Gene Kliewer • Houston
Statoil first to use RMR system in GoM
Statoil has used a riserless mud recovery (RMR) system on the drillshipDiscoverer Americas for operations on the Krakatoa prospect.
The RMR system has been qualified and field proven down to water depths of 5,000 ft (1,525 m). RMR technology is being tested and qualified for even deeper waters, allowing the technology to be used in much of the Gulf of Mexico, the company says.
Statoil is the first operator to use the system in the GoM.
“The RMR system allows us to circulate the mud, reducing the total mud consumption, and discharges to sea to a quarter of the amount compared with conventional methods,” explains Tore Grønås, Statoil’s superintendent for Discoverer Americas. “In addition, this technology allows us to push the drilling depth deeper for the shallow casing string, which again reduces the overall drilling time per well.”
Chevron orders Jack & St. Malo subsea production systems
Chevron has ordered more than $230-million in subsea production systems for Stage I of the Jack & St. Malo development in the GoM. The project is to include 12 15,000-psi subsea trees, production controls, four manifolds, connections, engineering, and project management services from Cameron.
India subsea system precommissioned
A range of precommissioning work is complete on an 18-well subsea production system at KG-D6 in Krishna Godavari basin, Bay of Bengal, east coast of India. BJ Services completed the work under contract to Helix ESG.
Hydraulic and electrical testing of dynamic and infield steel tube umbilicals and construction monitoring for 99 mi (159 km) in up to 3,937 ft (1,200 m) water depth were included in the contract.
KG-D6 gathers gas from the basin and sends it onshore. Capacity at peak is expected to be more than 550,000 boed.
ConocoPhillips to move Ekofisk water injection
ConocoPhillips Scandinavia has consent from the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate to use subsea facilities for water injection on Ekofisk 2/4 V-A. The facilities will replace the facility/wells on 2/4 W.
The consent includes use of the eight water injection wells drilled byMærsk Innovator, use of a new pipeline for water injection, and use of cables and equipment to manage the injection. The eight 2/4 VA wells used a subsea template, subsea wellhead, and subsea well control equipment.
Saipem scores offshore Southeast Asia
Saipem has won two contracts totaling $450 million for work offshore Southeast Asia.
Esso Highlands Ltd. awarded a contract for the Papua New Guinea LNG Offshore Pipeline Project EPC2. That consists of engineering, transportation, and installation of a 407-km (253-mi) long, 34-in (86-cm) diameter sealine connecting the Omati River landfall on the southern coast of Papua New Guinea to site scheduled for the onshore LNG facility outside Port Moresby. Maximum water depth is 100 m (328 ft) and marine operations will use theSemac 1, according to Saipem.
In Vietnam, PTSC Mechanical and Construction has awarded Saipem a contract for the Chim Sao Platforms and Pipeline Project in block 12W. The scope includes transportation and installation of one wellhead platform and pipeline.
Chim Sao field is 300 km offshore in 95 m. TheCastoro 8 vessel will be employed and the project is scheduled for completion 2Q 2011.
North Sea subsea activity
● Aker to tieback BP Norge’s Oselvar to Ula
BP Norge has awarded Aker Solutions a NOK 450 million ($80 million) contract for engineering, procurement, construction, and installation of a tieback from Oselvar to the Ula platform.
Object of the tieback is to transport oil and gas 24 km (15 mi) from the DONG-operated Oselvar field to BP’s Ula platform for processing. The oil will be processed at the platform and gas either reinjected or exported via pipeline to Gyda and Ekofisk facilities.
The Ula platform is in the southwest area of the North Sea, in approximately 70 m (230 ft) water depth. Ula field recently was upgraded with water and gas injection equipment, which allows it to take on production from several other fields in the area.
Completion is expected in November 2011.
● BP contracts Schiehallion development
In further North Sea activity by BP, two contracts were awarded to Technip for Schiehallion development.
The first contract was for design and manufacture of a 720-m (2,400-ft) gas-lift flexible riser and a 770-m (2,500-ft) water-injection flexible riser.
The second contract covers installation of the risers and pre-commissioning, tie-ins, and testing.
● Expro installs first new CaTS mandrel system
At Ormen Lange in the Norwegian North Sea, Expro has installed the first of its new large-bore CaTS mandrel systems into Phase II of the field development. This marks the first two-way communications in Expro’s wireless pressure/temperature monitoring and control products.
CaTS (cableless telemetry system) allows real-time transfer of monitoring and control data without use of cables. The systems were installed in Ormen Lange wells A5 and B7 and are in commission. Four more systems are scheduled for installation by the end of 2011.
Shell says having access to accurate sandface flowing pressure data allows determination of damage skin and the possibility of monitoring the sandface completion efficiency and integrity. Actual sandface pressure data also reduces the uncertainty of the drawdown at the sand face in constrained wells, compared to using multi-phase flow correlations. An improvement of 1-2% in the calculated drawdown can improve production by 1-2% in drawdown constrained wells. The CaTS data allows fine-tuning of multi-phase flow correlations used to calculate the frictional pressure drop throughout the completion, resulting in non-CaTS wells also being operated at their full potential (maximum drawdown limitation). In addition, CaTS data has proven its value on one of the newly commissioned wells where produced water measurements at the christmas tree were outside the normal operating range. The CaTS data showed this to be a metering issue.
The big bore, high flow rate completion designs being used on Ormen Lange make it impractical to install traditional cabled permanent downhole gauge (PDG) systems in close proximity to the producing sandface. With an along-hole separation distance in excess of 1,000 m (3,281 ft) between the PDG and the sandface, and with frictional pressure drop, gravity head differences, and temperature effects there is uncertainty how the pressure measurements being recorded by the PDG relate to the actual sandface flowing pressure.
