Offshore Asia 2009

The 2009 Offshore Asia Conference & Exhibition will take place March 31-April 2, 2009 at the IMPACT Exhibition and Conference Center in Bangkok, Thailand.

The Department of Mineral Fuels, Ministry of Energy, Thailand, has endorsed the conference, and PTT Exploration and Production Plc. (PTTEP) will be hosting.

Dr. Kurujit Nakornthap, director-general of the Department of Mineral Fuels, and Anon Sirisaengtaksin, CEO of PTTEP, will address the conference at the official opening keynote session.

“We are delighted Thailand will be hosting Offshore Asia 2009,” says Dr. Nakornthap. “The event will bring immense benefits to the regional offshore oil and gas industry and the country. Important subjects will be discussed during the three-day conference. We look forward to a successful and informative event.”

“The enthusiasm and support of PTTEP and the Department of Mineral Fuels, Ministry of Energy, Thailand, will contribute immensely to the success of the event,” says John Royall, VP, Offshore group, PennWell Corp. “It is important that the region’s premier event for the offshore oil & gas industries continues to go from strength to strength and we are delighted that so many companies have already committed to exhibiting at Offshore Asia.”

“Solutions for Asia’s Offshore Challenges” will be the theme of this year’s conference, now in its fourth year, which will focus on the specific technological needs of the Asia offshore arena.

The conference program will cover a broad range of technical and topical issues - ranging from E&P to multiphase pumping - with a full schedule of tutorials and technical paper sessions. Offshore Asia is a key forum for engineers, engineering managers, senior executives, and industry leaders to discuss technology solutions, lessons learned and best practices to meet the challenges of offshore oil and gas exploration and production.

The Offshore Asia exhibition covers all aspects of offshore technology and subsea applications. The exhibits will showcase the latest technology and foremost business ideas shaping the future of the industry. Suppliers, services companies, contractors, and service providers from the E&P, subsea, and multiphase pumping industries will showcase their new developments, technologies, and operating solutions at Offshore Asia 2009.

Last year’s conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia set attendance records, attracting 5,000 participants from 57 countries. More than 100 sponsors and exhibitors supported the event.

This year’s event in Thailand is expected to attract over 5,000 industry professionals, who will gather for three days to experience the latest developments and innovations for the Asian offshore oil and gas sector.

Energy business analysts Douglas-Westwood has predicted the emergence of Asia as a significant deepwater region that should not be overlooked. Indonesia, Malaysia, and India all have development prospects on screen for the 2009-2013 period and the region should account for nearly 10% of deepwater capex, they said.

The event begins with an Opening Night Reception starting at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31.

Wednesday brings the Opening Plenary session at 9:30 am. Eldon Ball, conference director, PennWell, will give the Welcome and Introduction followed by Dr. Nakornthap’s address, and Mr. Sirisaengtaksin’s Keynote Address. Tara Tiradnakorn, president of Chevron Thailand Exploration and Production Ltd., will present the Industry Perspective.

There will be extensive coverage of E&P and subsea technology in the technical sessions this year, with topics including:

• Construction and installation
• Field development methods and technology
• Drilling and well construction
• Floating production systems
• Subsea technology
• New technology for flowlines and pipelines

The following summaries represent just some of the papers that will be presented at Offshore Asia this year.

Tropical cyclone risk assessment for offshore platforms and rigs

Dr. Polsak Tothong, AIR Worldwide Corp.

Dr. Tothong will demonstrate a probabilistic risk assessment for physical damage and business interruption due to tropical wind, waves, and storm surge to offshore platforms and rigs. The methodology can quantify the current risk and the risk reduction with the application of mitigation measures, thereby providing a direct, optimal cost-benefit evaluation-mitigation.

Parametric effect on pile drivability analysis in clayey subsoil

Kaushik Mukherjee, J. Ray McDermott Asia Pacific

Focused on an independent study in the Gulf of Thailand, this discussion will be on the effect of variation in dynamic clay parameters on drivability analyses and choice of different pile make-up to suit it. The earlier experience and back-analyses of available records are also taken into account when reaching a conclusive judgment for the region.

The first dual lift jacket installation in Malaysia

Vinodh Marimuthu, PETRONAS

This discussion will cover the successful offshore installation of East Belumut 2,000-metric ton (2,205-ton) jacket by dual barge lifting due to the unavailability of the conventional single barge. Operator Newfield’s quick decision was to deploy an unusual method which is technically more challenging by using two below capacity barges. This presentation reveals Newfield’s experiences in efficiently managing the engineering, risk assessment and modifications within two months to ensure sound technical and reliable operations.

Technology advancement in mitigating inorganic scale – overview of scale challenges in Malaysian oilfields

Noraliza Alwi, PETRONAS Research Sdn Bhd

In this session, a review of selected Malaysian oil fields that are associated with scale problems in the near wellbore formation due to high water cut (30 - 90%) will be discussed. Several recommendations will be made on the basis of formation, injected water, and produced brine composition to inhibit scaling formation. Reservoir to wellhead pressure and temperature profiles were also taken into account while proposing the remediation techniques. This presentation will provide the comparison of the traditional treatment chemical and mechanical parameters.

Planning & following up well completion & workover activities using ontology of operations

Dr. Carlos Damski, Genesis Petroleum Technologies

The Deming’s PDCA Cycle (Plan, Do, Check and Act) aims to reach a continuous optimization in well completion and workover activities. A methodology based on Ontology of Operations has been implemented to aid this process of continuous improvement. In this presentation, more than 180 operations were identified and defined based on ontology of operations. Dr. Damski will discuss the implemented methodology and proposes as a new step, the concept expanded to all well operations, including the drilling activities.

Improving well integrity management through computerized maintenance systems

Richard Conway, Expro Well Services

With the merger of companies and the sale/acquisition of oil fields, many operators now have assets spread across countries and even continents, with multiple management systems that can lead to problems, particularly in the management of well integrity. A demonstration of how computerized maintenance systems can be used to improve the management of well integrity information will be given in this session, including delivery of critical data to relevant personnel regardless of geographic location.

Development of a powered, drill-thru casing reaming system

Lance Davis, Futuretec Ltd.

Adverse wellbore conditions often result in inefficient and incomplete casing running operations, both in terms of costly non-productive time and potentially lost production. The presentation will describe how to improve casing running, integrating turbine technology with materials science to provide an evolutionary powered casing reaming shoe, which can be cemented in place and drilled through during the subsequent bit run.

Development and field test of a new rotary steerable system

Dr. Li Hanxing, CNOOC Research Center

A new rotary steerable system (RSS) which uses a technique to enable precise, consistent, and predictable changes in well trajectory will be discussed. This tool incorporates a rotating drive shaft through the center of the tool and a non-rotating housing supported by large bearings. Field tests have been completed in Bohai Bay and Changqing oil field and will be presented.

Shallow to deepwater applications the scope for the TCMS - riser and production mooring systems

Douglas Davidson, Mooring Systems Ltd.

The presentation will cover the commercial and practical benefits of the Tri-Catenary Mooring System (TCMS), including a history and the latest innovations allowing the system to operate in water depths of up to 1,000 m (3,281 ft). The system allows for up to 10 risers/umbilical and can operate in seastates up to at least Hs=8.3 m (27.2 ft) depending on vessel size.

Field development floater

Mats Rosengren, FDF Technology/DMC Offshore Pte

The concept for a field development floater (FDF) to bring a confirmed hydrocarbon discovery offshore to production and to provide well intervention and workover services during the production phase will be discussed during this presentation. The FPF is an FPSO of a new design and concept for extended well test, early production, heavy crude production and marginal field production that would feature a crude oil process plant, crude oil storage capacity, and offloading facilities, among numerous other capabilities.

Rising to the challenge

Dr. Tim Clarke, Optical Metrology Services Ltd.

This talk will provide an insight into the world of risers, discussing their importance, where they are used, and how they are measured and welded before being put into the water.

The first gravity-based substructure (GBS) for the Caspian Sea

Dr. Rodney Pinna, Arup

Dr. Pinna will discuss the design of the first steel gravity-based structure (GBS) to be installed in Block 1 offshore Turkmenistan, located in the land locked Caspian Sea, including discussion of the drivers which lead to the selection of this design, and the final platform configuration. Block 1 is reached through the Volga Don canal system which is accessible only during the summer months, or via air and land transport. Another significant challenge faced in developing the reserves in Block 1 is the lack of availability of offshore installation equipment such as heavy-lift crane barges, pipelay barges, and diving vessels. The design considerations for the first self installing steel GBS to be installed in the Caspian will be covered.

Open systems architectures for subsea systems

Kirstin Ballantyne, Aker Solutions

This session will outline the development and deployment of a new open system architecture for subsea production/process control and demonstrate through project examples the power and flexibility of this system, significantly reducing project risk, and reducing the engineering effort and time to deliver. The application of open systems to conventional production control systems will be covered, along with subsea boosting and processing. It will also consider how these same techniques and components can be applied even to large scale integration on subsea gas compression systems.

Multi-fidelity computational flow assurance for design and development of subsea systems and equipment

Dr. Demetris Clerides, CD-Adapco

The status and future prospects of Multi-Fidelity Computational Flow Assurance will be discussed in this session.

OMV Maari FPSO: A template for specialized umbilical technology

Gavin Rippe, JDR Umbilical Systems

This session presents the unique technical solutions JDR developed to meet power /chemical umbilical specifications within the OMV Maari project offshore New Zealand. The Maari FPSO is designed to operate in one of the most environmentally demanding conditions within the industry. A discussion on the initial technical challenges to provide substantial heating and chemical injection to ensure smooth and uninterrupted flow from the wellhead platform to the FPSO will be presented.

Gas hydrates in subsea pipelines under gas-dominant flows: challenges, modeling, and large-scale experiments

Affonso Lourenco, CSIRO

Gas hydrates is a major flow assurance problem in offshore gas production worldwide and especially in Australia. This presentation will address the reasons why hydrates in gas-dominant flows are a different flow assurance challenge for the industry, and give solutions to avoid or mitigate the problem. It will investigate the effects of major variables under dynamic conditions such as pressure, temperature, water-cut, flow pattern, type, and concentration of condensates and inhibitors.

High performance pipe-in-pipe. Why push for it?

Wayne Grobbelaar, ITP Interpipe

Often flow assurance data is not precise, especially during the early stages of a project. An overview of why and how high performance pipe-in-pipe flowlines can benefit the operator during the life of field developments will be discussed, including analysis of costs and performance benefits. Project examples will be covered, illustrating the benefit of high performance thermally insulated flowlines with respect to installation, operational flexibility, life of field, and operational costs. Capital investment will also be discussed.

Lunch sponsors during the show include AlMansoori Wireline Services (Thailand) Ltd. and Master Marine AS.

For more information visitwww.offshoreasiaevent.com.

Why Thailand?

Thailand has launched an international campaign to build long-term oil and gas reserves, given the strong 13% energy demand growth recorded since 1981. PTTEP is leading the way with its 2009 capex and opex budgeted at Bt50.05 billion ($1.6 billion) and Bt19.3 billion ($610 million).The company has built 38 projects in 14 countries, including 17 projects in Thailand. PTTEP has invested about $1 billion in the Arthit project in the Gulf of Thailand, which started producing on March 26, 2008.