Operators favor floating and subsea solutions for deeper discoveries

Karen Broyles-Boman
ODS-Petrodata

Soaring oil and natural gas prices and increased pressure to drill and develop reserves worldwide has pushed operators to pursue all viable field development solutions. Thus, the widespread use of floating and/or subsea production systems to develop deepwater fields remains a trend as the energy industry seeks to develop reserves in increasingly deeper waters.

Floating production solutions continue to be the lifeblood of field development offshore West Africa. Subsea production remains a critical tool for exploiting marginal fields in shallow waters worldwide except in Southeast Asia, where fixed platform solutions continue to dominate field development.

The results of this year’s global field development survey indicate that development projects in the planning and construction phases include:

• 100 floating production/and or storage units

• 311 fixed platforms (2-pile and greater)

• 1,108 subsea trees associated with 147 projects.

The survey found 100 floating production and/or storage units in the planning and construction phases. West Africa continues to host the largest number of these projects, with operators planning to install 22 units in the region. Southeast Asian operators plan to install 19 units in the region, while 16 units are slated for installation in Brazil. Operators are expected to install 14 additional units in the GoM.

Engineering work on Chevron’sAgbamiFPSO is expected to be complete early next year. The floater, which will be installed in OPL block 216/217 offshore Nigeria, is scheduled for delivery in early 2008 from South Korea’s Okpo Yard. Chevron awarded Daewoo Marine & Offshore the engineering, procurement, installation and construction contract.

Refurbishment of Woodside Petroleum’s FPSOBerge Helene, which will be installed offshore West Africa at Woodside’s Chinguetti field, was completed late last month at Keppel Shipyard in Singapore. The vessel currently is anchored offshore Singapore for commissioning activities. First production is expected in 1Q 2006.

In Southeast Asia, Murphy Oil will install the first spar delivered outside the GoM at its Kikeh field offshore Malaysia. The spar will be installed in tandem with an FPSO to develop the field. First oil is scheduled to begin in the second half of 2007. Both the spar and FPSO are under construction at Malaysia Shipyard & Engineering in Johor, Malaysia.

Offshore Brazil, floating production units are still the foundation for field development. Petrobras plans to use FPSO ships to develop the Albacora Leste and Golfinho fields. Construction is underway on both facilities. Chevron still intends to install an FPSO at its Frade field offshore Brazil in May 2008.

In the GoM, Chevron Corp. will proceed with development of the Blind Faith prospect in Mississippi Canyon blocks 596 and 696 using a semisubmersible production facility. First production is expected from the field during the first half of 2008 at a rate of approximately 30,000 b/d of oil and 30 MMcf/d of natural gas. The semi will have production capacity of approximately 45,000 b/d and 45 MMcf/d. The facility’s topsides can be upgraded to a capacity of 60,000 b/d and 150 MMcf/d to accommodate production from satellite discoveries or third-party tiebacks.

Fabrication commenced in February on theIndependence Hub, a floating production semi capable of processing production from 10 subsea fields in the eastern Gulf operated by the Atwater Valley Producers group. The fields include Dominion’s San Jacinto; Anadarko’s Spiderman/Amazon, Jubilee and Atlas/Atlas Northwest; BHP Billiton’s Vortex, and Kerr-McGee’s Merganser. Delivery is scheduled to take place in 1Q 2006.

Spar production platforms are increasingly being used as a floating production solution. Construction is underway on Kerr-McGee’s fourth truss spar and sixth deepwater hub facility, which will be installed by Heerema’s derrick/pipelay semiBalderon the Kerr-McGee-operated Constitution field in Green Canyon blocks 679 and 680. First production is expected in mid-2006. Chevron plans to install a truss spar at its Tahiti field with production capacity of 125,000 b/d. Technip will begin construction on the spar late this year, with delivery expected in mid-2007.

Fixed platforms

Operators worldwide are planning to install 311 fixed platforms (2-pile and greater) as they seek to exploit shallow and moderate water depth oil and gas fields. Operators will install 80 fixed platforms in Southeast Asia, 58 fixed platforms in the GoM, and 28 in waters offshore Mexico through 2010.

Amerada Hess next year will install a 60,000 b/d fixed production facility offshore Equatorial Guinea in Northern block G, which includes the Okume, Oveng, Ebano and Elon fields. Heerema, Saipem and Stolt reportedly are vying for the platform installation contract. Construction continues on Chevron’s 12-pile, 42-slot compliant tower, the first use of the compliant tower concept offshore Africa, which will handle production from the Benguela, Belize and Tomboco fields in block 14 offshore Angola. First production is scheduled to begin in 2008.

Subsea production

The use of subsea technology solutions continues to grow. This year’s survey results revealed that 1,108 subsea trees are scheduled for installation worldwide. West Africa will host the largest number of subsea tree installations with 447 on the books. Operators will install 164 subsea trees in the GoM and 137 trees offshore Brazil. In Norway and the UK, operators will install 96 trees and 68 trees, respectively. Approximately 55% of the subsea installations planned for this year will be installed in more than 1,500 ft of water.

In the GoM, a number of operators are planning subsea tiebacks to floating production hubs or to spars in increasingly deeper water. The Atwater Valley Partners group plans a number of subsea tiebacks to theIndependence Hub semi, including the Jubilee, Vortex, Merganser and San Jacinto discoveries. Kerr-McGee, a partner in the group, also plans a number of subsea developments for other projects, including tieback of the Ticonderoga field in 2006 to the Constitution spar in Green Canyon blocks 679 and 680. Kerr-McGee also continues to develop additional prospects to tieback to its Red Hawk spar in Garden Banks block 877. •