a letter to provide production handling services at Tubular Bells field development in the eastern Gulf of Mexico.

Hess, as operator, will use Williams’ Gulfstar floating production system which may serve as a central host for other operations in the deepwater area.

Williams Partners will design, construct, and install the FPS with a capacity of 60,000 b/d of oil and up to 200 MMcf/d of natural gas, and the capability to provide seawater injection. The spar-based FPS uses traditional three-level topsides mated to a classic spar hull. This standard design approach will allow customers to reduce their cycle time from discovery to first oil.

Williams Partners has issued a letter of award to Gulf Island Fabrication Inc., through its subsidiary Gulf Marine Fabricators, to construct the hull portion of the Gulfstar FPS in Corpus Christi, Texas. Williams Partners expects to select and award the topsides portion to a Gulf Coast fabricator, making this the first spar-based FPS to be built entirely in the U.S. Gulf Coast area.

05/25/2011