Gene Kliewer, Houston
Snøhvit subsea systems startup
The subsea systems at Snøhvit field off Hammerfest, northern Norway, went onstream at the end of May. This is the first Norwegian continental shelf field to be operated remotely from shore. The subsea development budget was NOK 8 billion ($1.34 billion).
“The entire subsea system has been project approved and just handed over to the operations organization,” says Gunnar Myrebøe, who heads the Snøhvit subsea development. “We’re taking the wellstream ashore to the land plant now while we have a vessel out at the field. This vessel will leave the field in the next few days.”
All Snøhvit’s offshore systems are on the seabed and are controlled from land via a 144-km (89-mi) long control cable. The wellstream is transported ashore via pipeline. Both pipeline and cable are the world’s longest of their kind.
GRL, Sonsub at work on seabed soil simulator
General Robotics Ltd. and Saipem UK’s Sonsub Division have agreed to cooperate on production development. First on the list is a soil mechanics module to add onto GRL’s DeepSim subsea planning simulator. GRL is drafting the software and Sonsub is providing the scenario data.
The result is targeted to be a generic, open architecture seabed soil mechanics simulator with modules specific to Sonsub’s equipment and techniques for release in 2008. Those modules will belong to Sonsub and can be developed further by Sonsub. GRL then can supply soil mechanics simulators to other customers based on the customers’ equipment and techniques.
“Cooperation between Sonsub and GRL is proving an excellent vehicle for ventures into uncharted engineering and operational areas,” said Giorgio Martelli, Sonsub’s general manager. “The ability to model complex interactions between seabed and offshore equipment in a way that is both intuitive and real time, will increase the accuracy of our subsea project planning.”
“The importance of this agreement with Sonsub is the high level of commitment on both sides to developing advanced tools to meet the immediate operational needs of both parties,” says Dr. Jason Tisdall, managing director, General Robotics Ltd. “Attempting to predict what happens when you try to position pipelines and other equipment on the ocean floor is complex and very expensive when you get it wrong. The significance of the new product will lie in modeling seabed behavior so as to predict and avoid problems.”
Pemex to get FMC subsea systems at Cantarell
FMC Technologies de México, SA de CV has a $29-million contract from Pemex-Exploración y Producción for subsea completion services at Cantarell in the Bay of Campeche off the Yucatan.
The project includes 10 shallow-water trees, including umbilicals and surface control systems. Deliveries were scheduled to begin in June 2007. The Cantarell field, in 150 ft (46 m) of water, is the largest oil field in Mexico. It comprises of four major fields: Akal, Nohoch, Chac, and Kutz.
Helix awards Noonan umbilicals to Aker Kværner
Helix Energy Solutions subsidiary Energy Resource Technology Inc. has awarded a $14-million contract for subsea umbilicals to Aker Kværner.
Aker Kværner will supply main and infield electro/hydraulic umbilicals for the Noonan project in the Gulf of Mexico Garden Banks block 506, some 230 km (145 mi) offshore from Galveston, Texas, in 820 m (2,700 ft) of water.
The umbilical project management, engineering, and manufacturing will be performed at the Aker Kværner Mobile, Alabama, facility. Delivery is scheduled for January 2008.
Aker Kværner, Reliance sign subsea production contract
Aker Kværner and Reliance Industries have signed the final contract following a letter of intent earlier this year for Aker to provide a complete, $300-million subsea production system for offshore India.
The contract includes subsea trees, manifolds, controls, umbilicals, flowlines, and risers for water depths to 1,400 m (4,593 ft).
Perdido to get subsea completion, processing systems
Shell has contracted FMC Technologies to supply the subsea completion and subsea processing systems for the Perdido Regional Development project in the Gulf of Mexico.
The contract covers 17 subsea trees rated for 10,000 psi (69 MPa), two subsea manifolds, five subsea caisson separation and boosting systems, topside and subsea controls, and related subsea equipment.
The Perdido Regional Development is approximately 200 mi (322 km) south of Freeport, Texas, and will have a spar-based common processing hub moored in about 8,000 ft (2,438 m) of water, making it the deepest production spar in the world. Ultra deepwater depths in the Perdido area range down to 10,000 ft (3,048 m), with a rugged seabed terrain.
BP contracts ROVs for hurricane decommissioning
Oceaneering International Inc. won two contracts from BP Americas Production Co. to provide vessel and ROV services in the GoM to support hurricane damage-related platform decommissioning
Oceaneering will provide a dynamically positioned ROV support vessel equipped with three ROVs - two work class and one observation class. The vessels will be theOcean Intervention III, formerly named the Island Ranger, and the Mærsk Attender. Both contracts have initial terms of one year starting in May 2007 and June 2007, respectively. BP has two consecutive one- year options to extend these contracts.
