Offshore staff
US, GoM -- Shell E&P confirms that the Mars TLP, which was heavily damaged during Hurricane Katrina in 2005, is currently producing 190,000 boe/d, which is a 20% increase over pre-Katrina levels.
On May 22, the TLP resumed production ahead of schedule and was producing slightly above its pre-Katrina rates in July.
Estimates placed the platform in Katrina's eye for about four hours, absorbing 80-ft waves and wind gusts exceeding 200 mph. The majority of the floating structure and its wells survived the hurricane's extreme weather conditions, but the platform drilling rig and some major elements of the topsides production equipment were heavily damaged.
In repairingMars, Shell says it accomplished work unprecedented in the oil and gas industry. It took three months of preparation and planning to successfully lift and remove the 670-ton damaged platform rig in two pieces from its awkward, toppled position on the platform deck. Lifting the toppled drilling rig structure was an industry first.
Another first was repairing the facility's associated oil and gas pipelines in 3,000 ft of water, using the Shell Deepwater Repair Kit, says the operator. Repairing the pipelines on the seafloor meant repairs were finished much earlier than using a traditional method.
Repairing the platform involved a workforce of 500 people and represented more than one million man-hours.
09/06/06
