IMR vessel Seven Viking from ULSTEIN

The cutting edge Seven Viking vessel, designed for operations in the harshest environments is being unveiled and named at a ceremony in Stavanger, Norway, by Subsea 7, Eidesvik Offshore and Ulstein today, 30 January 2013.

The next generation Inspection, Maintenance and Repair (IMR) vessel, the Seven Viking, is co-owned by Subsea 7 and Eidesvik and has been constructed in partnership with Ulstein.

The ICE-C class vessel with a crew capacity of 90 and a top speed of 17 knots, will work for Statoil on a five year contract. It has been custom-built according to the operator’s specifications to carry out tasks including inspection, maintenance and repair of subsea installations in addition to scale treatment and RFO work scopes (Ready For Operations).

The vessel Godmother is to be Christine Sagen Helgø, the Mayor of Stavanger.

Subsea 7 Vice President for Norway Stuart Fitzgerald said: “The collective effort, and strong cooperation, between Ulstein, Eidesvik and Subsea 7, has resulted in the Seven Viking. The Seven Viking represents another class leading asset in the Subsea 7 fleet and captures Subsea 7’s unparalleled experience with IMR operations in harsh environments. The design and build of this state of the art vessel would not have been possible without the expertise and dedication of many people within both Subsea 7 and our project partners, and we take pride in their achievement. We look forward to many years of safe and efficient operations with Seven Viking for our Customer, Statoil.”

Jan Fredrik Meling, CEO Eidesvik Offshore said, “We in Eidesvik are very satisfied with the close and constructive cooperation with Subsea 7. The relationship between our companies has developed over many years and has enabled us, together with Ulstein, to launch this outstanding vessel.”

Gunvor Ulstein, Ulstein Group CEO said, “Ulstein is proud to deliver a vessel of unmatched technical and operational capacity in its sector, and I am confident that the Seven Viking will meet Statoil’s expectations.”

The Seven Viking incorporates the X-BOW® hull line design to reduce motion in transit and gives increased stability in the potentially high waves that characterise the North Sea. Despite this enviable stability usually associated with size, this version of the Ulstein SX148 design has been crafted to be compact in stature – measuring only 106.5 metres long and 24.5 metres wide. The dimensions will allow the Seven Viking to manoeuvre with ease in confined spaces, such as between platforms, accessing difficult to reach areas.

Thanks to a clever configuration whereby hull space is maximised and equipment is integrated within a large hangar area, the Seven Viking and its crew have the ability to carry all necessary maintenance equipment on board, ensuring that operational downtime is kept to a minimum.

Safety, efficiency and environmental considerations have been the prime focus for the three partners when developing the Seven Viking, which carries the Clean Design notation.

A customised module handling system (MHS) has been integrated in the ship’s hangar for the safe launch and retrieval of subsea modules weighing up to 70 tons through the moon pool.

To facilitate cooperation and communication, all operational personnel are gathered in one area adjacent to the hangar, with panoramic windows in the control room giving a full overview of this key activity area. The Seven Viking has been developed to meet the highest working environment standards, and is classified as a comfort class COMF-V (3) vessel. Minimal noise levels in the hangar have been achieved by opting for electric winches for the ROVs, the MHS and other utility equipment.

Notable environmental initiatives include diesel electric propulsion, which reduces atmospheric emissions, and the electrical winches which nullify the risk of emissions of hydraulic oil.

Source

Recap: Worldwide Field Development News (Jun 15 – Jun 21, 2012)

This week the SubseaIQ team added 3 new projects and updated 30 projects. You can see all the updates made over any time period via the Project Update History search. The latest offshore field develoment news and activities are listed below for your convenience.

Africa – West

Rialto Recovers Oil, Gas in Gazelle-P3 Well

Jun 21, 2012 – Rialto Energy reported that it has encountered high gas readings and recovered oil and gas samples from the sidetrack of its Gazelle-P3 well. Wireline logs have been taken while further logging with vertical seismic profile and sidewall coring are continuing with completion expected in the next three days. Rialto said the oil and gas samples were recovered from the Upper Cenomanian sands as expected while the gas readings were noted in the Lower Cenomanian. The samples will also be used to assist in the design of the Gazelle field development processing facilities.

Project Details: Gazelle

S. America – Other & Carib.

Chevron Enters Suriname Acreage

Jun 20, 2012 – Kosmos Energy has entered into an agreement with Chevron under which Kosmos will assign half of its interest in Blocks 42 and 45, offshore Suriname, to Chevron. Under the agreement, Kosmos will have a 50 percent working interest and remain operator of both blocks until the end of the exploration phase. Chevron will assume the remaining 50 percent working interest and will become development operator of any commercial discoveries. Blocks 42 and 45 cover an area of about 2.8 million gross acres in water depths ranging between 650 to 8,500 feet (200 and 2,600 meters). First drilling is targeted for 2014.

Asia – SouthEast

Salamander Spuds Bualuang Far East-1 Well

Jun 18, 2012 – Salamander Energy has spud the Bualuang Far East-1 exploration well in Block B8/38, Gulf of Thailand. The Bualuang Far East prospect is located approximately four miles (six kilometers) to the northeast of the Bualuang oil field. The Far East-1 well will be drilled to a total vertical depth of 4,765 feet (1,452 meters) subsea. The primary target is the T5 Miocene sandstones with secondary targets comprising an underlying Permian-age Ratburi carbonate and a T4 Miocene sandstone stratigraphic trap. The main T5 objective has potential mean recoverable resources of 20 million barrels of oil. The well will be drilled by the ENSCO 53 (300??? ILC) jackup and is expected to take about 20 days to complete.

Project Details: Bualuang

Australia

Chevron Sells Interest in Wheatstone to Pan Pacific Energy

Jun 19, 2012 – Chevron has agreed to sell 10-percent participating interest of its Wheatstone field licenses and 8-percent participating interest of its Wheatstone natural gas processing facilities to Japan’s Pan Pacific Energy. Chevron added that Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Company (Tepco), one of the stakeholders in Japan’s Pan Pacific Energy K.K, has agreed to purchase an additional 0.4 million tons per annum (MTPA) of liquefied natural gas from the Wheatstone Project for up to 20 years. This new agreement brings Tepco’s total LNG offtake to 4.2 MTPA.

Project Details: Wheatstone

Mediterranean

Noble Suspends Pinnacles Gas Flow

Jun 18, 2012 – Noble Energy has suspended gas flow from the Pinnacles No. 1 well offshore Israel. According to partner Delek Group, this is due to an indication of a gas composition that does not match the specification for flow. The operator plans to examine alternative options including gas treatment to allow the resumption of gas flow.

N. America – US GOM

Cobalt Comes Up Dry iat Ligurian

Jun 15, 2012 – The Ligurian No. 2 well has failed to encounter commercial hydrocarbons and will now be plugged and abandoned after reaching a final depth of more than 30,000 feet (9,144 meters). The ENSCO 8503 (UDW semisub) drilled the well to a total depth of 31,800 feet (9,693 meters).

Project Details: Ligurian

Anadarko Gets Nod to Drill in GOM

Jun 15, 2012 – The BOEM recently approved Anadarko’s permit to drill at its Shenandoah prospect in Walker Ridge Block 51. The permit lists the ENSCO 8505 (UDW semisub) as the rig that will perform drilling operations. The Shenandoah well has a proposed depth of 32,000 feet (9,754 meters) and is located in approximately 5,800 feet (1,768 meters) of water.

Project Details: Shenandoah

Europe – North Sea

Ocean Installer Completes Survey, Intervention Work at Balder

Jun 21, 2012 – Ocean Installer has completed a survey and intervention work at the Balder field. The conducted work encompassed inspection and maintenance of the subsea control system at the field. Balder is located on Blocks 25/10 and 25/11 in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea about 118 miles (190 kilometers) west of Stavanger, Norway at a water depth of 410 feet (125 meters).

Project Details: Balder

Providence Pleased with Barryroe’s Core Analysis

Jun 21, 2012 – Providence Resources has completed the core analysis of the reservoir at its Barryroe discovery. The firm said that permeabilities in the basal oil-bearing reservoir interval have exceeded expectations, while good permeabilities have also been confirmed in secondary logged hydrocarbon-bearing sand. The permeabilities in the basal oil-bearing interval confirm the high-productivity nature of this reservoir as observed during well-testing operations, said Providence. The company will provide a revised resource update for Barryroe later this summer.

Project Details: Barryroe

Technip to Construct Subsea System for Boyla Development

Jun 20, 2012 – Technip won a contract for the development of the Boyla field in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The $381 million deal with Marathon covers all activities necessary to complete the construction of the subsea system for the field development and connect it to the existing Alvheim subsea facilities. Offshore construction will take place in 2014. The field is to be developed as a subsea tie-back to the Alvheim FPSO, with two production wells and a water injection well. The Boyla field is estimated to hold reserves of 23 million barrels of oil equivalent.

Project Details: Alvheim

Valemon Jacket Delivered and Installed

Jun 19, 2012 – Statoil reported that the Valemon jacket was successfully delivered and installed on the field, which lies in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea. The 9,000-ton steel jacket was carried out as planned and the project remains on schedule. The jacket, which was built by Heerema Fabrication Group in Vlissingen in the Netherlands, was transported from the shipyard and out to the field by the crane barge Thialf. Development of Valemon involves a fixed platform with a steel jacket for the separation of gas, condensate and water. The rich gas will be transported via a new pipeline to the existing pipeline from Huldra to Heimdal for further processing. The condensate will be piped to the Kvitebj??rn platform for stabilization and further transport via the Troll oil pipeline to the Mongstad refinery. At peak production, Valemon is expected to deliver roughly 86,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The field is expected to come on stream in the fourth quarter of 2014 and has a life expectancy of 11 years.

Project Details: Valemon

North Sea Buzzard Oil Field to Shut Down for 4 Weeks

Jun 15, 2012 – Nexen reported that the Buzzard oil field will have an extended four-week shutdown in the third quarter for the field’s five-year regulatory inspection. The company did not specify when the shut-down will likely occur. Buzzard produces about 200,000 bopd and is the largest oil field that contributes to Forties crude.

Project Details: Buzzard

Statoil Submits PDO for Svalin

Jun 15, 2012 – Statoil has submitted a plan for development and operation for the Svalin field to the Norwegian government and reported it expects to bring the field online in 2013. Recoverable reserves at the field are estimated at around 75 million barrels of oil equivalent, with two structures Svalin C and Svalin M containing similar quantities. The Svalin C and Svalin M discoveries will be developed through a ‘fast-track’ method that uses a standard solution involving processing by existing infrastructure. The Svalin development will be tied-back to the Grane platform. Svalin M will be produced by a well drilled from the Grane platform, while Svalin C will be a subsea development connected via a four-mile long flowline to the Grane platform. The hydrocarbons will utilize shared processing and export facilities. The gas compression facility at the Grane platform will be modified to handle gas from Svalin. Oil from the Svalin development will be transported, along with production from the Grane field, through the existing pipelines for storage and shipment from the oil terminal at Sture.

Project Details: Svalin

Shell Contracts FPSO for Fram Field

Jun 15, 2012 – Shell sent SBM Offshore a letter of interim award (LOIA) for the supply, lease and operation of a FPSO for the Fram field in the UK sector of the North Sea. The LOIA allows SBM Offshore to commence engineering and procurement of long lead items to ensure timely completion of the planned Fram FPSO project, which is subject to a Final Investment Decision. In March 2012, Shell and SBM Offshore signed an Enterprise Framework Agreement (EFA) covering a term of five years, with an option to extend for another five years. The Fram FPSO, subject to a Final Investment Decision, will be the first project to be developed under the terms of the EFA. The hull of the FPSO will be based on a converted Aframax tanker and will incorporate an internal turret permanent mooring system. The crude will be offloaded to shuttle tankers and the gas exported via the existing Fulmar pipeline.

Project Details: Troll Area

N. America – Canadian Atlantic

Statoil Confirms Mizzen Discovery Holds Large Amounts of Oil

Jun 21, 2012 – Statoil has confirmed that it has found between 100 and 200 million barrels of recoverable oil at its Mizzen deepwater prospect offshore Newfoundland. The company stated it is now assessing the discovery to determine how and when it can be economically developed. Statoil discovered oil in 2009 while drilling Mizzen O-16 and appraised the find in late 2011. Statoil plans to drill two new wildcat wells in the area by the end of next year, and potentially additional wells in 2014 and beyond. Mizzen is situated roughly 311 miles (500 kilometers) east of St. John’s in 3,609 feet (1,100 meters) of water.

Project Details: Mizzen

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Norway: Expro’s AX-S System Installed on Havyard’s Havila Phoenix Vessel

There are great things happening aboard the vessel “Havila Phoenix” nowadays. During the last two years there have been installations and tests of a whole new system likely to revolutionise the offshore light well intervention market.

The vessel, a Havyard 858 design, is designed and constructed by the ship technology group, Havyard Group AS, and owned by Havila Shipping, both located in Fosnavåg at the west coast of Norway. The offshore construction vessel was delivered from Havyard Ship Technology in Leirvik, Norway in 2009.

The vessel has over the last year-and-a-half been working on a contract for Fugro-Salt Subsea, part of the massive Fugro group, which is a Dutch-based corporation with more than 14.000 employees spread across 60 countries. Fugro-Salt Subsea cooperates with Expro in terms of developing the new “AX-S”-system aboard Havila`s advanced construction vessel.

So far the development of this new system has been running for seven years and cost NOK 1.2 billion in research and investments in ground-breaking new technology. The breakthrough appeared around a month ago when tests in the Norwegian Onarheim fjord proved very successful.

“AX-S” is a brand new system for well intervention involving remote-controlled subsea tools. The new system is, according to both the Havila management and the management of Fugro-Salt Subsea, a revolutionary system using solutions so far never utilised in subsea operations from a construction vessel. This involves employing extremely advanced remote-controlled subsea tools during well intervention that can handle up to eight different tools within the same operation, as well as using a light fibre rope instead of heavy steel wires. These are the main elements of the recent innovation. Should the system also win approval in a business sense, it could have a major impact on the offshore light well intervention market.

STABLE HAVYARD VESSEL

In the last year-and-a-half the 110 metre long vessel, a ship now docked in the port of Montrose between Dundee and Aberdeen, Scotland, has looked more like a research station than an offshore vessel. Havila Phoenix has been outfitted with a 35 metre tall tower and several modules on deck with a combined weight of over 500 tonnes. And there is no coincidence that the Scottish group has chosen a Havyard 858 design for this unique project.

– We needed a big, solid and modern vessel, and Havila Phoenix has lived up to all our expectations. If we fully succeed with this project we will likely be looking to acquire vessels of a similar design, but we will then need to be part of the planning straight from the start and get more of the system directly integrated below deck, says Operation Manager Darren Bown of AX-S.

The captain of Havila Phoenix, Leif Magne Lynge from Gursken, Norway, confirms that the vessel still remains impressively stable despite the enormous added weight.

– Yes, things have been working really well and the vessel also performs really well for its purpose. Facilities are also excellent, says Lynge who`s been captain aboard the vessel since the initial delivery. Captain and crew are definitely looking forward to heading out to the North Sea in order to start using this exciting new system.

UNIQUE REMOTE-CONTROLLED TOOLS

Michael Earlam of Fugro-Salt Subsea informs that there are several factors making the AX-S system a world sensation. In addition to the utilization of fibre ropes instead of wires for AX-S deployment, Earlam emphasizes the remote-controlled handling and deployment of the subsea packages with the ability to deploy 8 subsea tools is each time is unique.

– By using traditional well intervention equipment you can only perform one task at a time before the equipment needs to be raised to the surface in order to swap tools and then perform a subsequent operation. The equipment used in the AX-S system manages to handle eight various tools while on the seabed, without having to be raised to the surface to swap over any tools. This makes the operation much more effective and cost-efficient, Michael Earlam informs.

And after seven years of preparation the system is nearing its baptism of fire. In September, Havila Phoenix with 500 tonnes of “subsea factory” on deck will be heading out to work in the British sector of the North Sea.

– Yes, following the successful commissioning of the AX-S system on NUTEC’s “cold well” in Onharheimsfjord, south of Bergen, during April and May be performing operations in the North Sea, the Operations Manager for AX-S, Darren Bown of Expro, confirms.

Source

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Well Stimulation Vessel

Pumping & Production Testing Vessel

Uploaded by AXONEnergyProducts on Jan 3, 2011

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Seawell: Light Well Intervention and Dive Support Vessel

Uploaded by HelixEnergySolutions on Oct 5, 2010

3D flyaround of Helix Energy Solutions’ Seawell light well intervention and dive support vessel.

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Subsea:The Riserless Light Well Intervention – (Video)

The Riserless Light Well Intervention Technology provides access to subsea wells. Reducing the cost of maintenance is the principal driving force behind the development of the LWI technology. With increased access for only at one-third of the cost of a typical intervention, oil companies can better monitor and gather more information from the reservoirs worldwide. Well maintenance can be performed using Dynamically Positioned (DP) vessels instead of large anchored drilling rigs at shorter time and lower cost.

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STX Finland Inks Contract with Eide Marine Services for Two Well Intervention Vessels

STX Finland Oy and Eide Marine Semi AS, a subsidiary of Eide Marine Services A/S, have signed a contract for the outfitting, completion and delivery of two highly sophisticated well intervention vessels with an aggregate contract value exceeding EUR 300 million.

The technically advanced well intervention vessels with deadweight of 31,000 tons will have a length of 122 meters and a width of 45 meters. The vessels are designed to operate in rough open sea conditions on Brazilian continental shelf. Vessels have innovative hullforms securing high seakeeping characteristics together with DP3 dynamic positioning system and truster arrangement. Large deck area provides opportunity to arrange all well serving equipment in most efficient way.

The project will create a high outfitting work load for STX Finland and its network. The work on the first hull will begin at STX Rauma shipyard in April 2012 and on the second hull in June 2012. The intervention vessels will be delivered from Rauma shipyard in March 2013 and June 2013. The contract is subject to certain financing conditions.

The contract shows STX Finland’s ability to provide competitive services and win significant contracts in this highly sophisticated and demanding offshore business segment. The contract is also an important part of STX Finland’s diversification strategy, in which the company is continuing to expand its operations into new business areas such as offshore business segment.

“The outfitting contract for Eide Marine Services is a very important project for STX Finland. It shows that our strategic plan to expand our product and services portfolio,and to improve our global competitiveness and presence, has been successful”,says Timo Suistio, COO of STX Finland. “The project is very challenging both in terms of amount of outfitting work and the management of several global networking entities.” continues Suistio.

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Strong Recovery in Subsea Vessel Demand

Market researcher Douglas-Westwood, UK, forecasts strong recovery in vessel demand. The World Subsea Vessel Operations Market 2011-2015 details expenditure set to grow 52%, totaling USD72bn between 2011 and 2015. Lead author, Simon Robb, commented, “Project timetables are accelerating as confidence returns to the industry, with a shift to larger and more complex deepwater projects. Projects are increasingly capital intensive, which is benefitting offshore contractors with the capability and expertise to provide deepwater services.

“Global vessel demand for Subsea Vessels is expected to climb beyond 310,000 days for the forecast period 2011-2015 – a 28% increase on the previous five years. Robust growth is expected, with annual expenditure set to rise from USD11.2bn in 2011 to USD19bn by 2015.”

Ian Jones, contributing author, continued, “By 2015, there will be a move towards more complex deepwater projects being sanctioned and this should benefit the vessel contractors with deepwater capability and engineering experience. The number of vessel days in deep waters is set to increase by more than 50% over the next five years. Deepwater awards will suit contractors with modern vessels fleet, effective project execution skills and a track record in delivering deepwater projects.”

The deepwater ‘Golden Triangle’ is expected to account for 54% of global expenditure over the forecast period. Africa will remain the largest single market by expenditure with over USD13.7bn required over the next five years. Despite a dip in activity in North America during 2011-2012, due to the economic crisis and the fallout from the Deepwater Horizon incident, vessel expenditure is expected to total almost USD13bn. This is a 21% increase on the previous five years. Latin America is expected to be the third largest market – driven directly by Petrobras‘ long-term deepwater and ultra-deepwater strategy. The Asian and Australasian regions are both expected to witness strong vessel expenditure growth over the next five years.

The comprehensive report focuses on the demand for vessels used by operators around the world for their subsea field development & construction projects, inspection, repair & maintenance (IRM), well intervention and plug & abandonment activities providing detailed demand and expenditure analysis by region. The report looks at the main factors that are driving vessel day demand for ROVSV, DSV, Flexlay, LWIV and Pipelay vessels and provides supporting information analyzing specific sectors within each key subsea sector. Market supply and vessel day rates are also discussed, providing the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the key trends involved in shaping the requirement for subsea vessels.

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