Gene Kliewer - Houston
More subsea production equipment on order
West Africa: The Grenland Group has ordered NOK 307 million ($45 million) in subsea facilities for Total’s Pazflor development offshore Angola. The contract includes fabrication, assembly, and testing of the structures.
The facilities are to be fabricated by Grenland at its yards in Grenland and Tønsberg, Norway, for delivery to begin next year and to be completed in 4Q 2010.
The Pazflor project is the third development center on block 17, deep offshore Angola, following Girassol and Dalia. FMC Technologies’ scope of supply includes three gas-liquid separation systems, which marks the first-ever deployment of subsea separation technology in West Africa, as well as 49 subsea trees and wellhead systems.
Also off Angola in Lombito Tomboco field, Chevron has ordered 14 MARS (multiple application re-injection systems) from Cameron. The $16-million order will be supplied by Cameron’s DES Operations, Aberdeen, Scotland and aims to allow chemical scale squeeze operations with an ROV support vessel into existing subsea equipment.
“We have worked closely with DES to develop a cost effective well intervention system which allows us to significantly minimize the downtime and maximize the production associated with subsea chemical stimulation operations,” says Chevron.
North Sea: Venture Production has awarded FMC Technologies Inc. a $25-million contract for more subsea production hardware destined for the North Sea.
FMC will supply three high-temperature enhanced horizontal subsea trees and four subsea wellheads from its Dunfermline, Scotland, engineering and manufacturing facility. The subsea tree for Venture’s Acorn field includes a multi-mode fiber optic communication system.
Earlier this year, Venture contracted FMC to supply two wellhead systems and one subsea tree each for its Chestnut and Acorn fields. The specific location for the latest hardware was not given.
The Marulk field is to be tied in to theNorne vessel to use idle capacity. Photo courtesy of Eni Norge.
On the Norwegian side, StatoilHydro and Eni Norge have agreed that StatoilHydro will handle the planning and development of subsea equipment for development of Marulk field.
“This agreement is natural in light of our great interest in this field. We also have considerable skills in this area, which will enable us to realize good synergies,” says Øivind Dahl-Stamnes, vice president for partner-operated fields.
Under this agreement, StatoilHydro will be responsible for the concept choice, pre-engineering, construction and installation of the subsea production system for Marulk.
“We have experience from similar projects in the same area, which may contribute to cost-effective development of the field. The personnel working at Marulk will largely be familiar with the Norne and Alve fields,” Dahl-Stamnes says.
MENA: Storm Ventures International (Barbados) Ltd. has contracted Aker Solutions to supply a subsea production system for Cosmos South offshore Tunisia.
The contract calls for three subsea trees, subsea control systems, and tie-in and connections. The subsea trees will be manufactured at Tranby, Norway, and subsea controls in Aberdeen, UK. First deliveries are scheduled for the second quarter next year. The system is to be at 100 m (328 ft) in the Gulf of Hammermet.
GoM: Murphy Exploration has awarded Aker Solutions a $23 million contract to provide subsea trees, control systems, and steel tube umbilicals for the company’s Gulf of Mexico development program.
The initial order includes two wellsets and an umbilical. Delivery of all components is scheduled for 2Q 2009, the company says.
Engineering design and project management will be provided from Aker Solutions’ office in Houston, Texas, with manufacturing of most components at Aker Solutions’ subsea manufacturing center in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Umbilicals will be manufactured at Aker Solutions’ facility in Mobile, Alabama. Offshore installation support will be provided from Aker Solutions’ service base in Houston.
GRL supplies ROVolution simulator to CTC
GRL has supplied a ROVolution simulator to CTC Marine Projects for use in general ROV pilot training and to practice trenching plough deployment.
CTC uses ROVolution in one scenario, illustrated here, GRL has customized ROVolution to use CTC’s WR1 work class ROV to observe the deployment of the AMP500 trenching plough, used for cutting trenches and laying pipes. In this case, once the plough is deployed to the seabed, the ROV pilot has to set up key components before performing an inspection to ensure it is ready and safe to start. The instructor can also choose to simulate plausible real world problems.
