Offshore staff
FLORENCE, Italy -- VetcoGray, a GE Oil & Gas business, has converted an exploration well to full production at Agiba Petroleum Co.'s West Ashrafi hydrocarbon facility in Egypt's Gulf of Suez, Red Sea.
This is the first time VetcoGray has converted a mudline exploration system to an SG-1 wellhead subsea system for production duty. The newly converted well entered service in April 2008.
The conversion system eliminates significant cost and risk for Agiba because the company no longer needs to re-enter the reservoir from a new wellhead, says Willie Bryson VetcoGray's product line manager for Tree on Mudline.
Additional challenges for the project were the distance between the beach-mounted topside equipment (umbilical termination and hydraulic power units) and the master control station 1 km (0.6 mi) away. A separate communications and power system was used for the subsea communications, while fiber optic communications were used between the HPU/TUTU and the MCS.
Based in Cairo, Egypt, Agiba Petroleum Co. is a joint venture company between the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and ENI.
07/31/2008
