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Corpus Christi, TX: Tamar Platform En Route to Israel
Tamar production platform has left the Keiwit Shipyards in Corpus Christi, Texas, USA, and is now on the way to its location offshore Israel, according to Globes, the Israeli financial newspaper.
It took 18 months for the 280 m platform to be completed, and the project has been described as “the largest infrastructure project in Israeli history.”
Noble Energy, operator of the Tamar field, did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment.
The Tamar platform will be located in approximately 800 feet of water and will be able to process 1.2 billion standard cubic feet of gas per day. The Tamar field is estimated to contain 8.4 trillion cubic feet of gas and will be produced through several subsea wells connected to the platform by 150 km long flow lines. The single-lift topsides facility has four deck levels and weighs nearly 10,000 tons.
Globes further reports that the platform is expected to reach its destination during the fourth quarter this year. First production is scheduled for March 2013.
Noble Energy operates Tamar with a 36 percent working interest. Other owners are Isramco Negev 2 with 28.75 percent, Delek Drilling with 15.625 percent, Avner Oil Exploration with 15.625 percent, and Dor Gas Exploration with the remaining four percent.
CX-15 Platform Installed at Corvina Field Offshore Peru
BPZ Energy,an independent oil and gas exploration and production company, announced that the hull tower for the CX-15 platform was successfully floated off the transport vessel, uprighted and ballasted. Subsequently, the topside facility was also successfully mated to the hull tower.
The CX-15 platform is now anchored at the West Corvina field location, one mile south of the existing CX-11 platform.
Welding and other miscellaneous activities are underway and will take approximately two weeks. The Petrex-28 drilling rig, which has been inspected and accepted for work, will then be mobilized to the CX-15 platform. It is expected that the necessary environmental permit required to conduct drilling operations from the CX-15 platform will be received from the Peruvian authorities before the drilling rig is mobilized. The Company expects to spud the first well of the CX-15 drilling campaign in late October.
The CX-15 platform was safely completed and successfully delivered to BPZ Energy at Wison Offshore & Marine’s Nantong, China, fabrication facility in a record 11 months from contract signature and without a single lost time incident. Wison’s scope included the engineering, procurement and construction of the facility’s 2,500 ton Buoyant Tower hull and 1,500 ton topsides facility. This project represents not only the first use of the design, but also the first implementation of Wison’s integrated international delivery model including members from the company’s three operation centers Inc. located in Shanghai and Nantong, China, and Houston, Texas, USA.
The Buoyant Tower hull for the facility was designed and engineered through a joint venture between Wison affiliate, Horton Wison Deepwater, and GMC Limited and consists of four, ring-stiffened connected cylindrical tubes or “cells” with one central suction pile. Each cell measures 8.4 meters in diameter and 60.1 meters long, with a total hull length, including suction pile, of 69.9 meters. This design, which is similar to proven cell spar technology, was a key enabler for the project due to the fact that it will not require a derrick barge for installation as it is located in a region with minimal resident offshore construction vessels.
CX-15 Platform Installed at Corvina Field Offshore Peru| Offshore Energy Today.
USA: MOSS Reviews Permanent Platform Wire Replacement
InterMoor successfully replaced (8) spiral-strand platform wires on a permanent production facility in May 2011 without requiring a platform shutdown or loss of production. The operation was completed using a single Construction Anchor-Handling Vessel (CAHV) at a significant cost savings from the traditional method involving a derrick barge.
Each mooring line consisted of unjacketed spiral-strand wire at the fairlead, two sections of jacketed spiral strand in the water column and studless chain at the seafloor. Syntactic-foam submersible buoys had been installed at each spiral-strand wire connection, so each mooring line had two buoys.
Only the platform wires were to be replaced, and the remaining mooring components including the buoys were to be reused. Protecting the existing components from damage during recovery and reinstallation posed several unique challenges. One of the main operational challenges was to design a way to bring the upper buoy and platform wire out of the water and secure them on deck so that the old platform wire could be disconnected. To accomplish this, InterMoor designed and installed a custom hang-off porch at the CAHV’s stern. The porch used a combination of pneumatic and hydraulic cylinders to manipulate and align the entire porch as each buoy connection was recovered and deployed. The porch also had separate stoppers for the socket connections and a removable cradle for the buoy. Another operational challenge was the unknown condition of the buoys themselves, particularly since they were to be reused on the replacement wires. There was no industry experience at the time in retrieving foam buoys that had remained submerged at depth for over a decade. This paper will explore these challenges and others in more detail as well as the steps that were taken to successfully overcome them.
Subsea World News – USA: MOSS Reviews Permanent Platform Wire Replacement.
GulfMark Orders Two Platform Supply Vessels from BAE Systems (USA)
GulfMark Americas, Inc. has selected BAE Systems’ shipyard in Mobile, Alabama to build two new platform supply vessels that will serve offshore drilling operations. The contract reflects continued growth in U.S. commercial shipbuilding for BAE Systems and a major step forward in the company’s support to the oil and gas industry.
Each of the GulfMark vessels will be qualified under the U.S. Jones Act and will measure 288 feet long and 62 feet wide. The selection also includes options to build two additional platform supply vessels in the future.
“GulfMark is excited about partnering with BAE Systems on this important project,” said David Rosenwasser, chief operating officer of GulfMark Offshore. “BAE Systems demonstrated unique capabilities that are essential to us, and we look forward to building a long-term relationship going forward.”
The design for the BAE Systems-built Green DP2 vessels will be provided by MMC Ship Design & Marine Consulting, Ltd. of Poland and will be based on similar platform supply vessels currently under construction for GulfMark abroad. The new vessels will be U.S. flagged and will support the anticipated future demand in the Gulf of Mexico offshore market, as well as other areas around the world as necessary.
“This contract reinforces our commitment to new construction in the commercial market and strengthens BAE Systems’ position as a highly competitive and financially stable builder of technically sophisticated ships,” said Richard McCreary, vice president of BAE Systems Southeast Shipyards. “We continue to grow our backlog of projects and build our workforce in Mobile.”
The GulfMark contract is part of a recent expansion at the Mobile shipyard. Last month, the company teamed with Mid Ocean Tanker Company and Alterna Capital to complete the American Phoenix, a U.S. flag/Jones Act-qualified product chemical tanker. Measuring 616 feet long and 105 feet wide, it is the largest vessel ever built and launched in the State of Alabama. BAE Systems has also begun construction on the MV Magdalen, a trailing suction hopper dredge that is scheduled to be delivered in 2014.
In addition to the vessels under construction in Mobile, BAE Systems announced in June that it was awarded a contract with Great Lakes Dock & Dredge Company to build two dump scows, which are used for dredging operations. Construction on the 262-foot-long dump scows is expected to start in October.
BAE Systems currently employs more than 650 people in Mobile and expects to hire an additional 275 workers there by the end of this year.
With state-of-the-art craft shops and fabrication facilities, no job is too big or too small for BAE Systems — from container and supply vessels to mega-yachts and tugs. Serving both military and commercial markets, the company operates six full-service shipyards in Mobile, Alabama; San Francisco and San Diego, California; Jacksonville, Florida; Norfolk, Virginia; and Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.
USA: Congressman Visits Offshore Energy Facilities
During an Offshore Energy Tour hosted by Rep. Steve Scalise (LA-01), congressman Gene Green toured the Shell Brutus 1 platform in the Gulf of Mexico, noting the success of Shell’s production and progress toward restoring the Gulf economy.
“I was glad to see that the Gulf of Mexico is heading in the right direction and getting back to work. There is still a lot of room for improvement but the increase in permitting and production has been crucial in securing American jobs, boosting investment in the local economies, and promoting our energy independence.”
Production in the Gulf of Mexico is critical to the nation as it provides 30 percent of the United States’ domestic crude oil supply.
Prior to the moratorium, the average final approval time from an original submission to final approval was 50 days. Shell’s exploration plan for the deepwater work was approved in about 100 days and required a site specific environmental assessment.
On Noble Energy’s Bully 1 deepwater drill ship, Members had the opportunity to have lunch with Shell employees and hear their stories first-hand on how their lives have been affected by the moratorium.
Related articles
Noble Energy Linking Noa and Pinnacles to Mari B Platform
Noble Energy and Delek Group have started linking Noa and Pinnacles offshore natural gas fields to the Mari B production platform, according to the Israel’s financial newspaper Globes.
Helix ESG’s reeled pipelay vessel, Express, which in April arrived at the port city of Haifa, Israel has started SURF (Subsea Umbilicals, Risers and Flowlines) work.
According to the data on Noble Energy’s website, Noa will, once developed, provide 100 million cubic feet per day (MMcf/d) of production by September 2012.
Development of the Noa field is geared to allow for additional supplies of natural gas to the Israeli market, until the start of natural gas supplies from the Tamar project.
Related articles
- Oil drilling near Haifa halted (jta.org)
- Noble Energy Provides Update On Leviathan Deep (prnewswire.com)
Canada: WorleyParsons Wins Hebron Topsides Contract from ExxonMobil
WorleyParsons has been awarded a contract by ExxonMobil Canada Properties for the topsides on the Hebron Project.
The contract follows front end engineering and design services and exercises ExxonMobil’s option to subsequently award detailed engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services. The Hebron Field is an oil and gas development in the Atlantic Ocean located 350 kilometers offshore from St. John’s in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.
WorleyParsons estimates its portion, including engineering and project management, of the services revenue under the EPC contract to be US$360 million over five years. WorleyParsons, working with Fluor, will provide overall project management of the contract with subcontracts to be awarded to multiple third parties, with a special emphasis on performing work in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Commenting, WorleyParsons’ Chief Executive Officer John Grill said: “WorleyParsons is excited to have been contracted for this next phase by ExxonMobil Canada Properties for the complex Hebron project which will utilize our proven expertise in sub-Arctic floatover topsides”.
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- Global search launched for Hebron work (cbc.ca)
- Scramble on to keep $100M Hebron contract in N.L. (cbc.ca)
- ExxonMobil Awards Technip GoM Subsea Contract (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Exxon, Conoco and BP Plan Alaska LNG Exports (mb50.wordpress.com)
- ExxonMobil, Petrom Strike Gas in Black Sea (mb50.wordpress.com)
India: Cochin Shipyard Delivers New AHTS to SCI
Cochin Shipyard Limited (CSL) delivered a 120T Bollard pull Anchor Handling Tug Supply Vessel (AHTS), “SCI Kundan”, to M/s Shipping Corporation of India, Mumbai (SCI). This is the Second of the series of 4 Nos of 120T Bollard pull AHTS being built by CSL for M/s Shipping Corporation of India.
The vessel is of AH03 type, designed by STX OSV, Norway (ex- Aker Yards) and is certified under dual class by the Rules and Regulations of American Bureau of Shipping & Indian Register of Shipping and is registered under Indian flag.
This 65.2 x 16.0 Meter vessel is a high end Anchor handler with a capacity of 120 T Bollard pull which is equipped with 2 Nos of 4000 KW Diesel Engines and 2 Nos of Controlled pitch propeller in Kort Nozzles. The vessel is having Grade I Dynamic Positioning feature along with compliance to ERRV class ‘C’ and also having capability of Fire Fighting class I.
The vessel is built to accommodate 29 persons with all the capabilities of a Platform Supply Vessel in addition to the Anchor Handling facility. These vessels are used as support platforms to Rigs/Oil platforms. The shipyard is presently constructing another 4 nos of offshore vessels for M/s Shipping Corporation of India which are all in advanced stages of construction.
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- India: Cochin Shipyard Delivers PSV to Norwegian Owner (mb50.wordpress.com)
- STX OSV Adds to their Backlog, DOF ASA Sends Newbuild Order for Subsea Construction Vessel (mb50.wordpress.com)
- MacGregor Systems for New OSVs in Asia and Europe (mb50.wordpress.com)
- Otto Marine Entrenches Deeper into West Africa with 3-year Multi-Million Dollar Contract (gcaptain.com)
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