August 2000 Vol. 221 No. 8  Offshore

Robert E. Snyder,  Editor

Silver anniversaries and other stuff

Statoil drilled its first well offshore Norway on July 4, 1975, just 25 years ago. The 15-12-1 was drilled by the Ross Rig semi – at that time an Aker-built rig owned by A/S Rosshavet Vestfold. The well was a dry hole, but Statoil went on, the next year, to discover Tommeliten field in Block 1/9.

It’s an interesting coincidence that Tommeliten is being abandoned this summer. That project involved the use of the Coflexip Stena Offshore light well intervention vessel CSO Seawell, which first determined that the six subsea trees installed in 1988 would not unlatch after the wells were killed and plugged. The vessel, thus, returned to Aberdeen and picked up a 32-man team with 12 saturation divers, who subsequently disconnected the trees with six "short bell runs." All trees were successfully brought to surface by the vessel.

And not to be outdone, offshore UK oil production started just 25 years ago, in June 1975, as is "celebrated" in the recently published Department of Trade and Industry’s Brown Book. This annual report provides useful information on the UK upstream industry. Check E-mail: book.orders@theso.co.uk.

Floaters not sinking anymore. Offshore Data Services – now called OneOffshore, Inc., after its merger with Petrodata – said in mid-July that the floating-rig market is on target for late-2000 improvement. The report says worldwide demand for 2nd-generation semis increased by five units since April. While that is progress, utilization is only up to 67.6%, and day rates are stagnant in many regions of the world. Moreover, the majority of the demand increase is attributable only to the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Still, more than half of the GOM’s fleet remains idle, and all but one of those that are working will reach the end of contract commitments before long.

Utilization of 3rd-generation semis inched up to almost 85%, with 39 of the world’s 46 rigs under contract. As expected, day rates in the North Sea took a hit in recent months. And no change occurred in the GOM, where three rigs remain under contract and two remain idle. Little change in demand is expected in the near term. With utilization holding in the mid-80% range, day rates will firm, but not appreciate notably.

And only one of the world’s 35, 4th-generation semis was idle at mid-year, keeping utilization at the 90% mark. Only six will reach the end of their known contract commitments through October. Work for these units will not be hard to find, but the day rates that owners agree to will set the tone for the remainder of the year.

The only news of any significance in the DP drillship market segment is that two more rigs have been delivered since April, bringing total supply to 24 units. Since only one rig is due to come off contract before fall, and one additional by year-end, the only news expected in the near-term is that three more newbuilds will be delivered. With no contract rollovers, the report says, the only change in day rates was recorded in the South American region, where Navis Explorer 1 was mobilizing to Brazil for its first job. It reportedly has a contract to drill for Petrobras and BP Amoco, offshore Brazil and Trinidad, at a day rate in the range of $160,000.

Big Red heads for Campos. Halliburton and Petrobras have announced that they have signed contracts to proceed with the development of Barracuda and Caratinga offshore fields in Brazil. Contracts valued at more than $2.5 billion will be performed by Halliburton’s Brown & Root Energy Services and Halliburton Energy Services business units, together with Petrobras’ Exploration and Production Unit.

The contract will be on a full engineering, procurement, installation and construction (EPIC) basis, including work related to construction of 51 wells, fabrication / installation of flowlines and risers, construction / installation of two FPSOs, plus commissioning, startup and operations support for both fields.

Each FPSO has a storage capacity of 2 million bbl and production capacity of 150,000 bopd. Barracuda and Caratinga are located in the Campos basin, in water depth varying between 2,000 and 4,000 ft.

World’s deepest-water D/P platform. ExxonMobil announced startup of oil/gas production in May from the Hoover Diana development in the Gulf of Mexico. The fields are located 200 mi south of Houston, in 4,800-ft water. The $1.1-billion project to codevelop these two fields will produce peak rates of 100,000 bopd and 325 MMcfd gas. Initial production commenced in May, and averaged 140 MMcfd and 18,000 bopd from five wells. ExxonMobil (66.7%) is the operator; BP Amoco holds the remaining 33.3%.

The development utilizes a Deep Draft Caisson Vessel (DDCV) located over Hoover. The 83-story-tall DDCV floats vertically and is nearly "half a football field in diameter," with drilling / production facilities installed. Use of surface production wellheads in this water depth is an industry first. Diana field, about 15 mi west of Hoover, is a subsea development utilizing five horizontally completed wells tied back to the DDCV. New oil/gas pipelines transport the production to shore.

The operator says the project advanced deepwater technology and set new records in several key areas, including subsea horizontal drilling, installation of deepwater pipelines / risers / mooring systems and the heaviest module lift onto an offshore floating surface.

Clever flare lighter. Umoe Process Technology is installing the world’s first, subsea flare-ignition system at TP1 platform in Qatar. The system ignites flare tripods up to 2,000 m from the processing platform. A reinforced-fiberglass pipe is laid along the seabed to the tripod, through which an ignition pellet is launched. On exiting the pipe, the pellet bursts into a shower of sparks which instantly ignites the gas cloud.

Traditional electronic ignition systems operate via cables running between platform and tripod, which can present problems if electronics fail. A boat has to be lowered to cross to the tripod, where the flare is ignited manually with a hand-held flare gun. In bad weather the boat cannot be lowered safely, the flare gun operator is exposed to heat of the flare and, while unlit, flare gas is continuously escaping.