Gene Kliewer • Houston
Grenland Group is to deliver one integrated template structure and one manifold for FMC Technologies at Kongsberg. The total weight for the delivered structures will be approximately 350 metric tons (386 tons).
FMC has an agreement with Statoil to deliver subsea production systems to the Katla field in water depths of approximately 950 ft (290 m) in the Norwegian North Sea.
Grenland’s work will be done mostly in Tønsberg. Anticipated contract value for Grenland Group will be around $6.7 million. Planned construction start is December this year, and the delivery of the system is planned in 3Q 2011.
Brazil update
Some news seems to come out of Brazil every week, and the past weeks are no exception. Shell, as operator of the BC-10 Phase II offshore Brazil in the Campos basin, has contracted Oceaneering International Inc. to supply umbilicals for the project.
The order is for hybrid subsea pump and steel tube production control umbilicals totaling approximately 30 km (19 mi) in length and associated hydraulic flying leads. These umbilicals will support subsea development of the Argonauta O-North field consisting of seven production and four injection wells, in water depths ranging from 4,900 to 6,500 ft (1,494 to 1,981 m).
Papa Terra BV has contracted Technip to supply Integrated Production Bundles (IPBs) for the Papa-Terra field. This field is in 1,200 m (3,937 ft) in the Campos basin, 110 km (68 mi) offshore Brazil.
The contract includes the engineering, procurement, manufacture, and supply of 27 km (16 ¾ mi) of IPB risers and flowlines, and an electrical and monitoring module for the P-63 FPSO.
The IPB will be designed to increase the temperature of the produced fluid after long shut-downs in order to reduce its viscosity and enable production restart. Papa-Terra is a heavy-oil field. A new monitoring system using distributed temperature sensor (DTS) technology has been developed for this application and will be used for the first time.
Technip’s operating center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will perform this contract. Delivery of the modules and the IPBs are scheduled for 1Q 2012 and 4Q 2012, respectively.
GE Oil & Gas is getting into the Brazil action, too. It has two contracts totaling more than $120 million from Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., Ltd to supply a BOP stack and controls for a Petroserv-owned drillship destined for Brazil.
GE also will supply two complete drilling packages to be installed on Odebrecht Oil & Gas owned drillships, each including a 10,000-ft (305 m) riser system, BOP stacks, and controls.
GE Oil & Gas manufacturing plants in Houston, Texas, and Singapore will jointly manufacture the equipment, with deliveries scheduled between October 2010 and November 2011.
Ezra Holdings Litd has signed a $250-million deal with Aker Solutions AS (Aker Solutions), a subsidiary of Oslo Bors-listed Aker Solutions ASA. Under a conditional agreement with Aker, Ezra will acquire 100% of the company’s wholly-owned SURF (subsea umbilicals, risers, and fFlowlines) and floater installation unit, Aker Marine Contractors (AMC). The transaction is expected to be completed during 1Q 2011.
Ezra and Aker Solutions will also enter into a 50/50 joint venture to own and charter of theAMC Connector, a newly commissioned state-of-the-art multi-purpose construction vessel valued at $300 million. The AMC Connector is scheduled for delivery in early 2012 and has already has a long-term charter. Currently AMC operates two vessels, the Boa Deep C and Boa Sub C.
With AMC’s experienced personnel, assets, and project execution capabilities, the new partnership says it has made a significant step towards developing a world-class SURF and floater installation company. In addition, Ezra will access Aker Solutions’ subsea and other products to create a combined EPCI capability.
“AMC is a strong engineering and project execution organization,” says Øyvind Eriksen, executive chairman, Aker Solutions. “By becoming part of Ezra, AMC will have access to a larger and rapidly growing fleet of installation vessels covering all IMR and SURF installation segments – including flexible and rigid pipelay with capacity up to 3,500 m (11,483 ft) water depth – which will enable Ezra/AMC to compete with the world’s leading SURF contractors.”
Ezra and AMC initially will operate five construction and SURF installation vessels, and say they intend to grow 10 differentiated vessels from 2013. Ezra also operates approximately 30 anchor handling tugs, anchor handling tug supply, and diving support vessels, and two accommodation barges.
TDW completes hot tap in Nile Delta
T.D. Williamson SA reports successful completion of a hot tap operation on a gas pipeline in the Nile Delta, Egypt.
Williamson’s project for operator Petrobel on behalf of Eni SpA was at the 140-ton Temsah Concession pipeline end manifold (PLEM) that connects four pipelines ranging from 14 in to 32 in (35.5 cm to 81 cm) in diameter. Petrobel decided to use the by-pass approach to replacing the PLEM by creating an alternate export pipeline network connecting the production platform to a subsea isolation valve and thence to the 32-in export line.
As a result of the work that TDW carried out on the Temsah Concession pipeline network, Petrobel was able to resume production, and gas flowed once again through the new central PLEM. The new PLEM is shown here as it is mobilized for installation.
Phase I of the project involved laying an additional subsea line from the platform to the alternate network. This line was connected by live welding of a hot tap tee at a pipe operating pressure of 106 barg.
Phase II consisted of plugging all the lines after shutting down the platform. Williamson did this using its STOPPLE plug technology to isolate several lines, making it unnecessary to flood the network.
All lines were isolated. A 14-in. line was isolated with the traditional STOPPLE plugging method, while a 24-in. line and a 32-in. line were isolated with TDW’s folding STOPPLE plugging technology. This method was used for several reasons: the smaller size of the hot tapping equipment makes it faster to operate subsea, the equipment weighs less, and it reduces intervention time. The folding technology also provided a better seal performance at the considered delta pressure, between water pressure (8.5 barg) and pipe pressure (12 barg). Overall, TDW carried out three hot tap operations, ranging from 14 to 24-in., and installed STOPPLE plugging heads ranging from a 14 to 24-in. x 32-in.
During each of the subsea hot tap operations, technicians were in continuous communication with the divers, who were monitored via live images broadcast to a computer monitor located onboard a dedicated remotely-operated vehicle (ROV).
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