HOUSTON, Apr. 25 -- Shell Exploration & Production Co. said the Brutus tension leg platform cost 17% less than the Mars TLP and will take a shorter time to complete.
The structure, being assembled at Gulf Marine Fabricators' yard in Ingleside, Tex., will have taken 3.25 months to complete from the arrival of the 13,500-ton hull from South Korea in late January.
The production platform should be complete May 10 and be towed out to position -- on Green Canyon Block 158 in 2,985 ft of water in the Gulf of Mexico -- May 20.
Installation should be complete this summer, with production anticipated in the third quarter (OGJ Online, Jan. 29, 2001).
Shell attributed the improvements with Brutus to its experience with Auger, Mars, Ursa, and Ram Powell TLPs and to detailed planning and execution by Shell and Gulf Marine Fabricators, part of the Coflexip Stena Offshore Group.
Exact figures for the TLPs were not disclosed, but the entire Brutus project will cost less than $760 million, including pipelines but excluding lease costs. Shell paid a combined $15.5 million for the Green Canyon 158 and 202 blocks in March 1985.
About 25% of the project cost is the drilling and completion of the eight production wells. Shell said one of the wells may set a record for production from a single well in the Gulf of Mexico.
The process, drilling, wellbay, quarters, and power modules, which each weigh between 1,400 and 2,900 tons, were placed and integrated with the hull at Ingleside. The power module is capable of generating 17.2 Mw.
Shell estimates Brutus field contains reserves of 250 million boe with a 70:30 oil to gas ratio. The oil is mid-30° gravity.
The platform is also intended to serve as a hub for future production in the area by Shell and other operators.
