The Marmara platform being eased into position last year in Turkey's Marmaris Sea.Turkey's Gas from Marmara offshore field development began flowing last October through a normally unmanned wellhead platform in the Marmaris Sea, between the Black Sea and the Mediterranean. The platform, located 2.5 km off the coast in 40 meters of water, is a minimal facility installation, without even a helideck.
Hamburg-based consultants Impac Offshore Engineering were engaged by operator Turkish Petroleum Corporation (TPAO) to assist in project management. Impac provided a complete design review, and also helped supervise construction of the platform at the Tuzla shipyard. Main contractor for the design and commissioning was Momentum Engineering, which also owns the rig that drilled the field's five wells.
Gas is piped via an 8-in. diameter line to an onshore processing plant, from where platform operations are also controlled remotely. Current production is 30 MMcf/d - TPAO is thought to be considering further exploration in nearby waters, and the platform could handle further wells, following modifications. Installation of the platform was classified by a joint venture of Germanischer Lloyd and Turk Loydou Vakfi.
Impac has a strong track record on shallow water platform engineering. Lately it has performed facilities upgrades and power generation studies for installations offshore Nigeria, and it is currently establishing an office locally to research the needs off several major oil companies. Impac is also working on shallow water drilling studies for the northern Kazak Caspian Sea - a detailed report on this project will appear in a future issue of Offshore.
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