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Table of Contents
Independence: The Project .................................................04
A supplement to

Independence: The Achievement..........................................16 Independence: The Hub ....................................................21 Independence: The Trail Pipeline ........................................28 Independence: The Subsea Infrastructure ..............................38 Independence: The Fields and Reservoirs .............................44 Independence: The Companies ...........................................60 Profile Section:.............................................68

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Independence: The Project

Unique pact and advanced technology lift 10 deepwater fields beyond economic threshold
he Independence Project began as a Big Idea. Independence is an industry solution to the problem of stranded reserves, said Mike Creel, Enterprise Products Partners LP president and chief executive officer. Its a very economic and efficient way to build and invest capital to accelerate resource development. The Big Idea was to develop the infrastructure necessary to bring previously Mike Creel, economically inaccessible ultra-deep Gulf Enterprise Products of Mexico reserves to market. Partners LP Bringing the Independence Project to President and Chief fruition was a Big Project. Executive Officer The Independence project is capable of boosting Gulf of Mexico natural gas production by 10% and U.S. gas supply by 2%. It will contribute the largest increase in natural gas production in the Gulf of Mexico by a single project in decades. A landmark engineering achievement, the Independence project represents one of the most innovative and wellcoordinated solutions ever for economically developing Gulf

of Mexico natural gas reserves that would otherwise have remained stranded, Creel said. GulfTerra Energy Partners LP (predecessor in the Independence project to Enterprise) came up with a solution attractive to the Atwater Valley Producers Group. After several discoveries, it was clear to us that there was critical mass in this region but limited infrastructure, Creel said. Independence added several levels of complexity to the idea that collaboration can leverage diverse resources and expertise to achieve the most efficient utilization of resources (capital, facility, capacity and human). Coordinating the Big Project involved crafting a unique commercial agreement among multiple parties. Forging an agreement among the original producers and a midstream service provider to develop 10 different discoveries, process and transport the gas to market is no small achievement. Independence Subsea wells are completed in record water depths and connected by subsea pipelines and a state-of-the-art umbilical system to Independence Hub, the central floating production and processing platform. Independence Trail is the high-pressure deepwater export gas pipeline that begins in a record 8,000-ft (2,440-m) water depth at the central facility and ends at a platform in shallow water where it connects to the U.S. gas transportation system.

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Independence Hub is the first major platform in the region, and Independence Trail is the first large deepwater gas pipeline. The project also marks the first production from federal waters adjacent to Florida. The project could not have succeeded without the collaboration and cooperation of the whole group to achieve a common goal, said Ray Cordova, deepwater platforms manager for Enterprise. Despite the multitude of challenges implied in the recordsetting engineering feats, the complex commercial collaboration and sheer magnitude of scale, Independence was completed on an accelerated schedule, which served to enhance individual stakeholder project economics.

By Any Measure, Independence Is A Big Project

World Deep-Sea Record Setting
Pipeline and riser (8,000ft, 2,440m) Platform (8,000ft) Subsea production (9,000ft, 2,745m)

A blueprint for the future

The Independence project represents the innovative approach of visionary companies to develop aggressive new approaches to gain access to ultra-deepwater oil and gas potential rewards. It is a unique, cost-efficient alternative for ultra-deepwater development. Without this collaboration, the individual discoveries that now are part of Independence would have been difficult perhaps impossible to develop. Developing deepwater oil and gas reserves takes significant amounts of capital. Though individual companies may possess impressive resources, risking too much on a single project of such large magnitude may not be prudent or even possible. As the Independence project proves, access is not limited to a few mega-giants with the resources to go it alone. By working smart, companies of a less than super size can collaborate to manage the risks inherent in deepwater development.

Record Setting
Largest Gulf of Mexico gas processing facility (1 Bcf/d) Longest mooring lines (2.4 miles 3.9 km each) Deepest suction pile installation Largest monoethylene glycol reclamation unit Deepest pipeline inline future tie-in subsea structure Largest single subsea umbilical order

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The natural order

Collaboration yields benefits, not only because it is a $2 billion project with significant risk and technical challenges, but also because there is a natural order of things in the Gulf of Mexico, Creel said. Producers commit their capital to the development of producing properties, midstream companies commit their capital to the infrastructure required to process that production and bring it ashore, he continued. Its a natural order of investment. For the industry, the approach helps align interests, increases utilization of capital employed and results in more efficient use of resources. Eliminating duplicate facilities, especially, has a significant positive impact on project economics. For producers, leveraging cooperation and combining expertise allows multiple producers to use a single gathering, processing and transportation system. Sharing common facilities gives producers access to dedicated equipment, all with enhanced flexibility and affordability. Independence provides producers a higher net present value (NPV) on their investment via project acceleration, lower finding and development costs as well as the opportunity to free up capital for core business. Independence permits development of significant gas reserves that would not have been developed without a collaborative approach, said Richard Fowler, former vice president of deepwater development for Dominion Exploration & Production Inc. Individually, these fields would not have been economic; combined, they are quite lucrative. For facilities owners, the natural order provides a targeted investment opportunity supported by significant long-term reserves while simultaneously positioning for the future growth potential spurred by access to infrastructure.

The Independence Hub facility is owned by Independence Hub LLC, which is owned 80% by Enterprise Field Services LLC and 20% by Helix Energy Solutions Group. Enterprise owns and operates 100% of Independence Trail. Independence Subsea consists of four producers collectively referred to as the Atwater Valley Producers Group. Originally there were six producers, but corporate changes have occurred since initial project development. BHP Ltd. left the group when it sold its properties in the region; Anadarko Petroleum Corp. merged with Kerr-McGee Corp. in 2006; Norsk Hydro ASAs Oil & Energy Division purchased Spinnaker Exploration Co. in December 2005, then in 2006, Statoil ASA agreed to acquire Norsk Hydros Oil and Energy Division; and Dominion Exploration & Production Inc. was recently sold to ENI Petroleum.

Pushing the water depth limit

The technical challenges of extreme water depths included the limited supply of deepwater drilling rigs and construction/installation vessels. Few pipeline laying vessels and only a handful of drilling rigs are rated for Independence project water depths. For example, most of the export pipeline and some of the flowlines were installed with the Allseas Groups Solitaire lay vessel, one of only two rated for work in such extreme water depths. It still had to be upgraded to withstand the loads involved in laying Independence Trail. Vessel availability may be another area in which Independence contributes to industrys deep water capability. It is possible that the ultra-deepwater fleet will get a boost with the completion of Independence, easing the equipment challenge for future projects.

A mile-high project view

Superimposed on a map of the Houston metropolitan area with the Independence Hub positioned over downtown Houston, the project area would reach from The Woodlands on the north to Galveston on the south (see map). Getting a handle on the magnitude of the Independence project is easier when grouped into three key systems: Independence Hub, the 1-Bcf/d-capacity semisubmersible platform in about 8,000ft of water in Mississippi Canyon Block 920 where liquids are removed from the well streams and gas is compressed to enter the export pipeline. Independence Trail, a 134-mile (216-km), 24-in. and 20-in. high-pressure export line transporting gas from the Hub to a new junction platform in shallow water in West Delta Block 68 to interconnect with Tennessee Gas Pipeline, thus linking market access to reserves. Independence Subsea, 10 initial fields with 15 subsea well completions in water depths to 9,000ft; 220 miles (354 km) of subsea flowlines connecting subsea wellhead trees to the Hub platform. This also includes 97 dedicated blocks.

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Were showing that development can be done in these depths. Success at Independence indicates that the water depth limit can continue to be pushed. That will help the fleet of deepwater vessels expand, said Jim Alsup, Anadarkos general manager of operations for Northern Rockies. Highlighting the differences between the approach of a small company and an oil major, Jim Guion, vice president of Enterprise, pointed out that a similar project might take a major oil company 1 to 2 more years and significantly more capital just because of the methodology a big corporation applies to develop, engineer and manage its projects. One main point at which an independents project differs from an oil majors is the attitude toward new technology, he said. You can save huge up-front costs if you dont have to develop technology. Oil majors have R&D [research and development] groups that constantly look into better ways of doing things and developing new technologies. Although that can bring technical advantages to their projects, it also adds to both the project timeline and its overall cost. Our approach has been to take existing technology and make it work in the appropriate application.

Some Area Discoveries in More Than 7,000ft of Water

Project Name Aconcagua Camden Hills Blind Faith Merganser St. Malo Trident Cascade Great White Vortex Atlas Chinook Jubilee Spiderman/Amazon Atlas NW Cheyenne Mondo Northwest San Jacinto Silvertip Tiger Tobago Jubilee Extension Mondo NW Extension Q Stones Area/Block MC 305 MC 348 MC 696 AT 37 WR 678 AC 903 WR 206 AC 857 AT 261 LL 50 WR 469 AT 349 DC 621 LL 5 LL 399 LL 2 DC 618 AC 815 AC 818 AC 859 LL 309 LL 1 MC 961 WR 508 Water Depth ft 7,379 7,530 7,116 8,064 7,326 9,816 8,143 7,425 8,422 9,180 9,104 8,891 8,100 8,810 8,987 8,340 7,850 9,226 9,004 9,627 8,774 8,340 7,925 9,556 Discovery Year 1999 1999 2001 2001 2001 2001 2002 2002 2002 2003 2003 2003 2003 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2005 2005 2005 2005

Reasonableness prevails
The commercial arrangements that made Independence possible may be the most impressive accomplishment and key to the future of deepwater development. As a concept, the idea of several companies partnering to optimize financial performance and manage risk is one that most would enthusiastically embrace at least in principle. However, for a project of the size and complexity of Independence, distilling that lofty concept into documents all stakeholders put their signature to is another matter. Consider the details of this challenge. Begin with six experienced deepwater operators with 10 ultra-deepwater fields, most of which are not economical as stand-alone developments, and then include a variety of well conditions. Add to the mix other parties that own no production, but tie in the stranded reserves to processing and transportation infrastructure. Then get all these parties to agree on the best way to spend the necessary $2 billion overall investment in a short 4 years. A common goal included moving the project to first production as quickly and safely as possible. To that end, facility design and commercial negotiations proceeded simultaneously. Enterprise ordered long lead-time equipment and materials before the final contracts were consummated. During negotiation, notices to proceed allowed Enterprise to begin the project initial engineering, permitting and other operations before the agreements were finalized. The notices were instrumental in fast tracking the project, enhancing the final economics to all parties. A back stop required the producers to pay Enterprise its out-of-pocket expenses if the final agreement were not reached. The original notice to proceed was

Source: U.S. Minerals Management Service. AC = Alaminos Canyon; AT = Atwater Valley; DC = DeSoto Canyon; LL = Lloyd Ridge; MC = Mississippi Canyon; WR = Walker Ridge.

revised six times to extend the date and increase the amount of pay back as negotiation proceeded, because it took longer than expected to reach final agreement. From the partnerships perspective, it is all about project acceleration, which has a dramatic effect on NPV. Getting 1 Bcf/d on stream in 5 years, rather than 7 to 12 years, adds considerable value to the project. Thats when it is important to trust your partners in order to be able to move the project forward, said Bob Abendschein, Anadarko vice president of operations. Aggregating reserves of several producers to reach a reserves threshold is a key to creating a commercial solution, pooling reserves and expertise leverages project economics and lowers individual risk.

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We view the commercial solution that is Independence as the first of its kind, Abendschein said. Its important to note that these companies were not bound to each other by a contract. The Atwater Valley Producers Group did not have a charter or other document that bound them to work together. The result of about 4 months of 10- to 12-hour days of negotiations was a myriad of agreements involving the Hub facility and Trail pipeline to which producers and Enterprise were signatories. Including all discoveries in the project optimized the economics for each participant. Even a company with a small percentage of the Hub capacity could have considerable leverage, said Brad Boister with Andarko. Operators with large capacity shares needed the smaller shareholders to enhance project viability. Once the agreements were signed, the integrated project teams assumed the responsibility to build and install the facility. Even though it includes Serial No. 1 of the DeepDraft Semi, a structure in a world record water depth, the most unique aspect of Independence Hub is the commercial arrangement, said Don Vardeman, vice president of Anadarko. Its a trend for the future because in deep water, risk sharing and risk management are of utmost importance. Co-management also sets the Independence project apart from other projects, Guion said.

Each operator aboard the Independence Hub shares equally in the management of the facility, regardless of its interest in the project. The facilitys steering committee is comprised of representatives from each producer, each with one vote. Its decisions, Guion said, are truly joint decisions. Developing consensus among the partners is part of the challenge and Im happy to say that weve managed to do it so far. Theres a fun part to these jobs, too: taking a small-company mentality and applying it to a major project. Its amazing how quickly and cost-effectively you can do a major project, he said. This is the first deal of its kind by a consortium. But going forward, this is the kind of deal that will have to be done between producing partners and midstream companies to make these kinds of projects work, Abendschein said.

Deal highlights
Anadarkos 2001 Merganser discovery turned out to be the first step along the path to the creation of Independence. Merganser, Federal Lease Sale 181 and other Atwater Valley discoveries pointed to an accumulating critical mass in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. The location, depth and large geographical footprint of these reserves, however, were significant hurdles to economic development, and further exploration was severely hampered by the absence of infrastructure. In early 2001, before the Merganser find was publicized,

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Independence Project Fields

Enterprise approached Kerr-McGee and began to discuss the type of facility, said Dennis Jahde, vice president of offshore engineering for Enterprise. Enterprise facilitated the conversation that drew in other operators and proposed a joint development, he said. Its the first time that this many different operators have been involved with a single facility. The goal was to structure a deal where the provider would fund, build and operate the facility as well as the export system while producers would dedicate gas throughput from the area and commit to underwrite the project. Under the agreement, each producer pays a monthly demand charge to Enterprise for a few years on a portion of its front-end investment and the remainder is recovered through a processing charge based on actual production. Integrated Project Team. Seated (left to right): Bennie Traylor, Anadarko; Dennis Each producers capacity commitment deterJahde, Enterprise. Standing (left to right): Mike Stark, Trail Lead, Enterprise; Ray mined its share of the total demand payment. After 5 years, some capacity may become avail- Cordova, Asset Manager, Enterprise; Jim Guion, Project Manager, Enterprise. Not Pictured: Pete Stracke, Subsea Lead, Hydro; Mike McEvilly, Helix. able as the initial wells experience declining production. This capacity then becomes availIntegrated teams able to new producers. It is hard to overemphasize the amount of planning that goes Capacity is allocated to a company, not to a specific project into a project the size of Independence. The central vehicle for or discovery. The company has the discretion to use its capacplanning, one that Enterprise had used before with Anadarko, ity share for its own or non-company use; in effect, it can subwas an integrated project team. lease its share of the Hub throughput capacity.

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It was the essential element of the consortium, Jahde said. The group developed engineering design standards, and managed the interface with service providers and contractors that built the hull in Singapore, fabricated the topsides in Texas and installed the export pipeline. Representatives from different companies managed different aspects of the project. The integrated project team is a unique approach to doing business in the energy world, Cordova said. The Hub concept provides benefits for industry, facilities owners and producers. Independence had three key project teams one for the Hub facility, one for the export pipeline and one for the subsea infrastructure. Enterprise led the Hub and Trail teams. The Hub team was led by Jim Guion, who had also managed the Marco Polo and Prince projects for GulfTerra. The Hub and Subsea infrastructure involved multiple operators, several of which supplied members of the respective teams, which provided a broader experience base. In todays environment of limited resources not just capital, but people, too the integrated team approach allows all the participating companies to staff the project. As a result, each participant also expands its deepwater experience for future projects that it may decide to develop on its own.

During the course of the FEED, additional discoveries were made, requiring increases in capacity. And about 2 weeks before the FEED was complete, a new discovery caused the nameplate rating to be boosted from 700 MMcf/d to 850 MMcf/d. As the project proceeded, additional opportunities arose, and the capacity was increased to its final design rating of 1 Bcf/d. The hull design had enough space available and a load rating sufficient to increase throughput. It takes a blend of people, collaboration and technical innovation to get to the resource prize in the Gulf of Mexico, Abendschein said.

Role of the midstream provider

Before Independence, Enterprise had considerable experience with the hub and spoke concept, notably from the Marco Polo project. However, Independence marked the first such project to involve multiple producers. For the midstream player, the platform arrangement provides a solid standalone investment opportunity, and the vehicle to extend existing infrastructure and supply a portal to position for future growth. It gives us the opportunity to invest in a world class project with significant reserves, Creel said. In this case, we have contracts with five different producers in 10 fields with proven reserves estimated at Bob Abendschein about 2 Tcf. Anadarko Were well positioned for the investment we have made and positioned for future growth in the eastern Gulf of Mexico. Bart Heijermans, Helixs chief operating officer, highlighted the attraction from Helixs perspective as 20% Hub owner: an opportunity to have first mover advantage in a remote location with no infrastructure and at the time nine stranded fields; once the anchor fields begin to decline, the platform will have excess capacity that will stimulate additional drilling in the area; the majority of gas fields are relatively shallow, making lower dry hole, drilling and completion costs an advantage; a lower tie-back cost will reduce the commercial threshold for future developments, perhaps from 500 Bcf to 25 Bcf (relative shallow fields require lighter flowline pipe, additional pipeline loop is not required for gas production, and future wells can be connected to existing flowlines or manifolds);

Other synergies

Collaboration was critical throughout the Independence project. In addition to the agreement to build the Hub as a group, it was crucial to work together on many other levels. For example, Spiderman and San Jacinto have two different ownerships, but were developed with a common subsea system. Otherwise we would have had a 20-mile [32-km] piggable loop and a 24-mile [39-km] piggable loop as opposed to the triangle that now connects those fields. That alone probably saved $30 million, Fowler said. Another innovative approach was to manage design and installation of the entire subsea infrastructure as one project. All the companies worked together on bidding, contracting and scheduling vessels. It was a significant challenge just to organize work to ensure, for example, an umbilical installation vessel was not in the same area as a pipeline installation vessel. As negotiations progressed, front-end engineering design (FEED) determined the size of the facility. Companies participating in the FEED process provided a hard dollar quotation on building their proposed hull design. Alliance Engineering provided a topsides process design, and two fabricators bid on building the topsides. Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd. was the successful bidder.

It takes a blend of people, collaboration and technical innovation to get to the resource prize in the Gulf of Mexico.

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 gas poses fewer flow assurance challenges; and a platform with subsea tie backs will provide a large footprint, making it possible to tie back discoveries in a supply basin of more than 8 million acres. Every time Enterprise has a success like this, where we build a structure and use it to process production for one or more producers, it encourages the industry to believe a little more in the concept, Guion said. Every success shows the independent operators, the companies that prefer to use their cash to drill more wells, that they can get into deep water, affordably. We will see more of these projects, and thats a very exciting thing for this industry.

A critical mass gets infrastructure

In the beginning, the potential of the region that now comprises the Independence anchor fields and the advisability of building expensive infrastructure were not entirely clear. Several producers had held leases in what became the Independence area since the late 1990s; the first discovery in the area was Merganser. Other discoveries followed, but the widely spaced discoveries of good but not elephant size, in ultra-deep water, was a situation far from typical. The idea to bring all the resources and experience together and customize a project to handle the infrastructure requirements of an entire geographic region had been developing for some time when the Independence opportunity presented itself. The project provided a chance to implement the idea by assembling a consortium of producers and midstream companies to

build a single platform and pipeline in an area that could not support multiple platforms and pipelines. The Merganser discovery in 2001 set off exploration activity in the Atwater Valley that soon accelerated and eventually produced what operators considered a critical mass of discoveries. At that time, GulfTerra (predecessor to Enterprise) first approached Kerr-McGee, then the group of producers, and proposed the consortium. There was limited midstream infrastructure in the region, and water depth and areal extent posed significant technical challenges. Meeting those challenges and managing the solutions called for a new approach built on a foundation of collaboration that allowed all participants to contribute expertise and resources. Before the project was conceived, producers in the area had their eyes on a number of leases, they had spent money on seismic and had a number of drilling prospects. Without an infrastructure in place, however, it was difficult to develop those leases economically. Weve seen in the past that when we build infrastructure where there is none, we accelerate development in those regions, Creel said. We think this area is resource rich, primarily in natural gas, but with some oil, too. It will continue to be a significant help in meeting U.S. energy needs. It was only 15 months after lease Sale 181 that we began to work on this project as we made discoveries, Abendschein said. It didnt take long to figure out that we were going to need to team up with other producers who were also making discoveries.

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That is when the partnership of core producers was formed. Deepwater projects are capital intensive, and even with a plan, they do not happen quickly. Once the concept for Independence was outlined, all producers in the area combined their expertise and resources to take the project from proposal to production in about 5 years, compared with a typical deepwater project timeline of 7 to 12 years. Lease Sale 181, in which the industry invested about $350 million, was an important driver of exploration in the area. Independence Hub is in a strategically advantageous position relative to other leases the industry hopes will be available in future lease sales. Eight million acres in the area could hold a resource of 5 Tcf, Abendschein said. We hope to bring that gas through the Hub and keep it full for many years. Were bringing gas from the new frontier to America, he said.

Deepwaters promise

Just what is the extent of the Gulfs deepwater oil and gas resources? The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) defines deep water as water depths greater than 1,000ft (305m) and ultra-deep water as depths more than 5,000ft (1,524m). The deepwater Gulf of Mexico is an integral part of (U.S.) oil and gas supply and one of the worlds most important oil and gas provinces, according to the MMS May 2006 report, Deepwater Gulf of Mexico 2006: Americans Expanding Frontier. Currently, the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf produces 30% of the countrys oil and 21% of its natural gas. The Gulf of Mexico is the most prolific offshore region, providing 27% of the oil and 20% of the natural gas produced domestically. The Gulfs contribution is expected to rise within the next several years to about 23% of natural gas and 40% of oil production. The ultra-deep waters of the Gulf are certainly frontier territory. During the past 5 years, there have been 22 industryannounced discoveries in water depths greater than 7,000ft (2,134m); 11 of those were in the past 2 years, according to the MMS. Announced volumes for these discoveries total more than 1.8 billion boe. One important reason the industry is attracted to deep water

Producers commit their capital to the development of producing properties, midstream companies commit their capital to the infrastructure. ... Its a natural order of investment.

is that the average discovery size is many times larger than the average size of discoveries in shallow water. Deepwater fields also are some of the most prolific producers in the area. During the past 10 years, the average shallow-water field added about 5 million boe of proved and unproved reserves; the average deepwater field added more than 67 million boe of proved and unproved reserves, according to the MMS report. The presence of pre-Miocene reservoirs, successes in the eastern Gulf sale area and significant discoveries in the ultra-deep water demonstrate the continuing exploration potential in the deepwater Gulf, the agency said. These new plays are large in areal extent, have multiple opportunities and contain potentially huge traps with the possibility of billions of barrels of hydrocarbons, according to the report. Deepwater activity and operating depth has grown dramatically in the past few years, but the groundwork was laid during the previous two decades. According to the MMS, in early 2006 there were about 8,221 active leases in the Gulf of Mexico outer continental shelf, 54% of which were in deep water. This compares with about 5,600 active Gulf of Mexico leases in 1992, only 27% of which were in deep water. On average, there were 30 rigs drilling in deep water in 2005, compared with only three in 1992, the MMS said. Deepwater oil production increased by more than 840% between 1992 and 2002, and deepwater gas producMike Creel tion increased 1,600%. In 2000, Enterprise for the first time, more oil was produced from deep water in the Gulf than from shallow water. Deepwater production rates rose by more than 100,000 b/d of oil and 400 mmcf/d of gas, respectively, each year from 1997 through 2002, according to the MMS. Production rates have remained flat since 2002, but Independence alone has the potential to boost Gulf gas production by 10%. The MMS data show there were only six producing deepwater projects at the end of 1992; by early 1997, there were 17. At the end of March 2006, there were 118 producing projects in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, up 37% in 2 years. As the number of deepwater projects grew, so did the water depth of new projects. A major 2006 discovery in the Gulf was drilled in 7,000ft of water; other discoveries will be developed in deeper water. Independence is the first to push the water depth

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envelope for a floating central platform to 8,000ft (2,440m) and the subsea well completion record to about 9,000ft (2,745m). By setting new water depth records and proving the value of an innovative business model, Independence will continue to build confidence in the ability to find and develop deepwater reserves. That confidence will fuel investment in the search by producers, infrastructure builders, and equipment and technology providers. In short, there will be more deepwater discoveries, and more tools and new ideas to develop them economically. As the industrys offshore capability advanced to todays impressive level, offshore oil and gas environmental incidents have dramatically declined. The offshore technology applied by U.S. companies today worldwide has a record of environmental compatibility that was demonstrated most vividly by there not having been a single significant offshore exploration and production [E&P]

facility oil spill caused by the otherwise devastating hurricanes Katrina and Rita (in 2005), said Timothy Parker, senior vice president of Dominion, before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources hearings on Senate Bill S. 2253 in February 2005.

Area impact on supply

The MMS Sale 181 area in the Gulf may be the best single prospect in the United States for significant new near-term E&P. The MMS estimated at the time of the sale that the original Sale 181 area had the potential to produce 7.8 Tcf of gas and 1.9 million bbl of oil. Success rates have been good in the area, partially because of the use of 3-D seismic technology. It is one thing to drill exploratory wells, but developing deepwater discoveries is yet another challenge. In a statement to a U.S. Senate Committee, R.M. Johnnie

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Burton, former MMS director, cited estimates that the resource potential of the portion of the Sale 181 area east of the area currently available for lease proposed in S. 2253 has a potential of 930 million bbl of oil and 6.03 Tcf of gas. The resource potential in the area contemplated for leasing in S. 2253 may be much bigger, according to the MMS. In parts of the Gulf of Mexico where the industry has been allowed to buy leases and explore, it has produced three times as much gas as once thought was there. The resource estimate, according to the MMS, is that there is nearly five times as much remaining to be found. It is yet more

The MMS Sale 181 area in the Gulf may be the best single prospect in the United States for significant new near-term E&P .

evidence that the more the industry explores, the more it knows. There is an environmental benefit to the search for gas, too. Non-associated natural gas production expected in the Sale 181 lease area has no potential for crude oil-related incidents. Even crude oil incidents related to E&P are now almost non-existent. There has not been a significant platform spill on the outer continental shelf during the past 35 years.The Sale 181 area is a gas prone area, and natural gas production offshore represents one of the most environmentally sound energy developments this country could propose, Burton said in a recent statement.

DELMAR SYSTEMS INC.

Deepest DSC Installation

Delmar Systems Inc.s innovative permanent subsea mooring connector saw its deepest installation in the Gulf of Mexico with the Independence Hub project.

he Delmar subsea connector (DSC) allows operators to change out mooring components with just one vessel and without having to unseat the anchor. The DSC has been used with synthetic mooring in permanent mooring projects around the globe including the Gulf of Mexico, Brazil and Australia. However, the Independence Hub is the deepest installation for the DSC in water depths that Third-generation Delmar exceed 8,000ft (2,440m). subsea connector As the first class societyapproved remote operated vehicle (ROV)-actuated connector for mobile offshore drilling units and permanent mooring systems, using the DSC results in greater setup time, allowing the anchor to obtain more holding capacity before loading it with the mooring line.

The DSC provides easy connect/disconnect capability with the use of a standard ROV. During installations, anchors can be installed separate from the mooring line, which is a breakthrough not previously used in permanent mooring systems. We produced our largest third-generation DSC to date, rated to accept a load of 4,500 kips, said Brady Como, executive vice president of Delmar systems. The size of the mooring components confirmed our belief that the DSC is as much an installation tool and of benefit to the installation contractor as it is to the operator since it gives the operator the flexibility to change out a mooring line without removing or replacing the anchor.
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Independence: The Achievement

World-class project advances deepwater ability, technology and potential

n the glow of success that marks the days after a difficult project goes on stream, when gas and revenue are finally flowing, it is often easy to forget how many challenges were met along the way to the goal and how daunting they seemed at the time. For a project the size of Independence, with each of its three major components (Hub, Trail, Subsea) requiring cutting-edge technology and innovation in a spectrum of disciplines, it is not possible to list every achievement. Records set and the implementation of new concepts represent some of the triumphs: a ground-breaking commercial agreement among an unprecedented number of operators that leveraged the resources and expertise toward a common goal; water depth records for subsea wells, risers, production facilities, pipelines and umbilicals; an unprecedented impact on Gulf of Mexico natural gas production for a single project; a fast-track schedule that tested the project management ability of each party; and an innovative, collaborative approach to developing stranded oil and gas resources.

Integrated project team concept

The Independence projects success is a result of the collaboration among the owners, producers, operators and contractors involved and their ability to meet the challenges of this record-setting project. Much of the credit for success goes to the integrated project team [IPT], a concept that was the key to making the fast track possible, said Dennis Jahde, vice president of offshore engineering for Enterprise Products Partners LP. The IPT allowed us to take advantage of the resources and experience of the other companies. Integrating managers into the team made it possible to put a much higher level of expertise on the project. There was more than one group built around the integrated team concept. In addition to the overall project team that managed the Independence Hub and the Independence Trail elements of the project, the subsea group had its own integrated team. Representatives from the operators manned the team for the Hub and Trail but were involved in the subsea integrated project team only in an interface capacity. Several factors combine to help make gas fields with between 30 Bcf and 50 Bcf of reserves tied back subsea to a flowline or manifold commercially viable. Compared with oil, gas well tieback costs are relatively low; pipeline loops needed for flow assurance in the case of oil wells are not required for gas, and handling gas on the platform requires less equipment and less complexity. Without the joint development concept combination and the

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portfolio approach taken by Independence operators, it would take a 500-Bcf gas field to be commercial, said Chief Operating Officer Bart Heijermans with Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. Not only does the Independence approach make more fields commercial, it opens opportunities to more companies. Perhaps as important as the technical achievements is the ownership of the Hubs treating capacity by four producers, an industry first.

Milestones along the path

To get from a proposal in September 2003 to first Integrated Project Team, (Left to right) Dennis Jahde, Enterprise; John Weeks, production in the second half of this year required ENI; Don Vardeman, Anadarko; Ray Cordova, Enterprise; Susan Holley, Anadarko. an all-out effort by the project teams, operators, Not Pictured: Dave Bozeman, Devon; Arild Haugland, Hydro. contractors, suppliers and designers. While ownership arrangements, and processing and transportation agreements were still being ironed out, frontDespite the vessel delay, the project team strategically end engineering design (FEED) and materials procurement got rearranged work and managed to keep the project on schedule. under way. This was made possible through the notices to proInitially, to accommodate equipment delivery schedules, much of ceed (NTP), whereby Enterprise was authorized to make upfront the Hub platform topsides work was planned for after it had been payments with reimbursement assurance from the producers. moored offshore. However, when Hub installation slipped from Without the running start that NTPs allowed, a fast-track August last year to early this year, it was possible to complete the schedule could not have been maintained. Making commitments topsides work at quayside with less expense and difficulty. to suppliers and contractors before all the ts were crossed in the This strategic work rearrangement avoided the need for a heavyownership agreement required a high level of trust between the lift vessel to mate the topsides at the deepwater location. By matmidstream provider and anchor producers. ing topsides to the hull in the controlled environment at Ingleside, Texas, with the ports heavy-lift crane, weather interruption risk Lessons learned was reduced, and the expense and difficulty of scheduling the sinOn a project the size of Independence, experience and skills are gle capable vessel was avoided. accumulated that will improve future efficiency, design and operScheduling was critical in optimizing expensive rig time use, ation. Typically, the negative events provide the greatest lessons. and much engineering was involved in finding the best way to For the most part, there were few such events with Independence, make up ultra-long downhole equipment assemblies with the partly because the hard lessons and experience from prior projsingle activity rig Deepwater Millennium. Instead of having to ects were brought forward to the Independence project. make up each part and connect its piping and control lines on For example, upsizing the facility midstream in the process the critical path of the single rig, the project team devised a proturned out to be an untypical event, yet it was accomplished withcedure for assembling the equipment on the deck. It was also out much impact on the overall schedule. necessary to ensure that the long assembly 80ft to 90ft (24m One important lesson for large, complex developments is, to 27m) long rather than 30ft to 40ft (9m to 12m) long could where possible, to avoid operations that can be performed by only be picked up without being damaged. one heavy-lift vessel. Though mating of the hull and topsides was Given the significant day rate of the subsea work with the done quayside, there still was only one heavy-lift vessel (the Balder) Deepwater Millennium, the engineering effort paid off. Instead of that could install the export line riser and anchors. The Balder was 4 to 6 hours critical path time to make up the assembly a piece delayed by another project late in 2006 when the Hub platform at a time, pre-assembly off line reduced critical path time to was ready to move to its location. The vessel was not available to only 30 minutes. install the Hub, risers and anchors until February. In essence, Based on the original schedule, Anadarko thought startup of a facility that would bring 1 Bcf/d of gas production on completion of all wells it would operate was unlikely before line was held up because of reliance on a specific vessel. Independence Hub went on stream. However, the combination The lesson for future developments is that mooring lines and of the Hub installation delay and accelerated completion proexport pipeline riser should be designed in such a way that they gram allowed the wells to be ready to go on production when can be installed by multiple vessels, Heijermans said. A single the Hub started up. vessel should not be on the critical path. It is a credit to planning and design that there were no major

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TIMELINEKEY DATES
November 2004 Agreement with anchor producers was signed Topsides construction and piping design began Design of the Independence Trail pipeline under way Construction of the Hub platform hull had begun in Singapore Installation of the Trail pipeline began and was completed by mid-year. The Hub hull sailed May 8 from Jurong Shipyard, headed for Kiewit Offshore Services facility in Ingleside,Texas Interconnect platform was installed in West Delta Block 68 Topsides had been mated to the Hub hull First gas begins to flow

End of 2004

December 2004

2005

2006

making process to get the highest quality. It is important not to take the steel making process for granted, Stark said. Valves are another example of the importance of materials. Though the pipeline is ANSI 1500, valves were ANSI 2500 because of the great water depth. That made them very long lead-time items. Welding is also critical. Bevel design and the welding process are important, especially in the steel catenary riser (SCR). In the case of Independence, part of the challenge stemmed from the fact that Enterprise was designing the SCR before the motions of the hull were fully known. A special weld treatment was also used on the project. Weld fatigue life increases when the cap of the weld is removed, Stark said. In several areas of high stress, we ground the weld cap off the weld, making it smooth with the pipe. It was helpful in increasing the fatigue life of the pipe in areas of concentrated stress. It is no small feat to make five operators and a separate facility owner happy each with a different philosophy and its own experience, good and bad, with different contractors. There was much work to be done after the Hub left Ingelside. Commissioning of the producer flowlines and export line could not be performed until the final hookup onto the Hub. Even with some hitches, Independence has moved on a pretty fast track, said Greg Rhodes, Atlantia Offshores director of deepwater floater development.

Shifting regulations
Not all the obstacles were technical in nature. In the midst of the project, the regulatory environment shifted in response to problems with another deepwater project and a severe 2005 hurricane season. It changed everyones mind about how they ought to look at these platforms. And unfortunately, we were the next guy in the queue, said Chuck Kindel, Atlantia Offshores project manager for Independence Hub. Independence Hub got a lot more questions and a lot more scrutiny than it might otherwise have received. While the overall design was not impacted, the biggest change was in regulations governing the ballast control system. During design, the decision was made to include the ballast control system in the integrated marine management system (IMMS) to provide a single integrated package. The IMMS contains weather, draft, current and other data. Integrating ballast control in the IMMS sounds good, but it is much more complicated, Kindel said. Theoretically, you can operate the ballast control system with just a push-button panel. Revisions in the regulations, however, required 100% redundancy in all electronic devices. That new rule came in early last year after the IMMS system had already been ordered and construction was progressing.

Mid-2006

Late Sept. 2006

July 2007

setbacks in building the Independence Trail pipeline. However, there are some lessons to be remembered, said Mike Stark, Trail construction manager with Enterprise. Monitoring currents is important in the deep water of the Gulf, for example. Early evaluation of materials and material requirements is also critical. Just the logistics of sourcing 100,000 tons of pipe steel and manufacturing that much pipe is a challenge. We spent a lot of time with the steel mills evaluating their steel-

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The general tenor of regulatory oversight what does and does not need to be done has become more restrictive, a trend to keep in mind in future projects, Kindel said.

Technical highlights
Each main element of Independence export pipeline, subsea infrastructure and central platform facility faced significant technical challenges. To meet those challenges, project teams devised solutions that resulted in world class achievements. Independence subsea wells include the worlds deepest, for example, the Cheyenne field where a well is in 9,000ft (2,745m) of water. That, in turn, requires the worlds deepest flowline installation. The projects largest single order for an umbilical system was also the worlds largest single umbilical system to manage all the subsea manifolds. Because of the water depth, it is the first use of carbon fiber rod in a subsea umbilical system. Its impressive that industry cannot only lay subsea pipelines, but also install umbilicals to control the wells that far from the host platform, said Mike Creel, Enterprise president and chief executive officer. That platform is installed in the deepest water of any production platform, and because of that, it requires the deepest SCR installations to date. The platform mounts the Gulf of Mexicos largest gas treating plant. The topsides plant is roughly four times larger than the Gulfs next largest monoethylene glycol (MEG) reclamation unit with a feed capacity of 7,800 b/d of MEG and produced water. For a moored structure, record water depths pose other special

technical challenges. The Hubs 2.4-mile (3.9-km) long mooring lines are longer than the lines for any other structure, and the suction piles to which the lines are attached are the deepest installed. Extreme water depth also called for the use of a new mooring line material polyester rope that has been tested extensively but not yet widely used. Then there is the export pipeline. Independence Trail, originating in about 8,000ft (2,440m) of water, is also the worlds deepest. Installed with the S-lay method from a state-of-the-art pipelay vessel, installation tension on the lay system reached 550 tons. Even though the Allseas Solitaire is the largest lay vessel in the world, it had to be significantly modified for the project. The 650-ton weight of the Independence Trail SCR is the heaviest SCR load imposed on a deepwater floating facility. Even one of the pipelines tees, installed along the route to West Delta Block 68 as a tie-in for future development, is the worlds deepest.

Significance for the future

Independence is a blueprint for the future, largely because of the capital investment and risk involved in developing wells and infrastructure in the deepwater trend, Creel said. Each element of Independence represents a significant advance. All three together comprise a truly world-class achievement. Independence is a world-class project. Including subsea infrastructure, hull, topsides and pipeline, the investment totals about $2 billion spent over a very short time, Jahde said. And producing 1 Bcf/d from 9,000ft of water is a reasonably impressive feat, I think.

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Independence: The Hub

Steel catenary riser loads drive hull design, water depth requires mooring system innovation

xtreme water depth drove the design for the Independence Hub platform hull and its mooring system. Mitigating the risk of hydrate formation in flowlines that together will supply 1 Bcf/d to the Hub drove its topsides design. Record water depth at the Hub location meant supporting the longest-yet steel catenary risers (SCRs) that connect flowlines and an export line to the platform deck. The SCR load was the principal criterion for hull size and load capacity. The deepest water yet for a production platform called for innovation in the mooring system configuration. As far as hull design is concerned, water depth drives what you are able to do, said Dennis Jahde, vice president of offshore engineering for Enterprise Products Partners LP. Even on land, a 1-Bcf/d gas treatment facility is impressive. To mount it on a floating platform and place it in the deepwater ocean environment is an exceptional achievement. To avoid hydrates in multiple flowlines that carry large gas volumes at low temperature and high pressure required the largest monoethylene glycol (MEG) reclamation unit. Moving 1 Bcf/d of natural gas through a 24-in. export line will take a topside compressor station rated at 75,000 hp. Independence Hub is owned 80% by Enterprise Field

Services LLC and 20% by Helix Energy Solutions Group Inc. and is operated by Anadarko Petroleum Corp. on behalf of the Atwater Valley Producers Group. Design, construction, assembly and installation of the Hub facility moved at an accelerated pace and the completed facility sailed from Ingleside, Texas, in mid-January.

Central hub, subsea wells

As exploration and development moved into ever deeper water in the Gulf, several platform designs that could be applicable to infrastructure needs emerged, said Bart Heijermans, Helix chief operating officer. These include tension-leg platforms (TLP), floating structures and spars. As recently as 1996, most of the structures in the Gulf were fixed platforms. As greater water depths were faced, platforms supported on the ocean floor were not practical or economic and designers turned to TLPs, spars and floaters. Water too deep for fixed platforms also drove development of the critical technology that is the companion to a deepwater central facility: subsea well completion. As the technology advanced, developments built around the subsea completion/tieback concept grew faster than platformbased development schemes. By 2005, there were more than 90

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discoveries developed with subsea wells tied back to a central facility, compared with slightly more than 40 discoveries that had been developed using above water platforms, Heijermans said. The bulk of these tiebacks were to platforms on the relatively shallow Outer Continental Shelf, and the producer owned most of those platforms. Late last year, third parties owned only two out of 38 producing deepwater platforms. Independence Hub is Enterprises third deepwater platform development, seventh hub-type platform and tenth Gulf of Mexico processing platform. Its success is likely to accelerate the ownership of deepwater infrastructure by third parties.

Making the basic choice

To determine the best solution for Independence, the project team conducted a design competition that included Technip, which proposed a spar structure; and Atlantia Offshore Ltd. and Aker Kvaerner ASA, both of which proposed deep draft semisubmersibles. The three companies began the front-end engineering design study (FEED) in the fall of 2003; each was to deliver a design and a lump sum price for a hull and its mooring. The competition excluded the topsides, because Enterprise was still working with the operators to finalize the facilitys nameplate capacity. After an engineering analysis of the bid proposals, the evaluation team put the two deep draft semisubmersibles on a short list. Then the team selected the Atlantia Offshore proposal. The two designs were similar, said Heijermans; both were driven by the loads that the SCRs imposed on the hull in the extreme water depths. One key difference between the proposals was in the way ballast water would be moved around each platform. Aker Kvaerner proposed a hull with a variable draft that would be de-ballasted to meet the required wave height and deck clearance design criteria in case of a storm. Once on location, however, the hull proposed by Atlantia Offshore would not require changes in ballast, even under extreme weather conditions. Both spar and semisubmersible structures can be designed for a range of payloads, so deck space and weight capacity were not principal drivers of the decision to choose a semisubmersible. The spar would likely have had a three-level deck, while the semisubmersible design chosen has only a two-level deck. An important advantage of a semisubmersible is that the topsides can be installed at quayside. A spar must be taken offshore and upended. Only then can the topsides be installed, and only with an expensive heavy-lift vessel often at the mercy of weather conditions. In the 5-month period before the FEED process was due at the end of March 2004, the Hubs design capacity changed twice to accommodate several new discoveries that could be tied back to the Hub, finally reaching 850 MMcf/d. Eventually, throughput capacity was raised to 1 Bcf/d.

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Hub Platform Project Team. Seated (left to right): Mike Gann, Hull; Jim Guion, Project Manager. Standing (left to right): Paul Barnett, Installation Manager; Rick Lyon, Topsides; Joe Fontenot, Hull Lead; Steve Davidson, Topsides Lead.

When we initially bid on Independence Hub, the design gas throughput was to be 450 MMcf/d, said Greg Rhodes, director of deepwater floater development for Atlantia Offshore. Because the platform was designed around the SCRs, the Atlantia Offshore hull design could adapt relatively easily to the increased topsides payload as design capacity increased from 450 MMcf/d to 1 Bcf/d. Designing for the SCR loads resulted in a bigger hull than would have been necessary if designing for the topsides weight.

Fabricated in Singapore, the hull contains steel from Italy, Ukraine and Belgium. The topsides treating plant is similar to that on other offshore facilities, and compared with onshore processing plants, the process is relatively simple. However, Independence Hub can treat more gas than any other facility in the Gulf of Mexico. All we want to do is get rid of the water and dry the gas so it can be compressed and put in the pipeline, Jahde said. Hydrates are a concern in deep water where pressures are high and temperatures are low. Water entrained in the gas can form a hydrate plug that will block flow in the pipeline. Hydrate plugs are also a risk in the subsea flowlines from wells to the platform. The MEG system sends glycol through a tube in the umbilical bundle to the wellhead where it is injected into the well stream. The glycol is carried back to the platform in the well stream where the MEG reclamation unit removes it. The 3,000-b/d capacity reclamation unit on Independence Hub is designed to recover 97% of the MEG contained in the well stream, an efficiency critical to making the project economically viable. Including the MEG reclamation unit and the platforms 75,000-hp compressor station, the Hubs topsides weigh in at about 8,000 tons. With the lifting apparatus, mating the deck to the hull required a lift of about 9,000 tons.

Designing for SCRs Hub highlights

Semisubmersible production units are suitable for a range of water depths, making them an important tool for deepwater development. A number of floating facilities installed in the Gulf before Independence Hub are in water depths of about 6,000ft (1,830m). Independence Hub has expanded the water depth range with installation in close to 8,000ft (2,440m) of water. Moored by 12 chain and polyester rope anchor lines, each 2.4 miles (3.9 km) long, the semisubmersible is a four-column configuration with a ring pontoon. It is attached to the ocean floor with 18-ft (6-m) diameter by 90-ft (27-m) long suction piles, the deepest yet. Anchor chain is 5-in. diameter, and the polyester rope that makes up most of the mooring lines length is 958-in. in diameter. Outside dimensions of the pontoon hull are 232ft x 232ft x 160ft (71m x 71m x 49m) high. Columns are 46ft x 46ft (14m by 14m); pontoons measure 38ft x 26ft (12m x 8m). The hull displaces 46,160 tons and has a dry weight of 14,370 tons. The operating draft is 105ft (32m). Two decks containing the topsides treating and gas compression equipment, each 140ft x 220ft (43m x 67m), also include quarters for 16 occupants and 12 temporary workers. The majority of deepwater facilities to date have been designed around payload the weight of the deck and topsides equipment. Structures in extreme water depths, especially if they are connected to many pipelines, require special attention to the weight of the SCRs. Minimizing the fatigue of the risers caused by the platforms motion is a critical design goal. Atlantia Offshore used modeling and tank tests to determine how the Hub would move then provided the information to the pipeline designers to determine fatigue life for the SCRs. Design fatigue life is 30 years, but a safety factor of roughly 10 makes the actual time to failure longer than the expected life of the facility. Atlantia Offshores approach to Independence Hub was to design a floating facility that could adequately manage the extreme weights that 8,000-ft water depths would impose on the platform through the SCRs. That is what drives the DeepDraft Semi design, Rhodes said. Typical drilling semisubmersibles have a draft of 60ft to 70ft (18m to 21m). Independence Hub needed a 105-ft draft to take the load of the SCRs and adequately manage the SCRs over the 20-year life of the fields. Aside from the deeper draft, Independence Hub resembles a typical semisubmersible hull design, said Chuck Kindel, Atlantia Offshores project manager.

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Initially, there is capacity for 19 SCRs to be hung off the platform, including the 20-in. for the export line, 12 10-in. flowline risers and four 8-in. flowline risers. More SCRs can be added if new flowlines are required for future discoveries; the platform has enough excess payload capacity to tie back up to 10 additional fields. When another SCR is added, some ballast will be removed from the hull to maintain the design wave height and deck clearance. With a design life of 20 years, the platform is classed and certified by the American Bureau of Shipping as an A1 Floating Offshore Installation. Areas of emphasis in the certification process included platform stability, structural integrity and buoyancy after damage while also considering the units compliance and readiness in terms of fire-fighting capability and life-saving equipment. While movement is an important consideration in SCR design, motion of the platform does not have a significant effect on process operations. Vessels are baffled, and the movement is not severe enough to cause problems.

Schedule, schedule, schedule

What did Atlantia Offshore consider a top priority when choosing a shipyard? Schedule, Kindel said. Two shipyards in Singapore and one in China were considered at various stages in the selection process. Operators had reservations about being the first extreme water depth job for the China yard, and because of the importance of avoiding schedule delays, the choice narrowed to the two Singapore yards. As it turned out, we chose the shipyard in Singapore that gave us the best price and schedule, Kindel said. At 1 Bcf/d, any construction delay translates into deferred revenue that is quite costly. After being awarded the Independence Hub contract for its DeepDraft Semi in mid-2004, Atlantia Offshore struck steel for the hull at Jurong Shipyard in Singapore in early 2005. The hull left the shipyard for the trip to Kiewit Offshore Service Ltd.s facility at Ingleside, Texas, last May. Mating of the hull and topsides was a critical operation performed by Kiewit Offshore Service Ltd. at their Ingleside, Texas,

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facility in September of 2006, utilizing their heavy lift device to lift and set the 8,400 ton deck onto the hull. Additional hookup and commissioning activities continued during the next several months before the Hub was towed to Mississippi Canyon Block 920 in the Gulf of Mexico in January and moored. Signet Maritime Corp. transported the Hub, and Heerema Marine Contractors installed the platform and its mooring system. Once installed, operations began to connect the platform to the 20-in. export gas line SCR, to the field flowline SCRs and to the 12 umbilical bundles coming from the 10 anchor fields.

Mooring is tricky
Mooring a semisubmersible in extreme water depths is a challenge. The anchor footprint grows larger as water depth increases. In very deep water, an all-steel chain system would be so heavy that the size of the platform needed to support the mooring system would be impractical and uneconomic. At the Independence Hub location, the water certainly qualifies as very deep, putting it beyond the practical limits of an all-chain mooring configuration. The solution is the use of synthetic mooring lines. Though still a relatively new technology, polyester rope mooring systems have been tested and proven in service. Earlier, the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) and Texas A&M Universitys Offshore Technology Research Center (OTRC) joined to test and analyze polyester mooring lines to confirm their reliability and safety during a design life of 20 to 30 years. Polyester mooring lines offer a cost advantage compared with steel chain, depending on depth. As water depths increase, polyester quickly gains an advantage, according to an OTRC report. In some cases, there can be savings in the platform design, too; a larger platform is needed to support a chain mooring system. Synthetic mooring lines also can be used in taut mooring systems where the restoring force for the structure is provided by tension in the lines rather than by lifting a large catenary length of steel mooring chain. For Independence Hub, mooring lines were installed in three sections of 3,500ft (763m) each. Each line includes about 200ft (61m) of chain on each end; the rest of the roughly 2-mile (3-km) length of each mooring line is polyester rope. On the platform end, chain is necessary to allow the chain jack to haul in the line; on the other end, MMS regulations prohibit polyester rope from resting on the seafloor, so a length of chain is needed. Whether the synthetic material can safely rest on the bottom is an open question. In one case, when rope was accidentally laid on the bottom on another project, when recovered and tested, it showed no reduction in strength. But time is an important element, and that accidental event was only temporary. Polyester rope mooring systems had been installed previously in

the Gulf of Mexico although not extensively. Nonetheless, this experience was helpful in securing regulatory approval. It was still necessary, however, to have test inserts in the Independence Hub mooring lines to meet MMS requirements. Polyester mooring design is a more complicated design than a traditional chain mooring system, said Joe Fontenot, the hull project manager. Chain is inelastic and rope is elastic, particularly in regard to stretch during the long term. It also is easier to determine the stiffness of steel. In the case of polyester, it is necessary to design for a range of properties and ensure the platform motions are within that range, Fontenot said. Stretch is a particularly unique property. Polyester will stretch under load, so it must be preloaded during installation to remove this slack before going into service. On the Hub, stretch is continuously monitored to determine when tension in the line needs to be changed. Otherwise, mooring line tension is not changed. It would not, for example, be changed in preparation for or in the middle of a storm. Heerema was awarded the contract for the installation of the Hub, mooring piles, mooring lines and SCRs in April 2005 and began the work last March. The company applied technology based on using remotely operated vehicles on which suction pile pumps are mounted and the Balder mooring line deployment winch. The mooring piles for the platforms 12 mooring lines are the deepest permanent mooring piles. The 18-ft x 90-ft (6-m x 27-m) suction piles, with a dry weight of 180 metric tons, were installed at a water depth of 8,011ft (2,442m) using the deepwater crane vessel Balder. Anchor piles are lowered to the seafloor, then air and water are evacuated, causing the pile to draw itself into the sea bottom.

Elephant on the topsides

At its natural gas throughput capacity of 1 Bcf/d, the glycol reclamation facility is designed to recover up to 5,000 b/d of condensate and 3,000 b/d water. It is the largest monoethylene glycol (MEG) reclamation unit installed offshore. The large system is needed to reclaim the MEG used to prevent hydrate formation in the flowlines. Design pressure of the gas dehydration process is 2,220 psig. Also on the platform are six gas compressors rated at a total of 75,000 hp. The compressor station can be expanded to 90,000 hp. Solar Inc. supplied the six Mars 100 turbine-driven packages (five initially, one in the future). Two stages of compression will boost treated gas from 600psi to 3,100psi to enter the export pipeline. It is a large compression facility because the export line must operate at a pressure higher than is typical for gas lines to move the design volume through the smaller-than-typical line.

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Previous large offshore MEG units include Statoil ASAs sgard facility in the North Sea with three 1,800-b/d units; Anadarkos Red Hawk in the Gulf of Mexico with a 580-b/d unit; and the Mensa platform in the Gulf with a 750-b/d unit. Petreco Process Systems, a division of Cameron Corp., supplied a new proprietary glycol reclamation system for Independence Hub. In an MEG injection and recovery process, the inhibitor must be present at the point the wet gas is cooled to its hydrate temperature, according to Petreco. Wherever possible, it should be injected upstream of any choke valves or chillers. Good distribution into the gas stream is vital. On the platform, recovered liquid is fed to the regeneration plant through a preheat heat exchanger recovering waste heat from the lean glycol stream. The preheated liquid is then flashed in a flash drum to allow free vapors to be released and any hydrocarbon liquids to be separated and drained off. The liquid is filtered prior to further heat exchange with regenerated glycol. The hot, rich liquid flows into the still column where it undergoes the necessary distillation to achieve the required product concentration in the reboiler. Lean glycol in the reboiler flows over a weir into the surge

Polyester mooring design is a more complicated design than a traditional chain mooring system.

drum, which provides a buffer to accommodate variations in circulating volumes. Several design features of the Independence unit provide cost and weight savings, including: a single train with spared pumps; high-flux heat exchangers, heaters, condensers; high-efficiency structured packing; high mean temperature difference exchangers; simplified piping scheme; and condensation instead of vacuum duty. Compared with the dry weight of the sgard facility at 740 tons, for example, the Independence unit weighs only 375 tons, providing 40% more capacity at half the weight. Operating weight of the complete gas treating plant and deck atop the platform is 10,250 tons; dry weight is 8,732 tons. Joe Fontenot Construction of the topsides Hull Project Manager unit was fairly uneventful, said Jim Walvoord, site manager for Enterprise. But there was a certain amount of designing as we built. Those changes did not involve capacity or the basic process, but were changes to facilitate the constructability of the topsides.

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Independence: The Trail Pipeline

Pipeline in record water depth serves Independence area and future finds

ndependence Trail, the subsea pipeline that brings gas from the Independence Hub platform to a shallow-water connection, inspires many of the thoughts associated with other officially-designated independence trails throughout the United States thoughts of conquered frontiers, physically challenging achievements and new freedom to develop opportunities. In the Texas Independence Trail Region, encompassing 28 counties from Houston to San Antonio, for example, the stories of this era are retold at historic sites and museums. The South Yuba Independence Trail in the Gold Country of California, as the first wilderness trail in the country with wheelchair accessibility, represents another kind of independence. Colorados Independence Trail system includes one of Colorados toughest hardcore rock crawling trails. These are notable achievements that continue to motivate others. So, too, does the 134-mile (216-km) long connection that links the natural gas resources in the extreme water depths of the Gulf of Mexicos Mississippi Canyon to U.S. consumers. Independence Trail pipeline, beginning in a record-setting water depth, is the first pipeline available to serve those deepwater discoveries. The vision of Trail, however, goes beyond that milestone. With the capacity to handle multiple fields and built

with connections spaced along its length for future finds, it promises to help accelerate deepwater exploration and development across a broad section of the Gulf. The pipelines vital statistics include: design throughput of 1 Bcf/d at a maximum allowable operating pressure of 3,640psi; 134 miles of 24-in. X-65 grade pipe in four-wall thicknesses ranging from 1.35 in. at the Hub facility to 0.95 in. at the shallow water end; at the Hub, a 20-in. steel catenary riser (SCR) with a wall thickness of 1.21 in. and 8,300ft (2,532m) of strakes to reduce vortex-induced vibration; two dual-tee assemblies to provide connections for pipelines serving future discoveries; 31 pipeline crossings; about 13 miles (21 km) in West Delta Block 68 that required subsea burial; and a four-pile junction platform with two decks in 115ft (35m) of water in West Delta Block 68 that connects Trail to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. system. Building infrastructure is often a chicken-and-egg challenge that poses significant economic risk. As deepwater exploration began to accelerate in the 1990s, so did the need to create a

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pipeline infrastructure to serve new discoveries. When water depths approached those of the Mississippi Canyon deepwater discoveries, the challenge intensified. Key to meeting that challenge is to tie subsea wells to a host platform, making it possible to lower the economic threshold for developing new fields. Tieback length varies significantly, but according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS), most subsea wells are within 10 miles (16 km) of the host platform. Late last year, the record length for a subsea tieback was 62 miles (100 km) from the host platform. Tieback to a central facility is a concept critical to the economic viability of many ultra-deepwater discoveries, including those that make up the Independence development. A tieback, however, gets the gas only as far as a deepwater platform. Moving it to shore where it can be connected with the transmission and distribution network presents another array of challenges.

Stretching the envelope

In November 2004, Enterprise Products Partners LP executed agreements to provide transportation services to operators BP plc, BHP Ltd., Devon Energy Inc., Anadarko Petroleum Corp., Dominion Exploration & Production Co. and Spinnaker Exploration Co. for their gas production from leases in the Mississippi Canyon, Atwater Valley, Lloyd Ridge and DeSoto Canyon areas. Like most other elements of the groundbreaking deepwater development project, the Independence Trail export pipeline did not require a step change in subsea pipeline technology, but the extreme water depth did pose new challenges that called for new capabilities. There is, for example, only one pipelay vessel that could install the heavy-wall, 24-in. pipe in 8,000ft (2,440m) of water. Even it had to be modified before it could handle the extreme weights that would be encountered during installation. A combination of extreme water depths and high flow rates also raised unusual pipeline design considerations. At water depths and operating conditions encountered by Independence Trail, collapse pressure determined pipe wall thickness, not burst pressure. That proved to be an advantage. Designing for collapse pressure meant that as the design capacity increased during the project because of new discoveries, there was no need to increase the pipe diameter or wall thickness to handle the additional gas. Operating pressure could be increased to move more gas without increasing the burst pressure above that exerted by the deep water. When collapse pressure controls pipe design, it does, however, bring into question the need for hydrostatic testing required by the MMS. At least for Independence Trail, the MMS answered that question by requiring the line be hydro-statically tested.

Independence Trail Export Pipeline Team. Sitting (left to right): Mike Stark Project Lead and Andy Torstrick, Project Engineer. Standing (left to right): CT Gore, Pipeline Technical Support; Glenn Davis, Chief Inspector; Terry Hutzell, Project Manager WD-68.

Design highlights
Pipeline design begins with a capacity requirement. For Independence Trail, that meant matching the Hubs final nameplate capacity of 1 Bcf/d. In the early stages of the project, when throughput was expected to be 850 MMcf/d, the design called for operating the line at about 3,250psi. When capacity was upsized to 1 Bcf/d, the maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of the line was raised to 3,640psi. Because the design is based on collapse, it was possible to increase the MAOP by only changing a few valves on the topsides part of the system, said Dennis Jahde, vice president of offshore engineering with Enterprise. The capacity increase did not have a significant impact on the project because the wall thickness for the original design capacity was thick enough to resist the external pressure of deep water, said Mike Stark, Trail construction manager with Enterprise. Collapse pressure in 8,000ft of water, for example, is about 3,560psi. At its normal operating pressure of about 3,400psi, the deepwater end of the line experiences almost no burst or collapse pressure on the pipe wall. As water gets shallower along the route to shore, the external pressure on the line will decrease. As the distance from the Hubs compressor station increases, however, the internal pressure in the line will also decrease. In addition to the role in design that collapse pressure plays in water depths such as those encountered in the Independence area, installation stresses also figure into the design. Configuration of the pipe as it is lowered to the seabed and

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the capacity of the lay vessel to pick up the pipe are also key considerations in deep water. Then there is the critical steel catenary riser (SCR) connection between the seabed pipeline and the Hub topsides. In the case of Independence Trail, it was a challenge to find a pipe mill that could produce the SCRs to a tolerance that would provide the fatigue life needed. The 24-in. pipe of the Trail on the ocean floor transitions with a flexible joint to the 20-in. SCR at the top of a flex-joint and connects the SCR to the platforms topsides. At 13,000ft (3,965m) long, it is the deepest SCR installed. The length of suspended pipe that hangs off the platform the arc of the catenary from the platform to touchdown is 10,500ft (3,203m). That one single hang-off point on the Hub must support about 650 tons. The SCR is fitted with 8,300ft (2,532m) of strakes to reduce the effect of vortex-induced vibration (VIV) in the riser. The strakes wrap around the pipe in a spiral to break up the currents that cause vibration. A similar steel spiral is often used on smokestacks to break up wind currents. Vortex-induced motion caused by loop currents passing an SCR, for example, can cause oscillation that fatigues the riser. Effect of these forces usually diminishes near the seafloor, however, so strakes are not required there. Subsea pipelines installed in areas where the bottom is irregular and bottom currents are strong can still be subjected to vortex-induced motions.

VIVs occur when motion caused by vortex forces creates a resonance in the structure. Understanding the vibrations caused by these motions is an important key to designing safe, reliable risers and moorings for deep water. There is a variety of design procedures many of them proprietary to cope with VIV, and there are still uncertainties about the phenomenon.

Route challenges
Various routes between Independence Hub and West Delta 68 were considered during the planning stage, Stark said. The Continental Shelf drops off quickly in the West Delta area. During the evaluation of the sea bottom topography, there was some concern about places where the pipe might span a sizable distance, and about outcrops and existing pipelines. To avoid these risks, there were some changes in the route near the deep and shallow ends. The area around the mouth of the Mississippi River in West Delta and South Pass regions is also prone to mudslides. Underwater mudslides can be big and dangerous. Earlier, a pipeline in the Main Pass area, for example, was broken in two and moved more than a mile underwater by a subsea mudslide. To be on the safe side, a section of Independence Trail was moved to the southwest, away from the area where these slides were known to occur, Stark said. There are also 31 existing pipelines to cross along the route. Care had to be taken to minimize the number of crossings and

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ensure they were being made at angles that would make possible a well-designed crossing. At each crossing, a protective mattress was laid over the existing pipeline and supports placed at each end so the new pipeline could bridge the line. The concrete flexible mattresses have an abrasive padding on both sides. After the new line was installed, another protective layer of mattresses was placed over the crossing to complete it, Stark said. Two subsea dual tees, 16 in. and 12 in., were installed in the line at water depths along the route of about 6,500ft (1,983m) and 4,500ft (1,373m) to accommodate future tie-ins to the system. The materials and weight of the tees made installing them in those water depths a challenge. The tee in 6,500ft of water is in an area Enterprise has researched and sees potential for drilling and development. With these tees in place, an operator could avoid the expense of having to lay a subsea pipeline all the way to another surface facility. These are strategic areas where we see the potential need for future connections, Stark said. As the initial anchor fields deplete, other fields can be brought into the Trail pipeline. As the pipeline approached West Delta 68, water depth decreased to less than 200ft (61m) for the last 13 miles (21 km) of the route. That segment had to be buried to comply with MMS regulations that any pipe in less than 200ft of water be

buried with a minimum cover of 3ft (1m). After the pipe was laid, it was buried to the required depth with another vessel designed for pipe burial.

Procurement, manufacturing
Procuring pipe for Independence Trail was not a small challenge, either technically or logistically, Stark said. The line required more than 100,000 tons of X-65 grade steel. With its thick wall and large diameter, not many plants could produce the pipe. The procurement phase was a big part of this project, he said. Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd. in Gujarat, India, manufactured the line pipe from steel milled and rolled into plates in Europe and shipped to India. The plate from Ukraine and Austria was used to form the pipe, then it was welded longitudinally with the double-submerged arc welding (d-saw) process. Welspun can produce pipe in diameters from half-in. to 100- in. outer diameter and is accredited with ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certifications. The company is the first in India to supply large-diameter line pipe for offshore U.S. applications; the first to supply 56-in. X-70 line pipe to Iran; and the first to produce grade X-80 line pipe. The companys longitudinal welded pipe division has a capacity of more than 932 miles (1,500 km) annually, and the spiral welded pipe division has a capacity of 621 miles (1,000 km) annually.

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S-lay installation
Allseas Group Inc. installed most of Independence Trail with its Solitaire, one of the largest pipeline lay vessels in the world. The line was welded together on board and deployed in an S-shape lay method, beginning at the Hub in Mississippi Canyon Block 920. A J-lay method of laying pipe has also been used in deepwater; in fact the method was used by another vessel to install some of the flowlines in the Independence fields. Because of the length of Independence Trail and Solitaires capability of using the S-lay method, it was selected for the export line, Stark said. Since 1986, Allseas has completed pipelay and trenching contracts for projects ranging from straightforward pipeline installation jobs to design, installation and engineering; procurement; fabrication; and large subcontracts for diving, dredging and rock dumping. As advanced as Solitaire is, however, it had to be modified in four key areas to handle the installation of Independence Trail: three new tensioners were installed to support the weight of the extra heavy pipe, raising the tension capacity to 1,050 tons;

a new abandonment and recovery system, also with a 1,050ton capacity was installed; a new radius stinger more than 400ft (122m) long was manufactured and installed to support the pipe in an S-lay configuration; and to absorb some of the increased weight on the stern of the vessel, 4,000 tons of hull buoyancy was added. Solitaire began to lay pipe last April from the Hub end of the line and completed its part of the job in mid-August. The SCR was laid first and tied off to a suction pile on the seafloor to be recovered later by Heerema Marine Contractors Balder vessel when the Hub was in place. From the Hub location, the Solitaire began laying away, double joint by double joint, beginning with the heaviest wall pipe and moving toward shallower water, Stark said. The pipe was welded together in a horizontal position on the ship, then followed an S-shape path as it left the vessel, first going through the over bend, then the sag bend as it reached the seafloor. At the location of the inline tees, the tee assembly had to be

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installed during the laying process. Each tee, outfitted with specially designed mud mats opened on the seafloor, as it was laid through the stinger. Solitaire laid the line toward shore until it reached a water depth of about 1,000ft (305m), then the Allseas lay vessel Lorelay replaced it. To make the exchange, Solitaire installed a valve and laid the pipe on the bottom; Lorelay picked up the pipe and completed the last 48 miles (77 km) of the line to the platform in West Delta 68. The primary reason for switching vessels was to facilitate scheduling of Solitaires work elsewhere. After the Hub was on location and all the moorings connected, Heerema hooked onto the attachment point at the end of the Trail SCR, raised it and connected it to the hull in the flex-joint receptacle.

dynamic positioning, beginning a new generation of deepwatercapable vessels. Like Solitaire, Lorelays ship shape gives it a high cruising speed; a large pipe storage capacity makes it less dependent on offshore supply. The vessel is able to position precisely and safely. Overall length of the dynamically positioned vessel is 600ft (183m) and it can accommodate 216 personnel. Transit speed is 16 knots. It mounts one heave-compensated mast crane, with a capacity of 300 tons at 46ft (14m) and one pipe-transfer crane, with a capacity of 16 tons at 108ft (33m). The welding line includes seven single-joint stations, one X-ray station and one coating station. Three tensioners are rated at 55 tons each at 66ft/minute (20m/minute). A fourth tensioner rated at 100 tons is aft of the coating station. Lorelay can lay pipe with diameters from 2 in. to 36 in.

Top-of-the-line vessels
Solitaire, the largest pipelay vessel in the world, has set new standards for offshore pipeline installation. Based on the same design principles as Lorelay, Solitaires ship shape provides excellent workability. It has a pipecarrying capacity of 22,000 metric tons, making it less dependent on offshore pipe supply in remote and hostile environments. Solitaire has laid numerous deepwater pipelines and set a series of deepwater records. Precise maneuvering on full dynamic positioning allows Solitaire to work safely in congested areas. Its high cruising and lay speeds make it competitive. Since the vessel became operational in 1998, it has steadily improved its performance; a lay speed of more than 6 miles/day (9 km/day) has been achieved operating the in-house-developed Phoenix automatic welding system. The vessel features: transit speed of 13 knots; accommodation for 420 people; dynamic positioning system; two pipe transfer cranes, each rated at 35 tons at 108ft (33m), a whip hoist rated at 18 tons at 139ft (42m) and other cranes; two double-jointing plants, seven welding stations for double joints, one non-destructive testing station and two coating stations; and the capability to lay pipe diameters from 2 in. to 60 in. Lorelay was the first pipelay vessel to be equipped with

The West Delta connection

During the early stage of the project, Enterprise considered the possibility of connecting Independence Trail to an existing platform to tie into the Tennessee Gas Pipeline network. But there was not a platform in West Delta that fit our needs, so the decision was made to build a new junction platform there, Stark said. The jacket and deck for the Mike Stark West Delta 68 platform were Enterprise designed by Alliance Engineering and fabricated at Dynamic Industries Inc. in New Iberia, La. The 350-ton jacket was placed last June and the 820-ton deck installed in early October. Then saturation divers completed the subsea tie-in from the pipeline to the pre-installed riser on the platform jacket. Tennessee Gas Pipeline installed two short sections of pipe to connect the platform subsea to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline line that brings the gas ashore. Compared with other elements of Independence, the small four-pile platform in 115ft of water might be called ordinary, said Terry Hutzell, construction manager for the West Delta facility. It still, however, is an important component of the Independence system, adding the final link in the chain that connects deepwater gas reservoirs to markets. The 375-ton jacket was placed at its offshore location while final fabrication of the deck equipment was being completed, as installing the deck equipment was easier to do

But there was not a platform in West Delta that fit our needs, so the decision was made to build a new junction platform there.

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onshore than offshore. The jacket was installed in a first mobilization. Two months later, in late October, after deck modifications were completed, a second mobilization installed the deck. The West Delta platform was pretty straightforward, Hutzell said. These, days it would be considered a plain vanilla structure. West Delta is equipped with a 24-in. pig receiver that can catch pigs from Independence Trail and two launchers can send pigs through the 20-in. and 24-in. lines to the Tennessee Gas Pipeline main line. A flowline heater is mounted on the platform to accommodate the cooling that occurs when the pipeline is started up after a shutdown. There also are quarters for four men. West Delta 68 platform has its own control system and can communicate with Independence Hub. In case of a Hub shutdown or a blockage in the Trail pipeline, low pressure in the pipeline will automatically shut down West Delta.

with nitrogen and dried, gas was back flowed from the Tennessee Gas Pipeline line to the Independence Hub to power up and commission the Hub. The pre-commissioning process took about 3 months, then the project was finally ready to deliver gas to West Delta 68.

Commissioning, startup
With the SCR in place, Independence Trail was pigged, filled with water and the final spool that ties the SCR into the Hub piping was installed. When that flange-to-flange connection was complete, the line was hydro-tested. Then water was forced out of the pipeline by moving it from the Hub to West Delta junction with air produced by a vessel-mounted dewatering system capable of 10,000 ft3/minute (283 m3/minute) CFM at 5,000psi. It was a very technical operation, Stark said. The hydrotest was not a problem. The issues were the technical requirements, time and expense required to get the water out of the line after testing. It was necessary to pressure the line to 4,500psi, exceeding the maximum allowable operating pressure, to pump the water out. Finding compression capacity to produce enough air to move the water out of the line was also an issue. It was necessary to have a fairly large vessel alongside the platform for an extended period, Jahde said. When the line was dewatered, purged

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Independence: The Subsea Infrastructure

Complex subsea architecture ties 15 widely spaced wells to central platform
hroughout the decades since the concept was first developed, subsea completion technology has made spectacular advances, becoming one of the most important tools for making smaller deepwater reserves economic. Shallow-water subsea completions are also a significant part of the Gulf of Mexico well population, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS). The agency reports that there were fewer than 10 subsea completions per year in the Gulf until 1993, but the number increased dramatically throughout the rest of the 1990s. Shallow-water subsea completions accounted for 151 of the 348 total subsea wells in the Gulf by year-end 2005. Nearly 70% of the subsea trees are in water depths less than 2,500ft (762m). Operators have found subsea tiebacks to be attractive for

shallow-water marginal fields in the Gulf because of the extensive infrastructure of platforms and pipelines. Increasingly, however, the industry relies on subsea technology to develop fields in deep water. Early last year, the MMS reported that about 350,000 b/d of oil and 1.7 Bcf/d of gas come from deepwater subsea completions in the Gulf. They account for about 34% of deepwater oil production and about 50% of deepwater gas production. According to MMS data, the deepest subsea completion in the Gulf was in 350ft (107m) of water until 1988, when the water depth record jumped to 2,243ft (684m). Successive records were set in 1996 at 2,956ft (901m), in 1997 at 5,295ft (1,614m) and later at 7,591ft (2,313m). Now Independence sets a new mark. Its deepest subsea tree,

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in the Cheyenne field, is in 8,960ft (2,733m) of water; other producers are in water depths ranging from 7,925ft (2,417m) to 8,950ft (2,730m).

High tech
Because the Hub platform is so visible, it tends to get much of the attention focused on the Independence project, but the subsea infrastructure is a large, complex, highly technology-driven system. Though the gas throughput and the equipment on the Hub platform needed to handle it is the Gulfs largest, the subsea complex arguably contains more advanced technology. The ocean floor network includes miles of flowlines, sophisticated wellhead trees, a leading-edge umbilical system and covers an area that spans 75 miles (121 km) between the northernmost and the southernmost fields. Key statistics for the system are: a total of 225 miles (362 km) of flowlines that connect 15 subsea wells from 10 fields to the Hub; an umbilical package that contains about 1,300 miles (2,092 km) of stainless steel tubing; and four manifolds, 26 jumpers and 23 flowline sleds. Front-end engineering for the system began in January 2004, while discoveries were still being made in the Independence area. Long lead-time components were ordered in late 2004 and early 2005. The first flowline started installation in late 2005. System architecture underwent some change as the process evolved. The subsea effort began with a FEED [front-end engineering and design], which determined the best seafloor layout, said Pete Stracke, subsea project manager with Hydro Gulf of Mexico. With the wells spread over a large number of blocks, and usually not in concentration areas, a variety of system architecture options was studied.

Subsea Team. Front (left to right): Paul Beer, Chad Brown, Marcy Luciani, Carlos Gonzales, Mark Kurtz. Back (left to right): Basim Mehka, John Anderson, Eric Olson, Bill Clegg, Paul Drake. Not Pictured: Pete Stracke.

Flexibility and consistency

We ended up with a layout that grouped the wells that were in relatively close proximity, and then brought them to the Hub with their own shared flowline and umbilical system. This optimized the number of risers that were required, Stracke said. Wells from different fields with different ownership are connected at various points and commingled in the same flowline. That makes measurement a critical part of the system. There is a subsea meter on every well that allocates production to each development combined in a shared flowline. Thats one of the main features of the systems architecture, Stracke said. It was important to have consistency in the metering using the same meter for all wells because they are the basis for allocating each companys production. Several meters were evaluated, and wet gas meters produced by Roxar AS appeared to have the advantage, he said.

Of the 15 wells to initially be produced back to the Hub through 8-in. and 10-in. flowlines, some produce into a single flowline and some are connected to a dual flowline system, depending on the number of wells in the region. Operating pressures are similar for all the flowlines, in the range of 8,000psi. All the flowlines had been laid by early this year. After the Hub platform was moored on location, the flowlines and the export line were hung off. The flowline connection system, M-shaped jumpers with flowline connectors, is not very different from what has been used in other developments. There have been technical challenges because the development is in a record water depth, Stracke said. But in general, as far as architecture and major hardware, it was not necessary to take a big leap beyond what had been done. Most of the water depth-related challenges have come in the area of installability. It is not as if the industry just became aware of the needs of ultra-deep water. The industry has been preparing for 10,000-ft [3,050-m] water depths for awhile now, Stracke said. For example, when tree manufacturers were building equipment for 6,000-ft [1,830-m] water depths, drilling was already being done in deeper water. Manufacturers took the view that if they were doing a design for 6,000ft, they might as well design for 10,000ft. As a result, valves and other components for Independence were already type-rated for the Independence systems water depths. But there were a few items that had to be qualified, including ball valves in the flowlines, he said. FMC Technologies Inc. supplied horizontal wellhead trees for each well, and all the flowline connectors and valves.

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Many of the wells were drilled as exploration wells before there was an Atwater Valley Producers Group, so wellheads were the choice of individual operators. Though suppliers varied among the operators, the wellheads were all consistent with the FMC tree the project team chose as the standard. Beginning with the tree, the Independence subsea system becomes basically standard among all the operators, although there are some options. In addition to glycol injection, maintenance provisions vary slightly among operators. Though not included in every fields system, there are provisions for wax inhibition, corrosion inhibition and anti-scaling. Using metering valves on most wells will reduce the amount of umbilical tube needed, for example, where five wells are served by one umbilical. That has saved quite a bit of money, said Bob Buck, Anadarko Petroleum Corp. senior staff production engineer. The valves will control monoethylene glycol (MEG) rates at each well and control injection rates for paraffin inhibitor and scale inhibitor. Since production is a dry gas, flowlines are not insulated. Each well has a subsea choke. Some of the flowlines are pig-

gable, though it is not expected that pigging will be required. There are no plans for routine operational pigging. Pigging is possible where there is a dual-flowline system, however. In that case, there was very little added cost in making sure the turns and curves were of a diameter that will accommodate a pig. Flowlines were filled with water and hydrotested after being hung off the Hub platform. Then most of them had to be dewatered and dried. Only a couple of small infield lines on the outskirts of the system, where the volume of water is small, had methanol added to the test water and dewatering was not required. The water flowed to the Hub after startup and was removed.

Carbon fiber: stronger, lighter

Independence wellheads and subsea trees are relatively standard. The newest technology in the subsea system is in the umbilical network, said Richard Fowler, vice president of deepwater development with Dominion Exploration & Production Inc. The umbilical bundle includes tubes for hydraulic fluid, MEG, chemical injection, and power and signal wiring.

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Installation of the umbilical in these water depths was a challenge, he said. Putting steel in 9,000ft (2,745m) of water under its own weight is problematic. Even more risky is the copper wire used for transmitting power and electrical control signals; during installation, copper would break in 9,000ft of water from the weight of the wire beneath it. In addition, copper must go all the way to the seafloor. Kvaerner ASAs Kvaerner Oil Products (KOP) division, which built the umbilical system, applied new technology to the problem. The KOP contracts to supply about 134 miles (215 km) of steel tube umbilicals, the largest individual umbilical project awarded, had a value of about $100 million. The Independence subsea umbilical system makes a step change in deepwater umbilical technology by using KOPs carbon fiber rod design. The carbon fiber rods are roughly the same strength as steel but lighter, so they can absorb much of the tension in the umbilical while reducing weight. Independence umbilicals have between 20 and 64 carbon fiber rods to help cope with the hang off weights involved in such deep water.

In 2005, KOP was awarded a Spotlight on New Technology award at the Offshore Technology Conference for its design of the Carbon Fiber Reinforced Steel Tube Umbilical. The technology is a spin-off from composite riser and tether technology previously developed by Aker Kvaerner and ConocoPhillips. First used in the Independence project, the system was manufactured and delivered from KOPs umbilical plant in Mobile, Ala. As part of the scope, KOP delivered 15 control modules to be mounted on subsea trees and two control modules for subsea manifolds. Also included in the contract is a lease agreement under which KOP provides an integrated control system for well intervention and workover. Previously, the approach to designing umbilicals for deeper water was to put more armor on the outside for strength. But doing this added more weight, then still more armor was needed. Soon you have a diminishing return, Stracke said. But with carbon fiber, the umbilical is not getting heavier. Carbon fiber provides strength in tension without adding significant weight. In addition to the carbon fiber rods, electro-hydraulic control systems are carried in the umbilical. Tubing provides

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low-pressure and high-pressure hydraulic fluid supply, well annulus access and the ability to inject chemicals. Depending on the umbilical, there are a variety of electrical cables to supply power and control signals. Polyvinyl chloride profiles run the length of the umbilical to separate and position all those components within the outer sheath. There is no armoring on the outside of the umbilical and no insulation. In that regard, Independence is kind of standard, Stracke said. The newest thing is the use of the carbon fiber rod technology. In July last year, subsea engineering and construction contractor SubSea 7 began installing the umbilical system under an installation and commissioning contract with Anadarko

and Dominion. The contract was for the installation of the control system umbilicals, hardware and flying leads for the tie back of seven fields consisting of a total of 11 umbilicals totaling more than 106 miles (171 km) in length. The scope also included the ancillary equipment including the installation of three manifolds, 18 jumpers and 17 flying leads. Last year, Hydro Gulf of Mexico LLC awarded Aker Kvaerner Subsea a $10-million contract to deliver its advanced umbilical system, including engineering and project management, for the Q field development. Aker Kvaerner Subsea supplied a 12-mile (19.5-km) steel-tube, carbon-fiber-enhanced umbilical, including all surface and subsea terminations, to tie Q back to the Hub. In another unique feature of the Independence subsea sys-

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tem, Dominion can distribute the MEG at the well location, a first for the company, though not for industry, Fowler said. One tube runs from the Hub to a location near the wells, then individual tubes will run from that point to each well. The approach significantly reduces the amount of tube needed.

Wellhead trees
FMC was awarded the contract in 2005 to fabricate 11 of its enhanced horizontal (EXHT) subsea wellhead trees for Independence wells; the contract allowed for additional wells to be outfitted with the same tree. In addition to the trees, the scope of work included supplying one two-slot manifold, one four-slot manifold and one five-slot manifold. Valves and hubs for 26 inline sleds and 26 jumpers were also included. FMC also was responsible for system integration, testing, installation assistance, service and maintenance. Satellite wells positioned some distance from the central manifold were tied-in by use of rigid jumper spools, which also connected other subsea structures. The jumper spools have a vertical collet connector at each end. Installation of these spools is done by a simple crane operation assisted by remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) when required. FMCs EXHT wellhead trees are rated for 10,000psi working pressure and have a 5-in. bore. The trees are available in 10,000psi and 15,000psi pressure ratings, in standard and drill-through configurations. The drill-through model allows a 13 38-in. casing hanger to be installed and retrieved through the tree. All EHXT trees are rated for 10,000-ft water depth. The modular, standardized design and stocking program allow customized configurations to be produced quickly for a variety of applications. By last year, these subsea trees had been installed on more than 150 wells, according to FMC. At Independence, the 10,000-psi tree is installed in a record water depth. Enhancements to the system include the tubing hanger and tree cap designs. The traditional pressure-containing internal tree cap has been eliminated, and its pressure-containing barriers have been moved to the tubing hanger. This enables the tree cap to be installed by an ROV off the drilling rigs critical path, after the blowout preventer (BOP) has been disconnected from the tree. Among the benefits of the system, according to FMC, are: reduction in installation time by 2 days or more; lower installed cost; increased safety since the subsea test tree (SSTT) system is run only once, minimizing rig floor work; and simplified interface with the SSTT and BOP stack.

developments will have a dual-flowline system. In late 2004, Anadarko, Dominion and Kerr-McGee Corp. selected Tenaris S.A. to supply 19,100 metric tons of 8-in. and 10-in. pipe and selected Sumitomo to supply 20,100 tons of pipe for flowlines and risers to connect the groups wells to Independence Hub. Strict tolerances were required to minimize the risk of fatigue in the extreme water depths. Tenaris delivered the pipe during a 7-month period from May through December 2005 and supplied bends for the project on an as-needed basis. Beginning with the Spiderman, Jubilee, Vortex and Cheyenne fields, Allseas Group Inc.s Solitaire lay vessel installed about 55 miles (88 km) of 10-in. flowlines and steel catenary risers along with two inline pipeline end manifolds. They are the deepest flowlines that have been laid. Solitaire, the largest pipelay vessel, is capable of precise maneuvering on full dynamic positioning, allowing it to work in congested areas such as that which existed in the Independence area. It also has a high laying speed; it has laid more than 6 miles (9 km) a day using Allseas Phoenix automatic welding system, according to the company. In March last year, the Allseas vessel Lorelay began installing the 8-in. flowlines in Spiderman, Jubilee Vortex, Cheyenne and Merganser fields. Lorelay was the first pipelay vessel to operate on dynamic positioning. Its ship shape allows a high cruising speed, and a large pipe storage capacity makes the vessel less dependent on offshore supply. Heerema Marine Contractors Balder vessel was contracted to install 24 miles (39 km) of 8-in. flowline in Atlas, Mondo and Spiderman fields and 7.5 miles (12 km) of 8-in. in San Jacinto. Three subsea manifolds were installed at Spiderman, Jubilee and Vortex fields to gather production from the fields.

Scheduling the armada

One thing were proud of is our scheduling, Stracke said. At one time, we had the Solitaire, Lorelay and Balder doing construction activities while the Deepwater Millennium was doing completion work. When the Millennium was at work, the site was not accessible for work by other vessels. In addition, anchor-handling vessels were in the area, and subsea trees were being installed. There also are always support vessels, but no one ever had to step aside for someone else. Thats an impressive achievement, Stracke said. As long as work is being done on different wells at the same time, you are OK. The challenge is to create a schedule that makes that happen, he said. We have been pleased with our ability to schedule so no one had to wait on someone else. By late last year, 90% of the flowlines and half the umbilicals had been laid.

Laying flowlines
The 15 wells in the Independence project are tied back to the Hub initially through seven different flowlines. Two of the

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Independence: The Fields and Reservoirs

Steep learning curves boosted exploration success as well as drilling and completion efficiency.
ndependence is what it is because of the nature of the areas discoveries. In most environments, all would be nice big finds that would justify a sizable capital investment by each operator to get its field on stream as fast as possible. But most environments do not include 8,000-ft to 9,000-ft (2,440-m to 2,745-m) water depths far from a pipeline connection. In that extreme situation, an operator needs more than a nice discovery to pay for a stand-alone development. In the old model, such frontiers were left to the largest companies because they could afford to bet on finding an elephant field that would support its own offshore infrastructure. Independence represents a new business model in which operators with discoveries that might otherwise be marginal or might be too financially daunting join to form a critical mass of reserves and share facilities. Though it still requires a large chunk of capital from companies with impressive resources, Independence might be described as a project for independents, by independents. Independence is the model that well be looking at increasingly in the future, said Scott Jenkins, manager of supply appraisal for Enterprise Products Partners LP. The portfolio approach that made these discoveries economically viable will make more fields commercial and open doors to allow more companies to participate. It is important to approach this type of opportunity on a portfolio basis, Jenkins said. Some fields will do better, some

worse, than the estimate. But based on analysis and experience, on average, the portfolio will make money, he said. Though the commercial agreement that now unites four operators and a midstream partner is a landmark achievement and a critical first step, such collaboration still poses unique challenges, from choosing a standard wellhead to accurately measuring individual well output. When 15 wells in record water depths, some separated by as much as 70 miles (113 km), must be connected to the central facility, the subsea infrastructure becomes a massive undertaking that requires leading-edge technology. To make the partnership work, each producer assembled integrated teams of geologists, engineers and geophysicists. It was very much a team effort within each of the companies, as well as in the broader integrated project team that guided the project as a whole, Jenkins said. One discipline or person cannot possibly know enough about every technology available. And people are much better cross trained than they were 20 years ago, he said.

Fuel for deepwater growth

The growth of deepwater exploration and development has been driven by relentless growth in oil and gas demand, and

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by steadily advancing technology and expanding operating capabilities. Deep water has a special allure to tempt explorers and developers: the average deepwater gas completion produces at about eight times the rate of the average shallow-water gas completion, according to the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS). Independence represents the current state of many offshore technologies as well as the latest conceptual thinking about how to make more discoveries economic. Much of the story of Independence begins with MMS Sale 181, held Dec. 5, 2001. Though regional geological and geophysical analysis had been done prior to Sale 181 and leases had been awarded much earlier, the sale helped deepwater activity gain momentum. In that sale, a total of 95 tracts received high bids totaling $340 million and the MMS awarded 95 leases. Average high bid per acre was $622, compared with $93 for Western Sale 180 in 2001, and $185 for Central Sale 178, Part 1, in March 2001. All 95 tracts receiving bids in Sale 181 were in water depths greater than 5,249ft (1,600m). The deepest tract bid on was Lloyd Ridge Block 446 in 9,541ft (2,908m) of water.

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. received 26 leases with total high bids of $136 million. Kerr-McGee Corp. received 16 leases with bids totaling $35 million. The deepwater Gulf of Mexico became more attractive in part because of economic incentives to explore there, and the dramatic increase in the acquisition of 3-D seismic data which now covers most of the deepwater Gulf, according to the MMS. And 4-D (time-lapse) seismic technology is poised for routine application in the region to characterize reservoirs, monitor production efficiency and estimate recovery.

Regional reserves
It is estimated that the 10-anchor fields tied back to Independence Hub will ultimately produce about 2 Tcf of dry natural gas. Reserves potentially served by Independence Hub and Independence Trail, however, could be much more.

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If adjacent areas are opened, well over 2.5 Tcf could come to our project, Jenkins said. And there could be more gas, depending on how far east and south leases are offered. In addition to the fields that will initially anchor Independence, a significant number of leases in the region have not yet been drilled. We are aware of at least 30 more seismic leads that remain untested (as of late 2006), Jenkins said. Legislation passed late last year will significantly expand the potential of the region, making as much as 8 million acres available for leasing in the area. That potential does not include gas that might be tied into the Independence Trail pipeline at the subsea taps installed at two points along the route to the connection with Tennessee Gas Pipeline in West Delta Block 68. Fields connected to these taps will likely have their own platform. Even though some pipeline projects get off to a slow start, a look back after 25 years of operation often reveals the most likely initial resource estimates were conservative, Jenkins said. Not all individual fields will perform equally, but a portfolio approach can make a project viable, he said.

Field highlights

The portfolio approach that made Independence discoveries economically viable will make more fields commercial and open doors to allow more companies to participate.

Initially, the first 15 wells connected to Independence Hub will take virtually all of the platforms capacity. When those wells begin to decline, additional wells drilled in the anchor fields and additional discoveries can be tied back to the Hub to keep it operating near capacity. Fifteen wells have been drilled in the anchor fields, and additional wells are likely to be drilled, depending on how many are needed to optimize recovery. Though the wells and the reservoirs they tap have many similarities, they are all unique. Anadarko is operator of eight of the 10 fields: Atlas, Atlas NW, Jubilee, Cheyenne, Mondo NW, Merganser, Vortex and Spiderman. Dominion Exploration & Production Inc. operates San Jacinto and Hydro Oil and Energy Division operates Q. Anadarko discovered Atlas (Lloyd Ridge Blocks 49/50) in 2003, and Atlas NW (Lloyd Ridge Block 5), a satellite field, in 2004. Both are 100% owned. The company also made the Jubilee discovery (Atwater Valley blocks 305/349 and Lloyd Ridge blocks 265/309) in 2003 and holds a 100% interest in the field. The Mondo NW field was discovbered in 2004 (Lloyd Ridge

blocks 1/2) and Anadarko is operator with 50% ownership and the remaining interest is owned by Murphy. Anadarko also owns a 100% interest in the Cheyenne field (Lloyd Ridge Block 399), which was discovered in early 2005. Merganser, the hubs first discovery (Atwater Valley blocks 36/37), was made by Kerr-McGee in 2001 in a water depth of 7,933ft (2,420m). Anadarko is the operator and shares the working interest in this field equally with Devon Energy. Spiderman (DeSoto Canyon blocks 620/621) was discovered in 2003. Anadarko, as operator, holds a 45% working interest. Dominion holds 37% and Hydro, since its acquisition of Spinnaker, holds 18%. Anadarko owns 100% of Vortex (Atwater Valley blocks 217/261 and Lloyd Ridge blocks 177/221), discovered in late 2002. San Jacinto (DeSoto Canyon blocks 618/619) was discovered by Dominion in April 2004. Dominion has a 53% working interest, along with Hydros 27% acquired with Spinnaker and Anadarkos 20% working interest, acquired with the Kerr-McGee merger. Hydro, with a 50% interest, will operate Q (Mississippi Canyon blocks 960/961/1004/1005), the most recent discovery to be tied into Independence Hub. Dominion owns the remaining interest. Some of the discoveries now part of Independence were made on Scott Jenkins leases won years earlier. The Mondo Enterprise NW tract, for example, was won in Sale 116 in 1988; Vortex in Sale 157 in 1996; Jubilee in Sale 166 in 1997; and Merganser in Sale 175 in 2000. Atlas, Atlas NW, San Jacinto, Spiderman and Cheyenne were on leases won in Sale 181. Q was discovered on a lease acquired in 2004. The fact that many of these leases were acquired years ago shows the industrys vision and eagerness to develop the potential of deep water. It took some time, however, for deepwater production technology and economics to catch up with the vision; the first wells now in the Independence project were not drilled till 2001.

Atlas and Atlas NW When Anadarko discovered the Atlas field in June 2003, it encountered 180ft (55m) of gross pay in nearly 9,000ft of water. Atlas, in Lloyd Ridge Block 50, is about 175 miles (282 km) southeast of New Orleans and about 18 miles (29 km) from the companys Jubilee discovery, made earlier that year.

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The Atlas well was spudded in May 2003 using Transocean Inc.s Deepwater Millennium drillship. It was drilled to the target depth of 19,800ft (6,039m) and thin-bedded reservoirs made up much of its 180ft (55m) of gross pay. The Atlas well reached total depth in 21 days, at a total drilling cost that was well under budget. Anadarkos Atlas and Jubilee discoveries were made with two successful wells of three wildcats drilled in its eastern Gulf of Mexico program. It was apparent at the time that both discoveries would need to be part of a larger development project to be commercial, according to Anadarko. Jubilee Anadarko discovered the Jubilee field in 8,800ft (2,684-m) of water. The well encountered 83ft (25m) of net pay and was drilled to the target depth of 18,310ft (5,585m). True vertical depth of the well is 17,800ft (5,429m). When Anadarko announced the discovery, the company estimated reserves at 250 Bcf to 300 Bcf of natural gas. Anadarkos prospects in the eastern Gulf included two different types of plays structural and stratigraphic traps. The eastern Gulf of Mexico is some of the most prospective acreage currently available in the United States, said Anadarko President and Chief Executive Officer Robert J. Allison Jr., at the time. But it is still wildcat exploration.

only 6 miles (10 km) from the Spiderman discovery. In November 2004, Dominion and its partners drilled a successful appraisal well at San Jacinto, encountering about 100ft of net pay in the same multiple reservoir sands. The well was drilled to a measured depth of 18,075ft (5,513m), cased to total depth and temporarily abandoned for use as a producer. Spiderman The Spiderman field was discovered in November 2003 with a well drilled in 8,100ft (2,471m) of water to a total depth of 18,065ft (5,510m). It encountered more than 140ft (43m) of net pay. Vortex Anadarko and Kerr-McGee each held a 50% working interest in the Vortex field, located in a water depth of 8,344ft (2,545m). The exploration well penetrated about 75ft (23m) of high-quality pay in a Miocene-age reservoir.

Combination traps
Geologically, the Independence region is an above-the-salt play, Jenkins said. The discoveries in the Miocene age rock depended in part on bright spot analysis, a technology developed in the 1970s and updated with experience and todays seismic technology. The vast majority of what weve Robert J. Allison Jr. seen that has commercial pay has Anadarko some sort of seismic amplitude anomaly, or bright spot. It lights up on seismic. Its above the salt, so it is pretty easy to see, he said. The play took a concept from the 1970s, pushed it out into 8,000ft of water, and added the advantage of 3-D over 2-D seismic, as well as other technology enhancements developed over the past 25 years, said Dan Semetko, principal geologist with Enterprise. The Miocene is one of the main deepwater horizons in the Gulf of Mexico, but most of the deepwater is oil-prone rather than gas prone. Pays in the Independence fields are in a combination trap, a blend of stratigraphic and structural trap mechanisms. There are some false positives, Jenkins said. In fact, the Independence region was originally thought to be an oil play. It took six wildcats to make the first commercial discovery, only a 17% success rate. After that first discovery, however, 12 of the next 19 wildcats were successful. Explorers quickly figured out what worked, Semetko said. Geology varies in detail among the fields that make up Independence. Some wells have multiple pay zones, others a single pay, some cover a relatively large areal extent, and others

The eastern Gulf of Mexico is some of the most prospective acreage currently available in the United States.

Merganser Kerr-McGee discovered Merganser 180 miles (290km) south of Mobile, Ala., in a water depth of 7,933ft (2,420m). The well penetrated four high-quality Miocene reservoirs, each with excellent flow characteristics. The exploratory well was drilled to 21,268ft (6,487m) and encountered about 150ft (46m) of gas pay, according to KerrMcGee at the time. Merganser was drilled under the deepwater exploratory drilling joint venture between Kerr-McGee and Ocean Energy Inc. that called for the two companies to jointly explore and develop oil and gas prospects on more than one million undeveloped acres in the deepwater Gulf. Devon acquired Ocean Energy in 2003. San Jacinto Dominion announced the discovery of natural gas at the San Jacinto prospect in DeSoto Canyon Block 618 in April 2004. About 140 miles (225 km) south of Mobile Bay, the well was drilled to a total measured depth of 15,829ft (4,829m) and encountered about 100ft (31m) of net pay in multiple reservoir sands. San Jacinto is

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cover a smaller area. In some cases, zones that cover a smaller area with a thicker pay have roughly the same reserves as wells that cover a larger area. Porosity of the reservoirs ranges from about 25% to 35%, said Jenkins, with good permeability. The producing characteristics are good. The real question is how much area an individual well will drain, he said. With the good porosity and permeability, a relatively large drainage area is expected, barring sand shale-out or the presence of a fault. But the seismic is so good that a lot of that can also be imaged, Jenkins said. A comparison of Independence wells to the Canyon Express wells, which produce from the same type of deposition, indicates the Independence wells should have good average producing rates. How much can be produced from each well wont be known until they are on production, Jenkins said. But wells have tested at more than 60 MMcf/d each. Thats a good sign. The successes of the Jubilee and Spiderman gas fields helped lower risk within seismic-amplitude-supported plays when exploring for deepwater Miocene sands, according to a presentation by Todd J. Greene, Peter Gamwell, Todd Butaud, Andrew Pink, Michael Golden, David Jones, James Parr and Istvan Barany, all of Anadarko. Data collected from whole core of the Spiderman (180ft) and Jubilee (90ft 27m) wells strongly influenced our interpretation of reservoir architecture, the authors said. At both fields, they inferred a basin-floor setting where stratigraphic architecture reflects the interplay of a variety of deepwater depositional processes including high-density sandy turbidite flows, suspension deposits, mass transport complexes, low-density turbidites and channelized deposits. The irregular seafloor created by erosional mass transport complexes along with deeper episodic salt movement also played an important role in the lithofacies distribution for these deposits, according to the authors. In Spiderman, the shallowest interval, the MM9 (Middle Miocene) Sequence, contains three interconnected stacked sand bodies deposited in a confined, amalgamated, sand-filled, low-relief channel complex, the authors wrote. The deepest interval, the MM7 Sequence, also appears interconnected and was deposited as more unconfined sheets within a frontal splay complex, which is then overlain by a channel/levee complex, according to the report. In the Jubilee field, three interconnected stacked sand bodies were deposited as compensatory stacked, amalgamated and layered sheets overlain by erosive mostly mud-filled channels. To optimize reservoir performance, Anadarko developed detailed facies-based models where petrophysical properties are calibrated to individual facies. Then it could develop a stochastically derived geobody volume that predicts reservoir quality and degree of compartmentalization over the entire field, the report said.

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DRILLING, COMPLETION
Drilling and completing the number of wells that will initially make up Independence would not be a challenge if they were located in, for example, a typical onshore field development where producing zones were at depths of 10,000ft to 12,000ft (3,050m to 3,660m). But put them in 8,000ft to 9,000ft of water, spread them over an area 75 miles (121 km) long, and hire a $ 500,000/day vessel to spend several weeks completing each one and months laying flowlines. Then getting only 15 wells ready for production can be daunting. All the operators in the project have extensive experience completing subsea wells across the Gulf and applied their own approach to completing their Independence wells. Each completion was fitted with a wellhead to which the agreed upon standard subsea tree could be mated. Below the wellhead, well design and equipment could conform to the individual operators taste. From that wellhead up, the rest of the subsea system trees, flowline layout and design, umbilical system used components and systems designed by the subsea integrated project team. Drilling in the area is relatively straightforward, and to date, most wells have been vertical. Eventually, if the play goes like many others, there will likely be some wells that are sidetracked. The wells go down very quickly, Jenkins said. Wells in the anchor fields are normally pressured. At their 18,000-ft to 22,000-ft (5,490-m to 6,710-m) depth (including 8,000ft to 9,000ft of water), that means reservoir pressures in the range of 9,000psi to 11,000psi. Independence discoveries are analogous to those of the Canyon Express project about 40 miles (64 km) north of Independence, Jenkins said. In that development, eight wells in three fields in about 6,000ft (1,830m) of water were tied back at distances up to 40 miles to a platform on the edge of the Continental Shelf. Canyon Express producing sands are also similar to those at Independence. Canyon Express wells, at peak rates, averaged 50 MMcf/d each. It was a sort of precursor to Independence, with similar sands and trap types, Jenkins said. Weve learned from that and other projects. Independence has been designed with flexibility that will make it easier to add additional wells. Producers will manage their capacity in the Hub by drilling extra wells in the existing fields or drilling additional prospects to have a couple of wells waiting in the wings to bring into the Hub as capacity becomes available. Of a total of 15 wells for the first phase of the Independence project, 12 are operated by Anadarko. By spring 2007, the completions were finished on these wells, said Kevin Renfro, Anadarko production/completions engineer. All 12 of these wells were completed with the Deepwater Millennium.

The Independence area is drillship territory, Renfro said. The obvious way to complete in these depths is with a dynamically positioned drillship-type rig. For Anadarko, the Independence area discoveries have been its first experience using a dynamically positioned vessel to complete subsea wells; it had previously used only moored vessels. Anadarkos Independence work was also the first completions the Deepwater Millennium crew had done with that rig. The crew had done much of the drilling in Independence, and some members had performed completions on other rigs. The Millennium is an excellent rig, and the crews have been very good at working in the completion mode, Renfro said. Reservoirs are also similar in all three of the fields in which Dominion has an interest; all are seismic amplitude anomalies with similar horizons and at similar depths subsea. Two San Jacinto wells and the Q well were completed with Noble Corp.s semisubmersible rig, Amos Runner. Since it is a moored vessel rather than dynamically positioned like the Deepwater Millennium, Amos Runners rig and mooring system had to be upgraded for the Independence job. Moored rigs dont typically work in 8,000ft of water. Use of this rig was necessary because no other dynamically positioned rigs were available. The good news is that although the two San Jacinto wells are several thousand feet apart, both were completed with one mooring.

Better and better

Drilling the wells in Anadarko-operated anchor fields would have been relatively routine if the wells had not been in 8,000ft to 9,000ft of water. Even in those water depths, we were able to make them pretty routine, said Pat Watson, Anadarkos lead drilling engineer. On some wells, we drilled at a rate of 1.9 days per 1,000ft [305m] below the mud line from spud to TD [total depth]. Average rate for all the wells was about 2.4 days per 1,000ft. We were very aggressive. Within 2 weeks, we could be at TD, Watson said. With a spread rate for the Deepwater Millennium and associated equipment and services of about $500,000/day, time saved was money saved. Several efficiencies contributed to the performance. Testing the blowout preventer (BOP) against casing instead of running test plugs is one way time was saved. When the 1338-in. casing was in place, cement was displaced and the plug bumped with synthetic mud, avoiding the need to clean the mud pits. When cementing the production casing on later wells, the cement plug was bumped with the mud that would be left in the hole for temporary abandonment. Surface cement plugs were also set about 600ft (183m) below the mud line so the well could be temporarily abandoned without another trip in the hole.

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All those things added up to significant time savings, Watson said. We got very efficient at what we did. The result was the least costly wells drilled in those water depths. Overall drilling cost for the Anadarko wells was about 22% under authorization for expenditure (AFE) estimates. Continuity was a key to helping us get better and better, Watson said. We used the same rig over and over, with the same foreman and the same mud company. These were some of the fastest wells ever drilled in these water depths. Approving all the wells up front also was an important advantage. With that inventory, Anadarko was able to minimize weather downtime. Loop currents and hurricanes caused some weather delays, but weather downtime was not significant. Part of the credit goes to having all wells ready to be drilled so the rig could move to another well if weather conditions dictated. If loop currents threatened in Atwater Valley, for example, we could move to DeSoto Canyon or Lloyd Ridge, Watson said. In one case, the rig was moved 21 miles (34 km) with the BOP stack hanging on the riser at a depth of about

8,700ft (2,654m). Typically, 10 riser joints about 750ft (229m) would be pulled if the rig were moved without pulling the BOP. That saved several hundred thousand dollars, he said. In the program, Anadarko drilled 13 wells and two sidetracks. First wells were spudded in early 2003; the last one drilled was finished in mid-2005. Anadarkos wells in the Independence area are very similar, Watson said. The pressure regime did not require any fancy equipment, but in the first two wells drilled, Anadarko ran a 16-in. liner. Pore pressure was not fully known at the time, and there was the possibility that a debris flow through the area might indicate the potential to encounter a higher-than-normal pressure. When that higher pressure was not found, the liner was eliminated from the casing program on subsequent wells. The modified program called for jetting in the 36-in. then running 20-in. casing. The next string is 1338-in., followed by the 978-in. production string to total depth. Running a long string of 978-in. was a different approach than that taken by some other operators, but it made it possible

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to install trees and go straight to completion without having to run a tie back string for a liner. To mitigate annular pressure buildup, Anadarko did not cement the 978-in. into the 1338-in. Anadarkos first six wells were drilled all the way to the production casing interval with a water-based mud M-I Swaco provided. Then the production interval was drilled with a synthetic drilling fluid system. Later wells, however, were drilled entirely with a synthetic mud system. Mud weights typically ranged from 10.2 lb/gal to 10.5 lb/gal, but were boosted to about 10.9 lb/gal in the directional intervals. An extreme water depth can work to advantage when controlling formation pressure during drilling. It does give you the luxury of being able to kill the well with the riser in an emergency, Watson said. Such an emergency did not occur in Anadarkos Independence wells. When a pressure anomaly was encountered in Spiderman, however, we were able to use the riser to advantage because the riser is at least half the hole, he said. Except for Spiderman, lost circulation was not a problem in Anadarkos program. We did not have any significant hole problems. In the highly deviated intervals, we knew we had to raise mud weight by about 0.3 lb/gal to control sloughing and keep the hole open.

This was especially important during logging, he said. Anadarko used roller cone bits down through the 1338-in. interval. A 26-in. bit was used for jetting in and to drill a 26-in. hole to about 3,000ft (915m) below the mud line. After setting 20-in., Anadarko drilled the intermediate hole with a 17-in. roller cone bit. Depth of this interval varied among the wells, but ranged from 5,000ft to 6,000ft (1,525m to 1,830m) below the mud line. The interval from there to total depth was drilled with a polycrystalline diamond bit. Rotary steerable systems and steerable mud motors were used as necessary. The rotary steerable was used in directional intervals and the steerable mud motor on straight intervals and where deviation was minimal. Deviation of some of the directional intervals exceeded 50 and several had deviations between 30 and 50. Intervals with deviations above 50 had big turns as well, Watson said. Lightweight slurries of flexible cement were used on the wells, an early application of that technology. Halliburton Energy Services provide cementing services on all of Anadarkos wells. In these water depths, it often is difficult to determine when returns reach the seafloor. A typical procedure, to pump 100% excess cement to be on the safe side, increases cementing costs. After trying various techniques, including dyes and black

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light, Anadarko settled on a new product, hollow polymer tracer beads, to monitor returns. Looking like fireflies on the remotely operated vehicle camera at the seafloor, the tracer beads are now being used by other operators. They saved us a lot of money on cement, Watson said.

all the plans in advance, Renfro said, because it is hoped that experience on early wells can be used to modify procedures on later wells to help optimize the process. We were successful at moving around to different wells as conditions warranted, in part because we had trees at each location, he said.

Coordinating completion
Anadarkos completion activity began in the second quarter of last year on wells that had been pre-drilled and cased, and contained a cement plug or bridge plug and a subsea wellhead installed at the mud line. Once the tree was installed on the wellhead, the completion rig ran and connected the riser and BOP stack to the wellhead. As Anadarko got into the completion program, subsea construction work was also getting under way. Flowlines were being laid early last year, and the umbilical network was being installed beginning in the second half of last year. Coordination of all those activities and equipment took a lot of effort, especially during the summer and into the third quarter of 2006, Renfro said. We did a lot of planning, but we also provided flexibility for those times when things didnt fit the plan exactly. Umbilicals were reeled onto large carousels on the installation vessel and a preferred order for installing the umbilical lines was created. When installing a certain umbilical, which might only take 10 days, the completion rig could not be on either well at the ends of that umbilical. A typical completion might take 25 days, and it was necessary to determine if a well could be completed before it was necessary to move the rig. To provide flexibility in the schedule, Anadarko planted subsea trees in all the fields. Having at least one tree in each field provided the option to change on short notice which job was done next to avoid a conflict with construction vessels. That saved the consortium a lot of money, Renfro said. Loaded rate for the vessel that installed flowlines was in the order of $500,000/day and the drillship was commanding a similar rate. At some times, three high-dollar vessels were at work. It was not a case of the inexpensive vessels accommodating the movement of an expensive vessel, Renfro said. Every vessel that works in these water depths is expensive. The other challenge was the significant geographical spread of the project and loop currents that move through the area. Anadarko had developed a sequence for completion that minimized rig travel and the number of times it would be necessary to pull and redeploy the BOP stack and riser. We knew the loop currents might change this plan, Renfro said. We did get the first well in the sequence done, but we could not go to the next well on the list because the loop currents moved in. Current was so high, we could not work in the whole southern portion of the area. Completion engineers had to have several different completion procedures ready at any one time. It is very hard to write up

Off the critical path

Substantial time was spent during planning to determine whether the Deepwater Millennium rig needed modifications for the Independence completion work. Focus of this analysis was how to handle the subsea trees, and what control system would be used to install them. Some modifications were made to the workover umbilical system, a product of Aker Kvaerner ASAs Kvaerner Oil Products (KOP) division that controls the tree during completion operations. The system provides access to tree valves, because the tree is installed before the completion vessel arrives on location. A unique feature of the KOP system is that the umbilical is not strapped to the riser as it is run. Instead, the umbilical extends from another part of the drillship to a termination unit placed on the seafloor and connected to the subsea tree to provide control. The termination unit is pulled when the tree is installed and redeployed on the next well. The advantage of a system that features the termination unit is that it can be deployed, recovered and redeployed off line, providing more flexibility in positioning the drillship to respond to weather conditions. In addition, if there is a problem with the umbilical, because it is not strapped to the riser, it can be recovered and repaired without interrupting other operations. If the umbilical is strapped to the riser, the riser must be pulled to fix a problem with the umbilical, Renfro said. Having the umbilical separate is a significant efficiency improvement. Prior to the merger, Kerr-McGee and Anadarko had already planned to share the same rig. After deciding the separate umbilical termination unit was the way to go, the two companies hired KOP to build a unit that would be put on a long-term contract for the Independence project. Though Kerr-McGee had proved the system, Independence is the deepest water depth in which it has been used, Renfro said. And it has worked out very well. Much of the completion technology used on the project is not dramatically different from a typical completion under less extreme conditions. Independence, however, posed some unique completion challenges because the water depth is roughly equal to the depth of the producing formations below the mud line. For example, when installing the tubing hanger that sits in the subsea tree at the mud line, there might be as much landing string above the tubing hanger as there is below it where the other end of the tubing is attached to the gravel pack packer.

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Its a little weird, Renfro said. Typically, when making up the tubing hanger equipment, the tubing is in the wellbore. But the deep water and modest depth of the formations below the mud line meant the crew could be making up the tubing hanger and making control line connections before tubing is out of the riser. All the wells are fitted with horizontal subsea trees installed before the completion rig arrived by an anchor handling vessel equipped with a heave-compensated landing system. The big advantage of that approach is that for most of the wells, tree installation can be done off line with a much less expensive vessel, Renfro said. Then when the completion rig comes, youre ready to immediately hook up the BOP stack and riser on top of the tree. On a couple of wells, because tie back work was being done on casing liners, the rig was on site and it was necessary to quickly install the tree. On location, the rig disconnected the

BOP stack, then moved over and let the anchor handling vessel install the tree. We could do that in just a few hours, Renfro said. Some deepwater drillships are dual-activity rigs. With two derricks, tree makeup and other work can be done with one rig while separate operations are performed with the other. The Deepwater Millennium, however, is a single-activity rig with one moonpool and one derrick. You try to do things without using the drillship. If it is necessary to pull the riser, run a tree on pipe, then run the riser back, it takes 4 to 5 days, Renfro said. With a dual-activity rig, it might take only a few hours to disconnect and move over to do a job, while keeping the riser and stack deployed.

High rates, smart wells

All of Dominions Independence project wells are smart wells completed in multiple horizons. Like the other smart wells in

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the field, Dominions can be controlled and different zones opened and closed from Independence Hub, which in the case of Spiderman is 24 miles (39 km) away. Basically, we can re-complete a well by pushing some buttons, said Richard Fowler, former vice president of deepwater development for Dominion Exploration & Production Inc. As much as possible, Anadarko standardized its downhole assemblies, but some are fitted with 412-in. tubing, some 512-in. Two wells are completed in three zones, four wells have two completion intervals, and the company has four single completions in its Independence portfolio. Multi-zone completions are completed as smart wells. Because they will produce at high flow rates, existing smart well equipment for the multi-zone wells had to be modified to increase flow capacity. Smart well technology was developed primarily for zones with much lower flow rates and a shorter expected life. In Independence, there is the potential to make 60 MMcf/d to 100 MMcf/d from one zone. That much gas just doesnt want to go through the complicated geometry of a typical smart well configuration, Renfro said. Sliding sleeves and packers also were upgraded to a larger size, and other equipment in the gravel pack zone was modified. It was not super complicated, but it was necessary to build for purpose. It required careful planning to give vendors time to build and test the equipment before it was deployed, he said. Because Anadarko has several wells with similar configurations, it was possible to design a few sets of equipment that could fairly easily fit more than one well, with, for example, only minor modifications to accommodate the length of the interval in each well. Equipment was pre-built and on location so the operation was ready to go to multiple sites at any given time. It wasnt exactly a choose-one-from-column-A and onefrom-column-B situation, but it was close to that, Renfro said. Because many wells have similar downhole temperatures and pressures, it was possible to standardize the completions to a certain extent. Anadarko completed all of its wells with a frac pack or high rate water pack completion that provides sand control. Some Independence wells get some aquifer support. Water drive does help produce at higher rates, but typically causes abandonment earlier than under a pressure depletion mechanism, leaving more gas behind in the reservoir. Closely monitoring pressure is a way to determine whether water is becoming a problem, and to define the shape and size of the drainage area. If a well begins to produce significant amounts of water because it is coming in from the aquifer, the well is likely near abandonment. It will not be possible to keep producing at that point, Jenkins said. Water vapor entrained in the gas at high pressure while it is in the reservoir also is an issue. As the gas comes to the surface and

temperature and pressure decrease, the water vapor will condense. This might not be a problem under normal operating conditions, but it becomes an issue in 8,000ft of water, Semetko said. High pressure and low temperatures are the ideal combination for hydrate formation, he said. Hydrates also can cause serious flow restrictions. Avoiding hydrates in the flowlines that tie the subsea wells to the Hub is the reason for the large monoethylene glycol (MEG) recovery system on the Hub platform. Water entrained in the gas makes it necessary to dehydrate it on the platform to keep hydrates from forming in the export pipeline. The nice thing about having a dry gas province and a hub like Independence is that gas wells can be tied back subsea for great distances, Jenkins said. An oil well needs to be within 15 miles to 20 miles (24 km to 32 km) of the surface facility, but a gas well can be tied back to a platform from a distance of 50 miles to 60 miles (80 km to 97 km).

Role of a model
In addition to a reservoir model, an integrated production model (IPM) was used in the planning and design of the Independence project. The IPM is more of a material balance model than a reservoir model, said Bob Buck, Anadarko senior staff production engineer for the eastern Gulf of Mexico. It is tied to a nodal analysis model. IPM models the reservoir, the wellbore, the flowline network, risers, even compression on the Hub topsides. The model was used early in the planning process to determine the optimum Hub location. Well locations and flowlines were put into the model and the Hub location moved around to determine the location that would give the best recoveries. Thats how we decided on Mississippi Canyon Block 920, Buck said. The original plan was to put the Hub in Atwater Valley Block 85. The model, developed by Petroleum Experts Ltd., also helped design the flowlines, and water-handling capacity was increased as a result of what the model indicated. Petroleum Experts IPM suite of tools can be run together seamlessly to design complete field models. It can simultaneously model and optimize the production and the water or gas injection system. All well configurations, including multilateral, can be modeled together. There are several thousand fields worldwide having their production managed and optimized using IPM, according to the company. For Independence, the model also helped evaluate how to tie in developments. Dominion-operated San Jacinto, for example, originally was to be connected directly to the Hub with its own flowline. But evaluating different scenarios with the model showed San Jacinto could be tied into the

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Spiderman manifold and flow to the Hub through the dual 8-in. and 10-in. flowline system. That saved millions of dollars for the companies involved, Buck said. The model will also be important during operations. Well use it real time and history-match the production data to make decisions on how to best optimize production by routing wells into the proper flowlines. It really is an optimization model, he said.

STARTUP AND OPERATION

Twenty years ago, the prospects that resulted in discoveries that now make up the Independence anchor fields might have been indicated by the seismic technology of the day. The exploration holes likely could have been drilled with the rigs and techniques available at the time. But the technology did not exist to produce from water depths like those in the Independence area. At that time, it was often necessary to sit on a deepwater discovery for several years until the production technology caught up, Jenkins said. Design of the Independence production systems, though it sets records for size and water depth, is not unusually complex.

On paper and in conference room discussions, it seems fairly straightforward. In its full installed size and scope, however, starting up the Independence complex and operating it will not be simple. Key challenges include: managing the MEG inventory within the constraints of limited storage capacities; handling water production; minimizing the accumulation of liquid slugs and controlling their movement; optimizing the operation of fields with dual flowlines as well pressures change; and keeping temperatures within acceptable ranges. Based on initial tests, the wells are doing pretty much what we thought they would do, Buck said late last year. They are fantastic wells. The majority of the wells have tested at rates above 50 MMcf/d and one was tested at about 70 MMcf/d. Despite the largest throughput capacity in the Gulf, the Independence Hub is not an unusually large platform. It will require 16 operators and one foreman to run the facility. With everything that is going on there, including the Gulfs largest MEG system, that is not many operators, Buck said.

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Even though Independence is not overly complex, the extreme water depth has an impact on almost every aspect of its operation. All the subsea operating procedures must take into account water depth, distance from the Hub, temperatures, liquid holdup in the flowlines and the flowline configuration, said Jarvis Cooley, Anadarko field superintendent. Cooley oversees Independence operations. In addition to what might be termed normal operations, comprehensive operating procedures were developed that address some special challenges. Flow assurance will always be a top priority, making management of MEG flow and processing a critical part of day-to-day operation. When wells are put on stream, liquids accumulate until the flow reaches the sweeping rate, then a liquid slug will arrive at the topsides and must be controlled. When a well is brought on stream, it raises the temperature of the annulus fluid; the resulting increase in annulus pressure must remain below the allowable pipe pressure. Bleeding off too much pressure is not the answer, because you need to maintain some positive pressure for monitoring capabilities.

Measurement and allocation

In concept, the Independence flow measurement system is not significantly different from other systems. What makes Independence different is the number of wells and different owners in those wells in addition to the number of shareholders in the platform operation. Combine multiple wells with multiple zones and multiple well owners and all production to be commingled in an export line and accurate measurement of each partys production becomes a critical piece of the Independence puzzle. The key job of the wet gas meter at each well is to help allocate production. In one case, three wells produce through a single flowline. Some wells can produce through either of two flowlines or have more than one ownership interest. Use of individual well meters is the only way to allocate production. High producing rates and high gas prices magnify the importance of measurement. Roxar supplied the wet gas meters for all the wells in the project and provided its sand monitoring system for Anadarkos wells. The 15 subsea wells comprise the largest application of Roxars wet gas meters to date in the Gulf of Mexico. Placed in the jumpers downstream of the wells, the meters measure the volumes of gas, condensate and the aqueous phase (water and MEG) in each well stream. The meters do not differentiate between water and MEG, but read the total as water. Meters were flow tested on the Deepwater Millennium rig during recent well tests. Roxars subsea wet gas meter is the only available meter with online direct measurement of water in wet gas flow. In addition

to production allocation, the meter provides information valuable for reservoir management and flow assurance as well as for optimizing production. Because the meter can distinguish between condensed water and saline formation water, it provides important input for controlling hydrates, corrosion and scale. This is particularly important for the Independence Hub development where hydrate formation is seen as the largest risk to production integrity. It also is important to control sand production and predict erosion rates without having to integrate a separate monitoring device subsea, according to Roxar. The companys new sand monitoring system that is part of Anadarkos wells is connected to the wet gas meters, significantly reducing subsea integration issues and improving prediction of sand production rates. Another part of the allocation process is the individual separator that each flowline enters as it comes on the platform. Each allocation separator measures total gas and total liquid coming from each field. Because these are two-phase separators, MEG, condensate and water all go out the same liquid dump valve to a condensate flash separator and coalescer where the condensate is separated from the MEG/water mix. MEG and water go to the glycol reclamation system, and the condensate is re-injected into the sales line with the dry gas. To determine the amount of the total liquid leaving the separator that is condensate, each separator is equipped with an oilcut analyzer used to allocate condensate production back to individual wells. Samples taken throughout the platform are sent to the lab to determine the composition of the flow at each metering point. Sample information is used to perform a daily in-house plant balance and a monthly plant balance that is part of the allocation process, Cooley said. Before entering Independence Trail, total gas and condensate are metered as part of the allocation process that first allocates the sales volume to each separator, then allocates separator volumes to individual wells.

Managing MEG
One of the first considerations in designing a production system for the Independence wells was hydrate inhibition, Buck said. At the pressures involved wellhead pressures in the range of 7,000psi initially we are highly susceptible to hydrates. To economically prevent hydrates in the flowlines that will handle a total of 1 Bcf/d requires the largest offshore MEG reclamation unit yet built. MEG is the least expensive hydrate prevention option for Independence, but because it costs close to $5/gal, efficient reclamation is important to the projects economics.

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Although 97% of the MEG is reclaimed from the well streams when it reaches the Hub, a loss of 2% per day means glycol costs will still be significant. It is still more economic, however, than a methanol hydrate prevention system and doesnt have the safety concerns that come with methanol. In addition to being the largest such system installed offshore, the Independence MEG unit is a new proprietary design by Petreco Process Systems that results in a significantly lower weight/capacity ratio. The reclamation system can separate more than 7,000 b/d of MEG and water from the gas. This results in water-handling capacity of 3,500 b/d. For a facility that handles 1 Bcf/d, that is not very much, Buck said. When everything is up and running in a steady state, there should be no problem, Buck said. But when a line or lines must be shut in and restarted, managing the MEG on the topsides with the limited storage available could be a challenge. Its important to keep injecting MEG so wells can continue to be produced. So it is necessary to avoid a situation in which lines are being re-started and MEG is not yet coming back to the platform. Its a very tricky balancing act, Buck said. The water volume that can be handled by the Hubs treating plant is determined by the capacity of the MEG reclamation unit to process the wet MEG coming from the wells in addition to the ability to inject the required amount of dry MEG for the volume of water the well is producing. It will hinge on the capacity to process wet MEG, about 7,000 b/d, Cooley said. If one field is not making water, more gas can come from other fields without exceeding reclamation capacity. However, if several wells in one field are making water, it may not be possible to get enough dry MEG down the umbilical to treat that amount of water. Then the amount of MEG that can be put through the umbilical is the limit on flow rate. With so many wells coming to the platform, there are a lot of possible combinations, Cooley said. How much water can be accommodated from one well depends on what other wells in that system are doing, what other fields are doing and the total volume of water coming to the platform. Each operator has been guaranteed a share of the Hubs capacity, another factor in the calculation. The system is designed to produce a 97% dry MEG to return to the wells. The goal is to have enough dry MEG to inject until flowline volume reaches the sweeping volume, then to have enough processing capacity when the liquid hits the platform to process the wet MEG and get it back into the system. Eventually, the system will settle into a relatively steady state. Its a challenge to best utilize the MEG processing capacity.

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We have to be certain we have enough dry MEG to meet the needs of all the fields as wells are brought on line and go through the liquid holdup phase, Cooley said.

Sweeping up liquid
Liquid slugs are unavoidable in Independence Hub operations. Various models have shown that at the anticipated flow rates, there could be liquid slugs as large as 1,000 bbl in the flowlines. There is no slug-catching equipment on the Hub. Slugs are handled by a ball valve that continuously throttles the flow to control the liquid. Logic that controls the valve on each allocation separator monitors separator pressure, liquid level and the rate of change in liquid level. Wells are occasionally shut in, and the important goal when putting a well on stream is to get up to that sweeping rate as soon as possible, Cooley said. The sweeping rate is the gas flow rate that is high enough to pick up liquids and sweep them out of the flowline. With the high flow rates, it should be relatively easy to reach those required rates, he said. Care must be taken, however, to avoid bringing a well on too fast, risking damage to the well. The system will take some fine tuning, said Cooley before the startup. It is critical to operate the flowlines above sweeping rates to keep liquids moving, Buck said. We cant produce at rates below the sweeping rate in any flowline for any extended period of time. A helpful tool in managing liquids is the systems two flowline sizes. In the 8-in. lines, flow must be more than 30 MMcf/d to be above the sweeping rates; for a 10-in. line, flow must be more than 50 MMcf/d to keep the lines free of liquid slugs. If operating below those rates for some time, fluids drop out of the gas stream in the flowline and accumulate. Then when flow gets back above the sweeping rate, the slug hits the platform. Those wells that are connected to dual flowlines can be switched from the 10-in. to the 8-in., for example, if flow rate drops below the sweep rate for the 10-in. line. A well may also be switched when re-completed in a different zone. It may be necessary to maintain a high-pressure line and a low-pressure line, Buck said. For example, compressor suction pressure on the Hub will initially be about 1,900psi. In a few years, however, suction pressure could be down to 600psi. At that time, if a new zone is completed with virgin reservoir pressure, the well cannot be produced into a low-pressure line with existing production. At 600psi suction pressure topsides, if a high-pressure well is put into the low-pressure flowline, temperatures at the subsea choke can approach -60F (-51C) on a cold restart. Jumpers are rated at only -20F (-29C). Thats why some of the develop-

ments are equipped with dual flowlines, said Buck, to make it possible to operate a high-pressure and a low-pressure line. We have to be very careful how we manage these flowlines. We cant predict when the slugs will arrive at the Hub, but we will have some tools in place to help manage liquids, he said. The wet gas meters on each well are also a tool for helping manage liquid slugs that come to the Hub. At the platform, the operator will know how much fluid is crossing the wellhead meters and how much is coming out of the separator on the platform. The difference between these readings tells the operator how much liquid is in the flowline and how large of a slug will hit the platform process equipment. Its all in real time, Buck said. We can see things coming. Its great technology; I dont see how we could do without it. Its a balancing act, and it is a challenge during startup and when flowlines are re-started, Renfro said. We did a lot of modeling to see what the system would look like dynamically, not just when operating at full rate. The staged startup began by getting one field and one flowline working, unloaded and cleaned up. When that line was working well, another flowline was brought on stream.

Temperature limits
Maintaining well stream temperature at the platform within proper limits is also an operating challenge. There is a significant pressure drop between the well and the Hub. Even though the gas may be between 70F and 80F (21C and 27C) at the wellhead downstream of the choke, when the gas reaches the Hub the temperature is in the order of 20F (-7C). The topsides process requires that the arrival temperature be above 18F (-8). That arrival temperature then becomes the limiting constraint on the flow rate in each flowline. A typical flowline design is based on erosional velocities and compressor suction pressures, Buck said. Based on that criterion, a 10-in. line might be able to handle 400 MMcf/d and an 8-in. line could carry 250 MMcf/d. But arrival temperature constraints limit throughput at Independence to about 230 MMcf/d for the 10-in. line and 160 MMcf/d for an 8-in. line. So the 8-in. and 10-in. dual flowline systems that normally could flow 600 MMcf/d are limited to about 400 MMcf/d, he said. The 18F minimum is necessary to allow for the further drop in temperature as the incoming well streams go through a choke on the Hub, reducing pressure and dropping temperature. Arriving at 18F or above ensures the temperature will still be within process equipment ratings after the pressure is reduced through the choke. The cooling effect of that pressure drop is very large. These lines will be coated with ice year-round, Buck said.

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Independence: The Companies

Deepwater veterans focus an array of expertise on innovative project

he Independence project is the result of successful collaboration among the owners, producers, operators and contractors involved and their ability to meet the challenges of this record-setting project. If multiple parties and the challenges of engineering and construction frontiers were not enough, participating companies also were involved in merger and other organizational changes during the 4-year development process. That meant adapting new operating strategies and cultures to the framework beginning to emerge for Independence. Two original producers Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and Kerr-McGee Corp. merged during the process. GulfTerra Energy Partners LP was acquired by Enterprise Products Partners LP, and BHP Billiton Petroleum (Deepwater) Inc. sold its leases in the region and left the group. Norsk Hydro ASA purchased Spinnaker Exploration Co., then later merged into Statoil ASA at about the time the Hub was scheduled to sail from Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd.s Ingleside, Texas, yard. During much of the busiest negotiation period, however, the core group of companies included five producers and one midstream service provider.

Independence Hub semisubmersible facility that is the heart of the Independence development. Enterprise owns 80% and manages the joint venture company for the partnership with Helix owning 20% of the platform. Enterprise owns 100% of the export pipeline, Independence Trail, and is the operator for the pipeline.

Midstream partner Enterprise

As the midstream entity in the Independence project, Enterprise plays a central role in connecting the deepwater gas resource to markets. It is far from new to this role, and for Independence, Enterprise leveraged its extensive experience in the many phases of two general areas critical to the projects success offshore development and natural gas gathering. Enterprise is one of the largest publicly traded energy partnerships in the United States and is a North American provider of midstream energy services to producers and consumers of natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGL) and crude oil. The company has the only integrated North American natural gas and NGL network that includes import and export services. The system links gas and NGL producers from the largest supply basins in the United States, Canada and the Gulf of Mexico with the largest domestic consumers and international markets.

Independence Hub owners

Enterprise and Helix Energy Solutions Group own the

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Enterprise filed its initial public offering in 1998. In September 2004, it acquired GulfTerra Field Services LLC to create one of the largest publicly traded energy midstream companies serving oil and gas producers and consumers. With an enterprise value of about $17 billion, the company operates from a large platform of assets across the midstream energy value chain, including: almost 19,000 miles (30,571 km) of natural gas pipelines; about 14,000 miles (22,526 km) of NGL and petrochemical pipelines; 863 miles (1,389 km) of Gulf of Mexico crude oil pipelines; 148 million bbl of NGL storage capacity; 25 Bcf of natural gas storage capacity; seven offshore hub platforms; 16 NGL and propylene fractionation plants and an isomerization complex; and 25 natural gas processing/treating plants. In November 2004, Enterprise announced the agreement with the five independent exploration and production (E&P) companies to construct the Independence Hub and Trail infrastructure. That move fit well with Enterprises growth strategy, which is centered on development activities in the Rocky Mountain region and the Gulf of Mexico. A key element of the plan is to

continue to develop and invest in joint venture projects with strategic partners who will provide the raw materials for the project or purchase the end products. Independence Hub adds to Enterprises 15 platforms and is a seventh hub-type platform that Enterprise owns. Among the other platforms Enterprise owns, a number are hub-type platforms where we welcome third-party tie-backs, said Ray Cordova, deepwater platforms manager with Enterprise. Independence raises the bar for the industry both technically and commercially. It represents the industrys most innovative and well coordinated infrastructure and development solutions to economically develop deepwater natural gas reserves, which otherwise would have remained stranded. At the time it was installed, our Marco Polo TLP [tension-leg platform] was the deepest platform at just over 4,000ft [1,220m]. Independence is now the deepest in the world at just over 8,000ft [2,440m].

Production and contracting partner Helix

Helix is an offshore oil and gas production and contracting company that invests in mature offshore oil and gas properties, hub production facilities and proven undeveloped reserve plays where it can add value by deploying vessels from its contracting fleet.

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The companys two-stranded strategy is to offer the full breadth of marine contracting services and operate as an oil and gas producer. A specialty as well as primary area of focus is marginal prospects. Before becoming part of the Independence development, Helix had demonstrated its ability and willingness to share the risks of deepwater development with other partners. In addition to its 20% ownership of the Independence Hub, Helix owns 20% of the Gunnison central facility, a spar platform in 3,150ft (961m) of water installed in 2003; and 50% of the Marco Polo TLP, installed in 4,300ft (1,312m) of water in 2004. So we are familiar with the platform ownership model, where capacity of the platform is leased to a producer or producer group, said Bart Heijermans, Helixs chief operating officer. When the Independence Hub opportunity came along, it fit well with out goal to expand our platform ownership business. A producer and a service provider, Helix operates one of the largest fleets of vessels and support equipment in the industry and has ongoing operations in the Gulf of Mexico, the Caribbean and the North Sea as well as in the Asia/Pacific regions. Its deepwater contracting division began in 2000 on the Diana development project in the Gulf with the vessel MSV Uncle John. Since then, Helix has added a number of dynamically positioned deepwater vessels to its fleet. As an operator, Helixs focus on developing marginal fields has brought its daily Gulf of Mexico production to about 200 MMcfe, and its service lines now include construction, rig-less well intervention, drilling, robotics and reservoir engineering, and well technology. The idea is that those services can be used internally to lower our own finding and development costs as well as externally, Heijermans said. In the case of Independence, there were three areas of interest to Helix, he said: ownership of the Hub platform is a good investment in itself; Helix has the construction vessels and other equipment that can be used in the future to tie back other small fields and the well intervention vessels to increase flow rates through downhole maintenance; and

as a producer, the company has an interest in exploring in

the area where the Hub is to find marginal gas fields that may only be commercial because the Independence infrastructure is in place. The large processing capacity of the Hub and the extensive network of flowlines and manifolds on the seabed make the Hub area a very attractive place to drill for prospects, Heijermans said. Producing from 9, 000ft (2,745m) of water is a challenge. The good news, he said, is that it is gas production with a very small condensate yield. From a flow assurance point of view, it is much easier to deal with dry gas than with oil, he said. As much as technology, the unique aspects of Independence are about the pace of development and execution of the project as well as the collaboration among multiple parties, Heijermans said. A lot of the work was already under way before the final definitive agreements were signed. That helped to accelerate first production by at least a year, maybe a year Don Vardeman and a half, he said. Anadarko Even though they are in up to 9,000ft of water, the Independence anchor fields are not deep below the seabed, which results in a typical reduction of drilling costs for the fields compared to other areas. Looking at the overall development of reserves in the Independence area, the cost per Mcf is pretty low, Heijermans said.

As more was learned about the prospectivity of the region, it became apparent that we were going to need a joint solution.

INDEPENDENCE HUB PRODUCERS Anchor producer Anadarko

Independence Hub is operated for the Atwater Valley Producers Group by Anadarko, which now has about 61% of the Hubs gas processing capacity. Anadarko explores for, develops and markets oil and natural gas in regions from the deepwater Gulf of Mexico through the Rockies and in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. Anadarko is among the largest independent oil and natural gas E&P companies in the world, with 3.01 billion boe of proved reserves as of Dec. 31, 2006. The companys major areas of operation are onshore in the Rocky Mountain and Southern regions of the United States, the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and Algeria. Anadarko also has production and/or exploration in Alaska, Brazil, China, Indonesia, Mozambique, Qatar and West Africa.

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The company actively markets natural gas, oil and NGLs, and owns and operates gas gathering and processing systems. Anadarko is committed to minimizing the environmental impact of exploration and production activities in its worldwide operations through programs such as carbon dioxide sequestration and the reduction of surface area used for production facilities. In 2006, the company delivered average daily net production of 489,000 boe or about 178 million boe for the full year. North America operations generated about 83% of Anadarkos production. At the end of 2006, Anadarko had more than 17 million net acres within the most prospective areas onshore in North America. It also had one of the largest acreage positions in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico with 2.7 million net acres. Anadarko has made 14 discoveries on 23 tests in the deepwater Gulf since 2005 and has identified more than 150 prospects and leads, the vast majority of which are in the Miocene and Lower Tertiary formations. At year-end 2006, about 13% of the companys proved reserves were in the Gulfs deep water, where Anadarko owned an average 63% working interest in 777 blocks with access to an additional 27 blocks through participation agreements.

Anadarko budgeted about $1 billion for capital spending in the deepwater Gulf for 2007, 30% of which relates to exploration. The company also has been deeply involved in the development of spar technology. It installed the first classic spar, Neptune, in the Gulf of Mexico in 1,930ft (589m) of water in 1997 and operates the platform. Production from the Anadarko-operated Nansen platform, the first truss spar, began in 2002 in 3,675ft (1,121m) of water. Another first in spar technology, the Red Hawk cell spar, came on stream in 2004 in 5,300ft (1,617m) of water. The companys list of successes in the Gulf includes Boomvang in 3,450ft (1,052m) of water, which began production in 2002; Constitution, which began production last year in 4,970ft (1,516m) of water; Gunnison, a development in 3,150ft (961m) that came on line in 2003; and the Marco Polo TLP in 4,300ft (1,311m), which began production in 2004. Enterprise and Helix own the TLP. In the middle of 2006, Anadarko had a sizable rig fleet under contract, and by late in the year, the company had expanded that commitment to the largest number of rig-years of any company. In what is expected to continue to be a tight deepwater rig market, rig availability proved to be a valuable asset. The company has been able to effectively leverage its rig position to gain access to additional opportunities in the deepwater Gulf.

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Prior to merging with Anadarko, Kerr-McGee had a working interest in Merganser and Vortex, and later in San Jacinto. Initially, the company began working with engineering contractors to find the best development solution. After Anadarko had a discovery in the area, Enterprise began talking to both companies. As more was learned about the prospectivity of the region, it became apparent that we were going to need a joint solution, said Don Vardeman, Anadarko vice president. If it had been able to include Kerr-McGees production, Anadarko could have justified development of the two assets on a stand-alone basis. It was apparent, however, that several operators in the region needed each other. Including more partici-

pants in the project enhanced the economics for all parties. When Kerr-McGee, Anadarko and Dominion began to work with Enterprise to determine what type of floating production system would be best for the challenging environment and diverse operating requirements, each company had its favorite technology. If it had been up to Kerr-McGee, for example, there might have been a spar for the Independence Hub facility, because the company had extensive design, construction and operating experience with spars. With the merger, however, the new company had put together experience with every type of floating system.

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We now have experience in-house with every type of structure, including design, fabrication, installation and operation. And for Independence, an evaluation of lifecycle economics pointed clearly to a deep draft semi, Vardeman said. For Anadarko, the Independence area will be a significant part of the companys production growth for the period 2007 to 2009, said Anadarkos Jim Alsup, general manager of operations for Northern Rockies. With about 60% of the process capacity of Independence Hub, Anadarko can produce about 600 MMcf/d. With several hub-and-spoke type developments, Independence Hub further increases Enterprises infrastructure in the Gulf. This infrastructure allows us to bring on new discoveries

more efficiently and cost effectively, and leverage our economics, Vardeman said. The more hubs built, the fewer platforms we have to build.

Anchor producer Devon

Devon is one of North Americas leading independent oil and gas E&P companies. Devons operations are focused primarily in the United States and Canada; however, the company also explores for and produces oil and natural gas in select international areas such as Brazil, China and Azerbaijan. Devon also is one of North Americas larger processors of NGLs and owns natural gas pipelines and treatment facilities in many of the companys producing areas.

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Devons portfolio of oil and gas properties provides stable, environmentally responsible production and a platform for future growth. Nearly 90% of Devons production is from North America. The companys production mix is about 60% natural gas and 40% oil and NGLs, such as propane, butane and ethane. Devon produces more than 2 Bcf of natural gas each day, about 3% of all the gas consumed in North America. At about $5.3 billion, Devons 2007 capital budget represents the largest exploration and development investment in its history. Last year, the company produced more than 580,000 boe/d. At year-end, proved reserves of oil, gas and NGLs totaled 2.4 billion boe. About 10% of Devons annual production comes from the Gulf of Mexico. The companys operations range from shallow continental shelf waters to projects in the deep water more than 150 miles from the Texas and Louisiana coasts. Devons deepwater exploration program focuses on high-impact projects with potential to expose the company to large reserves with significant production potential. Since 2002, Devon has announced the Cascade, Jack, St. Malo and Kaskida discoveries in the Lower Tertiary formation more than 100 miles (161 km) off the Louisiana Coast. In the Gulf of Mexicos Miocene trend, Devon is active in a number of projects, including the Merganser discovery acquired through the companys merger with Ocean Energy in 2003. Merganser, offshore Louisiana in 8,100ft (2,471m) of water, will be produced by the Independence Hub and produce about 50 MMcf of natural gas per day net to Devon. The company holds a 50% working interest in the project, which Anadarko operates. Headquartered in Oklahoma City, Devon has more than 4,700 employees worldwide. It is a Fortune 500 company, is included in the S&P 500 Index and trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol DVN.

Anchor producer Dominion

Dominion Exploration & Production Inc., the natural gas and oil E&P subsidiary of Dominion, is one of the largest independent natural gas and oil operators. It has onshore and offshore reserves in West Texas, the Appalachian and Michigan basins, the MidContinent region, the Rocky Mountains, western Canada, on the Gulf Coast and in the Gulf of Mexico. Parent Dominion has more than 6 Tcf of proved natural gas reserves, 7,900 miles (12,711 km) of natural gas pipeline and the nations largest natural gas storage system, with about 960 Bcf of capacity. The companys assets also include about 28,100 MW of power generation capacity and 6,000 miles (9,654 km) of electric transmission lines.

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Recent Gulf of Mexico discoveries will further solidify Dominion Exploration & Production as one of the largest independent operators in the deepwater area. The companys East, West, Canada and Gulf of Mexico business units produce nearly 1.2 Bcfe daily in natural gas and oil from more than 25,000 onshore and offshore wells. The focus for the future balances lower risk onshore E&P with successful deepwater programs in the Gulf of Mexico. Of the 1 Bcf/d of capacity at Independence Hub, Dominion Exploration & Production has about 20% and expects to fill up its share of the capacity with production from its three fields that will initially flow to the Hub Spiderman with three wells, San Jacinto with two wells and Q with one well. The companys total net reserve for the three fields is between 200 Bcf and 300 Bcf, said Richard Fowler, vice president of deepwater development with Dominion Exploration & Production Inc. When producing 200 MMcf/d through the Hub, it will be a significant boost in our current offshore production.

Anchor producer Hydro

Founded in 1905, Hydro was a Fortune 500 energy and aluminum supplier with 33,000 employees in almost 40 countries before the merger of its Oil and Energy Division into Statoil. On Dec. 18, the boards of directors of Hydro and Statoil announced they had agreed to recommend to their shareholders a merger of Hydros oil and gas activities into Statoil, creating the largest offshore operator with a strengthened platform for future growth. The new company will have a combined production of 1.9 million b/d this year and proven oil and gas reserves of 6.3 billion boe. Hydros equity production of oil and gas in 2005 averaged 563,000 boe. The proposed merger is subject to approval by the general meetings of the two companies as well as by regulatory authorities. The meetings were to be held during the second quarter this year and closing is expected in the third quarter. In the meantime, Hydro and Statoil will be managed as separate companies. Hydro has a history of finding innovative ways to increase oil and gas recovery and has been in the forefront in using virtual reality and multi-branch wells as well as deepwater and subsea technology. Hydro entered the Gulf of Mexico in 2001; the 2003 Lorien discovery, where Hydro has a 30% stake, was the companys first exploration success in the Gulf. Hydros acquisition of Spinnaker in December 2005 was an important step in expanding its deepwater portfolio. Spinnakers activities included exploration, development and production, predominantly in the Gulf of Mexico. In the Independence project area, Spinnaker owned 18% of Spiderman; 27% of San Jacinto; and 50% of Q.

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Company Profiles
ABS Offshore ..........................................................................................................69 Heerema Marine Contractors.......................................................................................70 Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd.......................................................................................72 Welspun ..................................................................................................................74 SBM Atlantia Inc. ....................................................................................................76 FMC Technologies Inc................................................................................................77 Helix Energy Solutions ..............................................................................................78 INTEC Engineering .................................................................................................79 Oil States Industries Inc.............................................................................................80 Pegasus International Inc............................................................................................81 Subsea 7..................................................................................................................82 Roxar......................................................................................................................83 Weatherford ..............................................................................................................84

ABS OFFSHORE

Classification Guides Innovative Gas Gathering Hub

ABS, the classification society of record for Independence Hub, has extensive experience in the Gulf of Mexico, an ability to act on behalf of the U.S. Coast Guard and experience with polyester moorings.

escribing the project as massive, Bob Major, ABS project manager, said the Independence Hub represents the third application of polyester/synthetic moorings in the Gulf of Mexico. ABS has classed the deep-draft semisubmersible hull with integrated topsides as an A1 Floating Offshore Installation. Classification is part of a life-long process to monitor that a unit is built and maintained to ABS and industry-accepted standards, Major said. Basically, there are four steps to classification: development of rules, design review, surveys during construction and surveys after construction. In the case of the Independence Hub, Major said, areas of emphasis included: ballast control redundancy, structural integrity and buoyancy after damage while also considering the units compliance and readiness in terms of fire-protection, fire-fighting and life-saving equipment. Mooring system design is one element ABS reviews in the overall classification or certification process. The Independence Hub features a 12-line taut polyester/chain mooring system connecting to 12 suction pilings. Our challenge is to help operators find the safest, most effective and, in this case, lightest mooring system to match the range of environmental loads the installation will face, he said. Synthetic mooring lines are lighter weight than steel moorings in sea water, offering the deepwater market neutral buoyancy and a much lighter load on the overall platform system. As a result, operators can dedicate more space to payload, such as production equipment, and less to supporting the weight of heavy steel strand. Environmental loads resulting from wind, waves and current are the key considerations in choosing a mooring system. These factors pose increasing risks and technical challenges as activity moves farther offshore and into more hostile environments. In the case of the Independence Hub, the unit has an 8,000-ft (2,440-m) water depth at the platform, making it the deepest offshore platform as well as the deepest project using polyester moorings. For ABS, reviewing this mooring configuration and its material was not new, having gained the regulatory approval from the U.S. Minerals Management Service and U.S. Coast Guard for the first approval for the permanent use of polyester moorings in the Gulf of Mexico for BPs Mad Dog truss spar. However, because of the ultra-deepwater depth and in light of recent hurricanes, the mooring system received a significant amount of scrutiny. ABS worked closely with the owner and designers on acceptance of this in such deep waters.

A 3-ft (0.9-m) section of the synthetic mooring line used in the Independence Hub project. ABS project team members left to right (seated) Bob Major, Project Manager; Carol Newell, Principal Engineer, Piping & Firefighting Systems; Soheni Haque, Senior Engineer, Electrical Engineering; Gwo Ang Chang, Principal Engineer, Global Analysis; Yatendra Rajapaksa, Senior Managing Principal Engineer, Foundation Design Review; and Liangzi Cong, Senior Engineer, Global Performance & Mooring System Review.

Prior to bringing acceptance of this technology into the Gulf of Mexico, ABS worked with offshore pioneer Petrobras in the use of synthetic rope for its taut-leg mooring system installed on the P-27 semisubmersible offshore Brazil in the Campos Basin in 1998. One year later, ABS issued the industrys first Guidance Notes on Synthetic Moorings, which address abrasion, wear and other fundamental industry concerns, including non-linear stiffness or behavior, minimum tension requirements, creep phenomenon and effective handling and storage of rope. The challenge for Major and his team was maintaining the schedule so plan reviews of the hull, topside, piping, electrical and other concerns were completed on time. We logged thousands of hours in reviewing plans to see that they met regulatory and class requirements, he said. It was a tremendous undertaking, and the commitment by the operator to have state-of-the-art proven technology work in the deepest water to date was as equally impressive.
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16855 Northchase Drive Houston, TX 77060 Tel: (281) 877-6000 Fax: (281) 877-6851 www.eagle.org Download technical documents from ABS Rules & Guides Page
SEPTEMBER 2007

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HEEREMA MARINE CONTRACTORS

HMC Sets Series of Industry Records

The landmark Independence Hub Project, with its four operators and 10 gas fields, is not only a commercially creative enterprise, but also a project characterized by significant technical feats.

ndependence Hub was the first of its kind in the Gulf of Mexico and achieved record-setting water depths and many other firsts for the industry. Heerema Marine Contractors (HMC) was responsible for the installation of the hubs semisubmersible hull, its mooring system and steel catenary risers (SCRs) as well as contributing to the technical achievements of the project with a series of industry records in water depth and installation load. During the course of the project, HMC set records for the longest mooring lines connected to the deepest suction pile installations, the deepest flowline installation, the deepest SCR installation, the heaviest SCR load on a deepwater floating facility and the deepest in-line future tie-in subsea structure. The Independence Hub facility consists of a semi-submersible hull with integrated topsides and an innovative 12line taut polyester mooring system, supporting the SCRs. HMC used its deepwater construction vessel Balder in the different phases of the project. The Balder is one of the largest crane vessels in the world and measures 449ft (137m) in length, 282ft (86m) in width and 138ft (42m) in depth. Its two cranes have a joint lift capacity of 6,300 t. The Balder also has one of the worlds largest capacity J-lay towers for deepwater pipelaying. Cor Verdult, who managed the project for HMC, said the Balder was involved for a total of 15 weeks in the installation of the Independence Hub project. The companys part of the project was executed in three phases, starting last year with the installation of the suction piles and ending in July with the installation of the hub, the polyester mooring ropes and eight SCRs.

HMCs deepwater construction vessel Balder next to the Independence hub platform.

neering, planning and investment was required to ensure activities were executed safely and securely. The Balder also performed a challenging installation of two flowlines from subsea manifolds to subsea satellite wells. What makes this installation significant and unique is that the flowlines were shorter than the water was deep. The first flowline 3,270ft (997m) long was installed in the Spiderman field at a water depth of 8,080ft (2,464m). The second one 6,440ft (1,964m) long was in the Jubilee field, where the water depth was 8,730ft (2,662m).

Phase IISemisubmersible hull, moorings installation

In January, HMC installed the Hub and the SCRs using the Balder in the five-thruster mode. (Because of a flooding incident in December, two of the Balders seven thrusters were out of service.) The five-thruster mode was sufficient to install the mooring wires and the SCRs. For the heaviest 20-in. gasexport SCR, the Balder was required to use at least six thrusters. Project Engineer John Bouwman explained that to meet this challenge, HMC developed an alternative pull-in procedure that uses a long pull-in wire. This new method reduced the thrust requirement for the Balder and was a strong factor in getting the clients approval for the performance of the hang-off of the gas-export SCR with only five thrusters in operation. In February, the Balder installed the semisubmersible hull, which is connected to the suction piles with 12 polyester

Phase ISuction piles installation

This first phase involved the transportation and installation of 12 mooring assemblies, each consisting of a suction pile, anchor chain, connecting shackles and a subsea connector. The components were assembled onboard the Balder and then lifted, upended, over-boarded and installed. The suction piles, installed at a water depth of 8,011ft (2,442m), are the worlds deepest. They were installed with the help of remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and transponders on the suction piles. All piles were installed within the required tolerances for positioning, orientation and inclination. It was the first time suction piles, subsea structures and pipelines were installed at such depths and significant engi70

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one of the thrusters of the Balder was temporarily out of service, procedures had to be modified. Extra tugs were used to keep the Balder stationary. Bouwman said he is very proud of the outcome. We did it. The last SCR was installed on July 17, he said.

Cooperation
Being the worlds deepest development to date, the Independence Hub Project was unique. With so many technical and logistic challenges, flexibility proved crucial, Bouwman said. Adverse weather conditions, delays, and changes in scope and execution meant HMC needed to adapt to new circumstances all the time, often at short notice. The offshore execution of this project during the past 14 months has been a tremendous achievement for HMC, Verdult said. The various departments involved in the project set a number of new world records in the offshore industry. All personnel demonstrated flexibility and the ability to adapt to various schedule changes. Flexibility on the part of the client, other parties and HMC characterized the project. This made it possible to achieve a high level of cooperation, which, in turn, was a key factor in the projects success.
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The Balders J-lay tower in action.

mooring lines. The mooring lines are the worlds longest at 2.4 miles (3.86 km) each. The vessel attached the mooring lines to the platform and the suction piles through a deployment and hook-up sequence. The three segments of the polyester mooring lines were deployed using the Balders mooring line deployment winch. With the chain connected to the polyester segments, the Balder moved to the semi-submersible hull for the mooring line hook-up. The installation was performed in record time (19 days) thanks to favorable weather conditions and teamwork.

Phase IIISCRs installation

HMC was contracted to install five 8-in. SCRs and a 20-in. export SCR to the Hub facility. In April, the Balder completed the installation of the export SCR, the worlds deepest and heaviest riser installation producing the heaviest SCR loads (800 t) at installation. The SCRs connect a network of flowlines to the hub facility. Bouwman said the installation of the 20-in. export SCR required the use of equipment to its limit, and procedures had to be devised to perform the installation efficiently and safely. The Balder (with all thrusters operational again) returned to the Independence Hub location at the end of June to finish the installation of the four remaining SCRs, Verdult said. The fifth SCR (JVC-West) had to be repaired before it could be hung into the porch of the Hub. The Balders J-lay tower was required to perform this repair, which involved cutting and removing the existing flex joint, repositioning and welding a new flex joint to the end of the SCR. The repair occurred more quickly than anticipated; however, strong currents hampered the installation of the last three SCRs. This made the job challenging for the Balders ROVs, so additional ROVs and tugs were used. Strong and unpredictable currents in the area made precision maneuvering a major challenge, Bouwman said. Since

The pipeline and riser are welded together prior to installation.

Heerema Marine Contractors

PO Box 9321 2300 PH Leiden The Netherlands Tel: 31 (0) 71 579-9000 Fax: 31 (0) 71 579-9099 info@hmc-heerema.com www.heerema.com

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KIEWIT OFFSHORE SERVICES LTD.

Powerlifting on the Gulf Coast

Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd.s up-to-date facility combined with planning, daily management of costs and schedules, and well-coordinated working relationships helped complete the Independence Hub project.

ue to the ability to accommodate ultra-deep water construction projects, in May of 2004 Kiewits new facility was chosen to construct the largest and deepest project Independence Hub. KOS original scope of work entailed fabrication of the topsides, lifting and setting the facility atop the floating hull and integrating all equipment and hull systems. Aside from setting industry records with the installation of Independence Hub, the job also scored a KOS facility-best as its heavy-lifting device (HLD) raised and set the 8,400-ton topsides onto the units hull. This feat saved time and reduced cost for the overall project. Based on reserve estimates at the time, the hub was designed to process 850 MMcf/d. During the course of construction, three new discoveries by the producers who were to lease the production platform expanded this original estimate. The capacity was raised to 1 Bcf/d, and the necessary modifications expanded KOS original scope of work. Prior to the new discoveries, KOS had set high expectations early and moved the project ahead of its original schedule. This gave Kiewit the advantage to play a larger role in the expansion of the platforms processing capabilities. The company completed all the necessary additional work to finish the required expansion and maintain the project schedule. KOS also assumed responsibility for performing additional work to complete the construction of the semisubmersibles hull, which had been delivered from a Singaporean shipyard. From November 2004 through December 2006, KOS nearly doubled its original man-hours due to scope growth. Almost a million man-hours were worked on the project with no accidents, and the project was completed on time. Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd. (KOS) has become known for its success in building large, complex offshore oil production platforms at its 400-acre fabrication facility in Ingleside, Texas. KOS is a subsidiary of the large Omaha, Neb.-based Peter Kiewit Sons Inc. (Kiewit). The company is known for building some of the nations largest projects since 1884. Since 1985, Kiewit has been building state-ofthe-art fixed and floating structures in South Texas for most of the worlds major oil companies. In October 1988, Kiewit completed fabrication of the 1,350-ft (412-m) long Bullwinkle jacket. The 36-pile, 60slot jacket the worlds tallest production platform stands 1,736ft (529m) from the sea bottom to the top of

Independence Hub topsides being lifted by the KOS heavy-lift device.

the flare boom. The platform was constructed in Ingleside and shipped to its location in the Gulf of Mexico. Experiences like this provided Kiewit with the foresight to bring on other world record projects. As the search for new resources moved into deeper waters, Kiewit saw advantages in increasing its offshore fabrication capabilities. After 15 years of experience in this market, Kiewit approved the formation of Kiewit Offshore Services. The goal of this development was to construct a

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new world-class fabrication facility in Ingleside to address the growing deepwater market in the Gulf of Mexico. Since opening the gates of this new facility in 2002, KOS has participated or is participating in the success of projects such as Samadan Mari-B topsides and jackets, Matterhorn, Marco Polo topsides, Tarantula topsides and jacket, Elon topsides, Thunder Hawk topsides, Perdido topsides, Devon Polvo topsides and jacket, Shenzi topsides, Benguela-Belize Compliant Tower, Thunder Horse, Atlantis, Nakika and Magnolia Integrations, and Peregrino topsides and jackets. The new KOS facility provides unrestricted access to the Gulf of Mexico along the La Quinta shipping channel in Corpus Christi Bay. With 2,100ft (641m) of continuous pile-founded bulkhead with varying water depths 25ft to 55ft (8m to 17m), it also features a 77-ft (23-m) hole to allow heavy lift transport vessels to load and offload hulls, jack-up rigs and semisubmersibles and is backed by a 400acre fabrication yard. The predominant feature on the skyline of the yard is a twin-boomed HLD with a working capacity of 13,000 tons. This makes the facility ideal for topsides installations on major floating offshore projects and has uniquely positioned the company with heavy lifting capacity at the bulkhead the solution of choice for topsides fabrication, installation and integration projects. The Ingleside facility also promotes safety and efficiency with an underground utility system that features a separate breathable air system and high-pressure pipelines for gas, mixed-gas and fiber optics. The structural assembly building contains more than 170,000 sq ft (15,793 sq m) of covered workspace with four bays, two of which are the largest of their kind in the Gulf of Mexico with a clear span of 135ft (41m). In addition, the facility contains an on-site skills training center, a medical facility, automated fabrication equipment such as CNC plate-cutting, CNC beam-cutting and coping, CNC tubular coping, and large-capacity plate-bending and rolling machines. Kiewits safety record is consistently better than the industry average, and KOS is committed to sound construction practices and the highest possible standards of safety performance. The company develops an organized and effective safety program for every project to provide the safest work environment possible. KOS defines quality as delivering a project that meets or exceeds a clients expectations. In todays environment, contractors are assuming more responsibility for building a quality product. KOS has launched a quality initiative by mirroring the systems, measurements and processes, which have been proven so effective in the safety program. The KOS quality program is AISC certified and complies with ISO 9001:2000 standards.

Kiewit Offshore Services fabrication facility

Independence Hub topsides fabrication in process

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Kiewit Offshore Services Ltd.

2440 Kiewit Road Ingleside, TX 78362 Tel: (361) 775-4300 Fax: (361) 775-4433 www.kiewit.com
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WELSPUN

Innovation and Performance

The worlds deepest large-diameter pipeline takes center stage.

riven by engineering excellence, Welspun Gujarat Stahl Rohren Ltd. (Welspun) is an evolving and learning company, which has proved to be a comprehensive provider of state-of-the-art pipes and related niche products for global transportation of oil and gas. True to its motto of dare to commit, accepting challenges has been a way of life since its inception. From high-rise mountains and deepest darkest oceans, from tropical forests to blazing deserts, from India to every corner of the world, Welspuns products have proven their mettle across harsh terrains, fulfilling expectations. One such challenging project is Independence Trail, considered to be the worlds deepest largediameter pipeline. This Gulf of Mexico project involved a 134mile (216-km), 24-in. diameter gas pipeline connecting 105-ft (32-m) deep draft, semisubmersible platform in 8,000ft (2,440m) of water in the Mississippi Canyon Block 920 to Tennessee Gas Pipeline in the West Delta area.

The Hub platform

Independence Hub was conceived to handle 850 MMcf/d of natural gas. The pipelines rated maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) of 3,640psi and desired to sustain external pressure of 3,516psi necessitated critical D/T ratio. Also at the deepest end, a steel catenary riser (SCR) connects the pipeline to the floating production facility. This is probably the first time submerged arc welded pipes ( 20-in. x 1.31-in. wt) were used for SCR for such depth and pressure.

X70 pipe as a capability and capacity assessment exercise. While our mill had the theoretical capacity and capability to roll these sizes, given Welspuns philosophy, we would not have made a commitment without actually having made the pipes. As a result, Welspun could offer even better dimensional tolerances than the specification itself with utmost confidence, which must have played a very crucial part in deciding the order in our favor, said Welspun Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director Braja Mishra.

Track record
Welspuns performance of meeting stringent specifications and delivery schedules in other offshore projects like Cameron Highway and Salman added to Welspuns ability to complete this challenging project.

Challenging diameter/thickness ratio

The making of the line pipe potentially offered challenges primarily on account of D/T ratio. While Welspun had established the strength of its mill by producing 56-in. x 1.4-in. wall, making pipes with the same wall thickness (1.35-in.) in 24-in. diameter had its own challenges.

Special technical parameters

The specific requirements related to chemistry, mechanical properties, dimensional tolerances and non-destructive testing were unique and previously untested. The criteria for key dimensions like out of roundness, or OOR (0.12-in. maximum), local OOR (0.04-in. maximum) and out of straightness (0.37-in. maximum) of pipes were some of the most stringent requirements. The Hydro-test requirement was between 96% and 100% of SMYS (a pressure of 7,250psi maximum) for 24-in. outer diameter pipe with thickness

Small decision, big project

When this business was at a budgetary stage and Welspun was asked to provide budgetary estimate, it not only provided Enterprise with a budgetary number, but also took up rolling of the 24-in. x 1.4-in. American Petroleum Institute 5L
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range of 0.93-in. to 1.35-in. The project specified the steel be low carbon, low sulfur and micro alloyed as well as calcium-treated for inclusion shape control. Another crucial requirement was that no lamination and/or inclusions be allowed within 8 in. of pipe ends as they may interface with automatic UT scanning of the girth weld seam. Other testing requirements included CTODs, compression test and strain-ageing test (5% tensile strain).

SCR pipes: first time pipe welded

Using an SCR system has gained prominence in flowline and export services. Increased production rates have resulted in SCRs of up to 20 in., which was earlier up to 6 in. to 12 in. for in field flowline and up to 18 in. for export service for SCRs. The focus is on stringent criteria such as controlled strength levels, enhanced strain capacity, improved fit up and fabrication performance. To withstand the demands of high installation loads, extreme operating conditions such as loop currents and hurricane force winds and waves, seamless & LSAW pipes are being manufactured using latest in steel making with chemistry meeting the sour service application requirements, plate rolling practice (TMCP). Line pipe production technology for meeting tight mechanical properties (YS, TS, YS/UTS, Charpy impact, CTOD requirements) and dimensional tolerance (out of roundness, end diameter, straightness and more).

Welspun boasts of an elite vendor listing with customers, including Exxon, Chevron, Total, Enterprise, BG, Kinder Morgan, TransCanada and Saudi Aramco. It also has projects like Independence Trail, Cameron Highway, Salman and Golden Pass in its portfolio for its 7 years of operation.

The last word

Aside from a fast growth in its business (10 times in 6 years), Welspun believes in best corporate governance and corporate social responsibility. The company has taken several initiatives in the fields of education, health and vocational training to empower individuals and contributing to society. Several measures have been undertaken for the preservation of environment by harvesting water, setting up waste disposal and treatment plants in all manufacturing facilities and ensuring health and safety. As more milestones are crossed, Welspun commits to further spread its reach and live the dream of being the best. Welspun cherishes the trust of customers, which gives the company courage to face the future. More importantly, it gives the confidence to strive to sustain the growth momentum in the coming years.
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Performance better than promise

The histograms show the different characteristics achieved on SCR pipe at Welspuns facility. The companys performance in terms of quality, timely delivery has been such that it has been a proud supplier of large diameter pipes to Enterprise having supplied pipes worth more than US$350 million the companys latest being on onshore pipeline, which involved 89 miles (143 km) of spiral-welded pipes.

Testimony of job well done

Subsequent to the completion of the Independence Trial Project, Welspun had been responsible for supplying the entire quantity of large-diameter pipe for their next offshore project involving supply of 83 miles (134 km) of pipe. Welspun is being considered for most of the deep offshore projects as a front-runner in most parts of the world except for North Sea where Welspun is not yet active. It is already working to enlist itself with potential customers like Statoil and ConocoPhilips.

Welspun
Trade World, B wing, 9th Floor Kamala Mills Compound Senapati Bapat Marg Tel: +91-22-66136000 Lower Parel (West) Fax: +91-22-24908020 Mumbai 400013 www.welspun.com

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SBM ATLANTIA INC.

The Worlds First DeepDraft Semi

With five successfully installed SeaStar tension-leg platform units delivered since 1998, all on time and on budget, the company has established itself as a premier provider of deepwater production solutions to the Gulf of Mexico market.

n 2002, in response to a significant trend of discoveries in the Gulf of Mexico at depths nearly double that of the deepest installed tension-leg platform, the company (then Atlantia Offshore Ltd.) reached the strategic decision to expand its product portfolio with new design capable of economically developing these new ultra-deepwater reserves. The result was the DeepDraft Semi, a four-column semi-submersible production facility whose first application serves as the centerpiece for the one of the industrys most significant projects Independence Hub.

The DeepDraft Semi

During the past decade, semisubmersible production facilities have become increasingly popular for deepwater developments, particularly on large Gulf of Mexico fields. However, whereas the design of these previous facilities was driven primarily by the need to accomodate specific payloads, development of this semi-submersible concentrated on the critical link between the reservoir and the floater the steel catenary riser (SCR). Prior to the DeepDraft, it was found that the natural heave and pitch motions of traditional deepwater semisubmersibles could cause high compressive loading at the touchdown point of the SCR. This in turn led to fatigue issues exacerbated further in extreme conditions such as the 100-year storm design criteria and high currents. SBM Atlantia, in collaboration with sister company GustoMSC Inc., one of the industrys leading designers of semisubmersible drilling units, solved this problem by lengthening the deck support columns and increasing the draft beyond the typical 90ft (27m) used on traditional semisubmersibles, to a total of 105ft (32m). By extending this draft and the pontoon below the wave zone, not only is waveinduced motion reduced, but also additional ballast capacity is available to increase the mass of the hull and thereby increase the structures natural period beyond wave periods. The design also lowers the structures center of gravity, further mitigating pitch and roll motion. In addition to effectively supporting SCRs, the DeepDraft Semi design is also optimized for quayside integration of the topsides facility. This capability eliminates the many weather and economic risks of a costly offshore deck lift and further allows for significant hookup and commissioning activities to be performed with efficient and cost-effective onshore resources prior to tow-out to the installation site.
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The DeepDraft Semi hull under construction in Singapore

The Independence Hub DeepDraft Semi

SBM Atlantia Inc.

1255 Enclave Pkwy. Houston, TX 77077 Tel: (281) 899-DEEP (3337) Fax: (281) 899-4301 www.sbmatlantia.com

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FMC TECHNOLOGIES

Setting New Records with Independence Hub Project

FMC Technologies is no stranger to industry firsts or world records. As the supplier of subsea production equipment for the Independence Hub, the company has joined forces with some of America's leading independent oil and gas companies to set new records for the world's largest and deepest offshore hub project.

hen it reaches peak capacity, the $2 billion Independence Hub project is expected to produce natural gas at a rate of 1 Bcf/d, or about 2% of Americas production. It is gas that might never have been produced had Anadarko, ENI, Hydro, Enterprise and Helix not joined forces to connect 10 discoveries that would have been uneconomic to develop individually. As a result of their cooperative efforts, 2 Tcf of reserves will eventually be produced through this deepwater hub.

Setting deepwater records

The Independence platform is the deepest set. The platform, however, is just the start. The challenge of producing hydrocarbons at these depths required subsea production equipment capable of withstanding intense pressures, cold temperatures and harsh conditions of the deep-sea environment. FMC Technologies has extensive experience in providing subsea solutions and overcoming deepwater challenges in the Gulf of Mexico, so it was selected to participate in this project. In March 2005, Anadarko awarded the initial contract for the Independence Hub, calling for 10 trees and associated equipment. Since then, the scope of supply has expanded to include 17 enhanced horizontal Christmas trees (EHXT) for all partners. In addition to the trees rated for operating pressures of 10,000psi, FMC is also supplying manifolds, valves and connector hubs for inline sleds, pipeline end terminations and jumpers. Fifteen trees have been installed in a succession of world record depths ranging from 7,900ft (2,408m) to 9,000ft (2,743m).

through the EHXT without having to disturb the tree or its external connections to flowlines, service lines or control umbilicals. EHXTs enhancements are primarily based on the design of its tubing hanger and tree cap. Experience has shown that the traditional internal tree cap (ITC) requires additional steps and rig time to install reliably due to debris that can collect in the ITCs landing profile. The EHXT design eliminates the internal tree cap and instead uses a lightweight tree cap installed by a remote operated vehicle off the drilling rigs critical path, after the blowout preventer has been disconnected, allowing for a more cost-effective and reliable horizontal completion.

Modular design
Thanks to its modular, standardized design, the EHXT is extremely flexible. Installed in more than 150 well completions, the EHXT can be customized in numerous configurations and can be readily produced for a variety of project-specific applications. In addition to flexibility, standardization also helps speed delivery, an important factor for the Independence project. Six years has elapsed since the first discovery in 2001 and 4 years since the initial Independence agreement to first production. FMC was awarded the contract for subsea systems in March 2005, and by year-end, the first deliveries were complete. Best of all, the entire project was completed safely without a single lost-time incident.
Paid Sponsorship

EHXT becomes the standard

The EHXT was selected independently by all operators and ended being the standard for the Independence Hub. Available in 10,000- and 15,000-psi models, it is the worlds most technically advanced completion system and is designed to meet the demanding requirements for high-pressure, high-temperature and critical service in deepwater environments. The EHXT design offers producers significant advantages in delivery time, installation cost and capital expenditure. Installation of the EHXT is simpler as it can run with a tree-on-wire system eliminating the critical path dependence on the drilling rig. Also, completion and well workovers can be handled through the standard marine drilling riser, eliminating the need for a special completion riser. Downhole equipment is installed and retrieved

FMC Technologies
1777 Gears Road Houston, TX 77067 Tel: (281) 591-4000 Fax: (281) 591-4002 www.fmctechnologies.com
SEPTEMBER 2007

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HELIX ENERGY SOLUTIONS

Enhancing Field Economics

Helix Energy Solutions Group combines the interests of producers and contractor by investing in mature offshore oil and gas properties, hub production facilities and proven undeveloped reserve plays, in partnership with other industryleading companies.

elix Energy Solutions (Helix) is proud to partner with Enterprise Field Services LLC (Enterprise), the owner and developer of the Independence Hub project. Independence Hub provides an innovative solution for the joint development of 10 gas fields in a new promising ultradeepwater gas basin in the Gulf of Mexico. The owners of these fields joined forces with Enterprise and Helix to connect their individual fields to a central facility and reduced the finding and development cost and lease operating cost of these gas fields. The strategy of our comThe Helix Express pipeline construction vessel played an important role in bringing the pany is to enhance the ecoIndependence Hub project online. nomics of marginal fields in deepwater, said Bart Heijermans, Helix Energy Solutions chief operating officer. companys Phoenix project in the Gulf of Mexico. On We endeavor to use our capital and assets to grow services Phoenix, a redevelopment of the Typhoon field, ERT is that help to lower the finding and development costs for employing the companys construction services division to deepwater fields. We want to find new and better ways of redevelop the field. The conversion of a former train ferry vesmaking marginal fields commercial. Simply stated, we sel into the Helix Producer I dynamically positioned minimal want to be the leading company in enhancing marginal floating production vessel will enable the company to obtain field economics. a redeployable floating production facility for a lower cost Helix often manages all aspects of marginal field developand shorter delivery time than if it had been purpose-built. ment and has structured its business model to facilitate this There is still a lot of undeveloped marginal oil and gas strategy. The model employs a two-pronged approach in fields in the world that require the application of innovative which Energy Resource Technology Inc. (ERT) is interrelated methodologies and low cost assets in order to attract develwith and supported by an energy services division, Helix opment capital, Heijermans said. Helix has the methodoloContracting Services, which is comprised of Deepwater gies and the tools to make a difference. Contracting, Canyon Offshore, Cal Dive International, Well Paid Sponsorship Ops, Production Facilities and Helix RDS. Working together, these divisions can successfully transform marginal fields into economically viable assets. ERT does prospect generaHelix Energy Solutions tion, acquisition, exploration, development and production. 400 N. Sam Houston Pkwy E. Helix Contracting Services entities offer deepwater construcSuite 400 tion, pipelaying, robotics, diving services, rig-less subsea well Houston, TX 77060 intervention, production facilities infrastructure leasing servTel: (281) 618-0400 ices, and reservoir and well technical engineering expertise. Fax: (281) 618-0500 www.helixesg.com Examples of Helixs two-prong strategy can be seen on the

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INTEC ENGINEERING

Experienced Team Meets Multiple Challenges

With extensive experience in projects highlighted by many industry firsts regarding distances and depths, the Atwater Valley Producers Group selected the company for the Independent Hub developments.

NTEC Engineering has been providing specialized frontier and deepwater engineering services for more than 20 years. INTEC proposed a team of experienced engineers that had successfully provided engineering for the Canyon Express project that had similar challenges of deepwater gas development of multiple fields with multiple operators, said Vince Vetter, business manager, offshore field developments for INTEC and the companys project manager for Independence Hub. We started in February 2004 and continue to support the Independence Hub team. Using eight senior engineers as well as support staff, INTEC provided the core subsea engineering team for the deepwater developments in the critical project phases of conceptual engineering and front-end engineering design (FEED). The company also assisted in the execution and construction phase, particularly in the areas of flow assurance and operability. During the concept-engineering phase, INTEC generated and evaluated several field layout options and proposed the best technical and cost-effective system solutions for further study in the subsequent FEED study phase. A major purpose of the study was to highlight any technical issues relating to the extreme water depth of the development and to prequalify equipment vendors and installation contractors and methods, Vetter said. A further purpose of the study was to highlight any potential cost or operational synergies that could be obtained from a multi-operator, multi-field development. The concept selected was a hub-and-spoke principle with a centrally located host facility as the hub. The subsea system included major components such as wellheads, trees, manifolds, jumpers, flowlines, risers, umbilicals and subsea production controls. Using a systems approach, interfaces were managed to produce a coordinated design suitable for the seabed topology, available installation options and connection to the Independence Hub. In the FEED phase, the concept was developed in greater detail and validated to be a practical system. Specifications were generated and scopes of work were developed. Bid packages were prepared for vendors and contractors, Vetter said, and documents were prepared for regulatory filings. In the execution phase, INTEC continued to provide engineering assistance in the various subsea disciplines. Flow assurance and operability were continued, and operating procedures were outlined in detail.

Designing the system components and planning the details of operations for the fields presented several challenges, Vetter said. These included flow assurance issues of management of the liquid surges, management and prevention of hydrates and management of low temperatures, both subsea and topsides. Independence Hub highlights the value of using a systems engineering approach for a complicated development, Vetter said. The subsea concept accomplished the challenging task of finding the right technical and economical solution. A major focus was the challenge to design the subsea architectures to assure flow and operability of all fields for the life of the project, even though the non-unitized fields have different owners/operators with varied decision drivers. Designs, equipment and processes were chosen, or developed when necessary, that were fit for purpose and that leveraged the experiences of the stakeholders, Vetter said. Interfaces were proactively managed by staffing the project with senior experienced engineers that met frequently in a climate that encouraged clear communication. The success of Independence Hub is not a surprise to those involved with it; it was a planned event.
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INTEC Engineering
15600 JFK Blvd., 9th Floor Houston, TX 77032 Tel: (281) 987-0800 Fax: (281) 987-3838 www.intec.com
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OIL STATES INDUSTRIES INC.

Independence Trail Receives Assemblies

Oil States attributes the majority of the projects success to teamwork and cross-company collaboration.

he Independence Trail gas export pipeline begins in about 8,000ft (2,440m) of water at the new Independence Hub floating facility in the Mississippi Canyon Block 920 and extends to a new platform in West Delta Block 68. For the Trail, Oil States Industries Inc. provided two 12-in. x 16-in. x 24-in. 1500 ANSI dual-hub tee sled assemblies. One of the assemblies was installed in the 24-in. 1.35-in. wt section of the pipeline in about 6,500 fsw. The other assembly was installed in the 24-in. 1.22-in. wt section of the pipeline in about 4,500 fsw. Each dual-hub tee assembly was fabricated with a 24-in. mainline, one 12-in. x 24-in. x 24-in. tee fitting, one 16-in. x 24-in. x 24-in. tee fitting, one 12-in. 2500 ANSI Cameron ball valve, one 16-in. 2500 ANSI Cameron ball valve, one 12-in. male hub and one 16-in. male hub. Oil States project manager Steve Ippolito noted that this critical project was completed on time and within budget largely because of the extraordinary teamwork by all comGas export FlexJoint panies involved along with impleprior to final hang-off mentation of lessons learned from to the Independence previous projects with the client and Hub platform installation contractor. Additional equipment supplied as part of the connector systems included two 12-in. 1500 ANSI vertical non-integral collect connectors, two 16-in. 1500 ANSI vertical non-integral collect connectors, two 12-in. 1500 ANSI remotely operated vehicle (ROV) operable male end closures and two 16-in. 1500 ANSI ROV operable male end closures. Both dual-hub tee assemblies also incorporated a dualbuoyancy yoke system that Allseas designed as well as a new innovative mudmat assembly designed by Oil States subsea engineering team that included a pin type installation system, which allowed for each mudmat assembly to be installed as a single unit instead of having to be assembled beyond the tensioners as the pipeline hung in the installation vessels stinger. The design team said this new design approach substantially reduced the pipeline moment offshore thereby reducing overall system stresses during installation. The mudmat installation time was reduced by about 3 hours on each unit and could be completed in less than 5 minutes with the proper setup. The clients installation representative commented that the

new mudmat design incorporated a number of improvements learned from past installations. The improvements significantly decreased offshore running time, improved reliability and most importantly reduced personnel exposure time, enhancing safety. In addition to the above equipment, Oil States designed and manufactured FlexJoint steel catenary riser (SCR) connections for the Independence hubs eight production risers and one Deployment of a 24-in. dual-hub, inline tee sled assembly manufacgas export riser as well as hull receptacle assemblies tured by Oil States Industries Inc. for these risers and for future SCR installations. A unique challenge for installation of Independence Hubs multiple risers was met by Oil States design and manufacture of four cross-haul tools, which helped solve problems faced by retrieval and hang-off of multiple risers pre-laid subsea.

Steel catenary FlexJoint with lay-down tool in shipping frame

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Oil States Industries Inc.

7701 S. Cooper St. Arlington, TX 76001 Tel: (817) 548-4200 Fax: (817) 548-4250 www.oilstates.com

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PEGASUS INTERNATIONAL INC.

Management Makes History

Pegasus International Inc., one of the largest independent subsea and pipeline-engineering consultants, holds an impressive project track record that includes involvement with major deepwater developments around the world.

anagement within Pegasus realizes the value of solving new technological challenges on a regular basis in the emerging subsea/deepwater arena. The companys capability to cover all aspects of the mechanical design and flow assurance from front-end engineering and design through detailed design to commissioning defined its role in the Independence project, one of the largest offshore projects. When a consortium of five independent producers and one energy company came together to develop multiple ultradeepwater natural discoveries in the eastern and central planning areas of the Gulf of Mexico, Pegasus was asked to supply engineers to play a role in the Independence project team. Based on the companys previous experience with more than 200 deepwater projects since the early 1990s, this role eventually expanded into the broader spectrum of project management in the topsides and subsea portions of the project. Throughout the planning, Pegasus provided support to each companys efforts by managing necessary tasks such as writing specifications for each phase of the work and then reading and reviewing submitted construction procedures to assure all work was carried out in compliance with regulatory and industry standards. In addition, Pegasus performed construction management and inspection tasks, which were vital to this project located 124 miles (200 km) from land. Pegasus also provided significant engineering and drafting support for many of the projects work scopes. Aside from the distance of the hub from land, the Independence Subsea project offered its own unique challenges. At depths of up to 9,200ft (2,804m), no previous production facility had surpassed the scope of the current project. While Pegasus initially was asked to play a small role in supporting the installation of pipelines and umbilicals, this too was eventually expanded into a broader scope. The companys scope for the subsea portion included construction management for the installation of about 195 miles (314 km) of flowlines in 11 segments with seven steel catenary risers included and 8-in. line sleds as well as 12 pipeline end termination sled assemblies. In addition, Pegasus also managed the installation of more than 140 miles (225 km) of production control umbilicals in 17 segments with five dynamic riser sections and 29 associated subsea structures. The umbilicals were the first to use carbon fiber rods for tensile reinforcement of umbilicals. Because of the immense scale of the Independence project, some innovations were inevitable. Pegasus worked with TD Williamson and Allseas to develop a flowline recovery tool

Straked steel catenary riser installation using S-Lay method from Allseas dynamically positioned pipelay vessel Solitaire

capable of dewatering the flowline on the seabed as a contingency plan against the high pressures of the projects deepwater environment. High currents also proved difficult at this distance into the Gulf, so a V-Lay method was developed with Heerema Marine Contractors to ensure the safety and efficiency of the pipelay process. Pegasus also worked with Shell Global Services to develop S-Lay vortex-induced vibration suppression fairings capable of withstanding high roller loads. These required remotely operated vehicle removable locking assemblies to maintain fin orientation over the stinger. A high-level management team of independent companies carried out the Independence project. Pegasus provided the necessary conglomeration to organize each companys efforts and maintain focus on the overall goal. The benefit of the Independence project was its ability to open the playing field for deepwater operations, said D.J. Blockhus, a pipeline engineer with Pegasus. It proved that small- and medium-sized independent production companies could accommodate large projects with the proper amount of management and coordination.
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Pegasus International Inc.

777 N. Eldridge Pkwy., Suite 300 Houston, TX 77079-4524 Tel: (713) 465-5777 www.pegasus-international.com

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SUBSEA 7

Pushing Back Deepwater Boundaries

With a workforce of more than 5,000 people worldwide, a fleet of industry-leading dynamically positioned ships capable of reeled steel and flexible pipe lay, subset construction and saturation diving as well as a portfolio of pipeline construction yards worldwide, Subsea 7 is well suited to take part in the record-setting installation of Independence Hub.

n addition to modern equipment and expert engineering and project management teams, the company also brought an impressive track record of performing work in extreme ocean depths. Prior to the companys involvement with Independence Hub, it had worked on the Na Kika project from 2001 to 2003. Installing more than 70 miles (113 km) of umbilicals at depths from 5,400ft to 7,598ft (1,647m to 2,317m) provided the company with practical experience in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. The company also took part in the Thunderhorse, Glider and South Diana projects. These projects, combined with the companys numerous deepwater subsea installations offshore Brazil, Africa and in the North Sea, prepared it for its recent role in Independence Hub. As the term deepwater is constantly redefined, offshore technology extends its reach. When I came to the U.K., we were working in around 328ft (100m) in the central North Sea, said Murray Dick, Subsea 7s project manager for Independence Hub. Then we went West of Shetlands to 1,476ft to 1,640ft (450m to 500m). Now here we are in the Gulf of Mexico laying umbilicals down to 8,960ft (2,731m), pushing the boundaries yet further again. Subsea 7s main scope of work on the Independence Hub project involved transportation, installation and testing of more than 118 miles (190 km) of umbilicals in water depths ranging from 7,825ft (2,387m) at San Jacinto to 8,960ft (2,731 m) at Cheyenne. Beginning on August 29, 2006, the Toisa Perseus embarked from Mobile, Ala. After more than 190 days, the company had installed seven main umbilicals, five extension umbilicals and three infield umbilicals. The project also called for the installation of three manifolds, seven subsea distribution units, 23 SHO receivers/mud mats, 23 rigid flowline jumpers along with steel flying leads and electrical flying leads. The company had completed the project by mid-July, but not before achieving two record-setting installations of its own.

Toisa Perseus laying Cheyenne extension umbilical, which is the deepest to date.

Deepest umbilical and Q tree installed

Through its involvement with Independence Hub, Subsea 7 achieved the worlds deepest installation of an umbilical and wellhead Christmas tree at Q field using the fiber rope deployment system from the Toisa Perseus. The company helped develop a fiber rope deployment system that assisted both installations in water depths of 8960ft (2,731m) with Toisa Perseus. The system proved fiber rope has significant potential for deepwater installation operations when compared with steel wire. While fiber rope maintains the same strength as steel, it
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has a specific gravity of 1.2 compared with 8 for steel. Its weight is close to zero in water, so when working at depths of 9,843ft (3,000m) this creates quite an advantage. The submerged weight of steel wire represents 60% of the allowed hook load, which gives the 1.6% of fiber rope a broader appeal for use in deepwater operations because its capacity is wholly available for handling payloads. In addition, its low weight allows more accurate active heave compensation (up to 95%) to be achieved with higher speed and less power consumption than with steel wire, reducing cost and improving safety. With records in place, Subsea 7 completed the project and is active in other areas. The Seven Oceans, Subsea 7s new deepwater rigid reeled pipelay vessel, is due in the region to work on Blind Faith soon. However, the company continues to look for new frontiers. I am now looking forward to pushing back the deepwater boundaries once again in the Gulf of Mexico I have a feeling that the Cheyenne record wont be current for too long, Dick said. Subsea 7 provides engineering and construction services with an approximate 4,000-strong workforce supporting offshore operations in Asia Pacific, Brazil, Gulf of Mexico, Norway, United Kingdom and West Africa.
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Subsea 7
15990 N. Barkers Landing Road Suite 200 Houston, TX 77079 Tel: (281) 966-7600 Fax: (281) 966-7623 www.subsea7 .com

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SEPTEMBER 2007

ROXAR

Roxars Subsea Equipment Monitors Flow Assurance

With long tiebacks and production processing split among 10 natural gas fields in water depths ranging between 8,000ft and 8,950ft (2,440m and 2,730m), the success of the Independence project depends on timely and effective flow assurance monitoring.

oxars subsea Wetgas meter and subsea Sand monitor were chosen as monitoring solutions for the project. The Roxar subsea Wetgas meter, which has a length of less than 3.2ft (1m), detects the resonant frequency in a microwave resonance cavity with the frequency depending on the dielectric properties of the fluid mixture present. Robustness and resilience at such depths are essential. Externally, the meter, its delta pressure transmitter and pressure transmitter are constructed using Duplex stainless steel, which has a combination of mechanical and corrosion resistance properties. The meter is qualified to operate at 10,000ft (3,050m) and within a process temperature range of -42F to -239F (-40C to 150C), a process pressure range of 0 bars to 700 bars and maximum line pressure of 10,000psi. The meters will be able to integrate different well streams and accurately detect and measure real-time hydrocarbon flow rates and water production at the Independence Hub development. With long tieback distances at the development, the elapsed time from the occurrence of water breakthrough in a well to detection at the surface could be days resulting in severe consequences. Roxars real-time wet gas metering is essential to avoid substantial damage of pipeline infrastructure. Production allocation was central to the Independence Hub development. With 10 field developments many with different ownership interests and royalty rates the wetgas meters will be deployed to provide accurate, real-time subsea measurement and allocation. Accuracy is essential to ensure production revenue streams are split evenly among partners. By continually measuring formation-water production, each well will be operational at the limit of its water production. As a result, fewer wells will be required in the reservoir with greater efficiency and increased production from those already there. The Roxar subsea Sand monitor on the Independence Hub also plays a crucial role providing an early warning system an immediate response when sand is present as well as being able to check the integrity of sand screens set up to avoid sand entering the production tubing. Instead of having to go into the pipe with all the accompanying maintenance, production and environmental challenges, the Roxar subsea Sand monitor is compact and can be mounted in fixed, pre-installed clamps on the outside of the pipe. The ultra-sensitive acoustics and monitoring technology in the sand monitor determines sand in the well stream and the

acceptable sand production rate the facilities can handle to a high degree of accuracy. By having accurate data on the amount of sand in the pipeline, petroleum engineers on the Independence Hub can minimize erosion damage, optimize production flow rates and Roxar subsea Wetgas meter prevent equipment clogging as well as, if necessary, look to remedial actions, such as sand cleanouts or a sand bailer. One of the challenges in subsea wells is that conventional sand monitors cannot be calibrated, thus giving only a qualitative measurement of sand production. However, by using the new digital signal processing in subsea retrievable sand monitors and integrating this with the velocity measurement from the already-installed wetgas meters in the Independence Hub, the Roxar subsea Sand monitor can more accurately determine the sand production rate. Concludes Alexis Houdusse of Roxar: Whether its production well-testing, improved reservoir management, allocation or hydrate and sand erosion prevention, the accurate measurement of wetgas flow and sand is crucial to managing ones fields. Roxar is ensuring Independence Hub operates at the very peak of its production limits.
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Roxar AS
Gamle Forusvei 17 PO Box 112 4065 Stavanger, Norway Tel: +47 51 81 8800 Fax: +47 51 81 8801 www.roxar.com
SEPTEMBER 2007

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WEATHERFORD

Surpassing the Challenges of Deepwater Pipeline Pre-commissioning

The challenges of pre-commissioning and commissioning the subsea and export pipelines connecting the Independence Hub to the market place were met, in large part because of Weatherford's aggressive planning and coordination of its wide net of global resources.

ecause of the immensity of scale for these pipelines, Weatherford designed, built and used high capacity equipment that will enable future users to more efficiently test, dewater and dry. The Independence Trail export pipeline consists of a 20in./24-in. multi-diameter pipeline with a steel catenary riser from the Independence Hub in Mississippi Canyon Block 920, covering more than 135 miles (217 km) to a newly constructed platform in West Delta Block 68. The Independence Subsea flowlines are a vast network of 8-in. and 10-in. diameter flowlines in water depths of 9,000ft (2,745m). Project teams worked simultaneously throughout the early planning phase to overcome issues, increase efficiency and minimize costs of the overall projects by coordinating sequential timeframes for similar operations in each project as well as plan for pivotal use of equipment and personnel. Hydrotesting was a challenge in the pre-commissioning phase of the subsea and flowlines. Operating pressures of 9,100psi to 10,500psi made safety the priority when tests began. Weatherford's Split-System allowed personnel to pressurize the flowlines remotely and monitor data in real time from a safe standoff distance. The dewatering phase of the projects was also a challenge, removing more than 13 million gal of water from the export pipeline. The typical dewatering spread with a pumping capacity of 8,000 scfm would complete the dewatering process in an estimated 43 days. With limited deck space on the Independence Hub and dynamically positioned (DP) vessel, Weatherford modified the equipment spread to maximize pressure and volume output while minimizing its overall footprint. The modified equipment spread contains the largest spread of equipment offshore with volume output of 13,000 scfm of compressed air up to 5,000psi. The additional volume reduced the Trail's dewatering to 18 days. While the modifications to the DP vessel and equipment spread represented an additional expense, it provided an efficient and cost-saving addition to the overall project. Once the Trail's dewatering operations were completed, some of the air equipment on the DP vessel was replaced with newly constructed nitrogen membrane units suited for applications offshore to purge the pipeline. Immediately after the Trails project completed purging operations, the subsea dewatering and drying operations

commenced, ultimately saving downtime during transition. Because of extreme water depths over the length of the subsea flowlines, they are dewatered and dried with compressed nitrogen with a capacity of 4,500 scfm at pressures up to 5,000psi. A custom-built gas flow control skid and high pressure dryer (of 8MMscf/d at 700psi) were used for the commissioning of the export pipeline. At press time, Weatherford was scheduled to complete precommissioning operations on the subsea flowlines project in mid-October. Weatherford views its involvement in the Independence Hub as an endeavor to expand awareness. As the energy industry is driven further into the Gulf of Mexico into deeper water than ever before, technology, innovation and applications are driven to new frontiers. Weatherford's deepwater pre-commissioning and commissioning expertise was accelerated into the future by its role in executing the Independence Trail and Subsea projects.
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Weatherford
Bridget Mappus, Project Manager Patrick Hollier, Project Manager 7721 Pinemont Drive Houston, TX 77040 Tel: (713) 580-9700 Fax: (713) 580-9797 www.weatherford.com/pss

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