Asian Oil and Gas-March-April 2009

Spreading the
offshore message
MARCH / APRIL 2009
Kutei hubs queue
to join West Seno
Sakhalins new kid
on the LNG block
Oil industry surfers
want bandwidth
AOG
A SI A N O I L & G A S
Spreading the
offshore message
aog_M_4_Cover_v2 27/2/09 4:07 pm Page 1
Perth I Adelaide I Brisbane I Melbourne I Sydney I Townsville I East Asia I Indonesia I Middle East
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7-12 NEWS UPDATE
ASIA PACIFIC
AUSTRALIA
CHINA
INDIA
INDONESIA
KAZAKHSTAN
MALAYSIA
MYANMAR
NEWZEALAND
PAKISTAN
PAPUA NEWGUINEA
PHILIPPINES
THAILAND
TURKMENISTAN
VIETNAM
Asia Pacific oil and gas news and views at
a glance, including:
Chevron steady on E&P spend.
Crux at regulatory crossroads; Libra
strike; Fletchers mixed fortunes; Oliver
up tempo; Woollybutt walkabout.
CNOOC boosts 2009 spend; Lishui plans
progress.
Mumbai High Norths next phase;
Cambay cash milestone.
Natuna D-Alpha still up in the air; Oilex
steady on Sumatra; TGS heads west.
Satpayev block agreement.
Petronas eyes big EOR boost.
Janata well a $26m write-off.
Semi to drill Tui leads.
Ton-up target for drillers.
Antelope heralds gas bonanza.
Asian geothermal ascendant.
PTTEPs five-year plan; Bua Ban beckons
Coastal.
Cheleken reserves certified.
Unlocking Tonkins treasure; offshore
prospect appraisal.
ASIAN OIL & GASmarch/april 2009 3
contents
march/april 2009
www.oilonline.com/aog
AOG
COVER:Professor Choo Yoo Sang encouraging a 300-strong audience to embrace the
offshore research and education challenges during this years Chua Chor Teck memorial
lecture at Singapore Polytechic (see profile, page 20).
aog_M_4_p003_contents 27/2/09 3:59 pm Page 3
Indonesias first producing deepwater field,
West Seno, looks set to be joined by several
other fields in the Kutei Basin in the
Makassar Strait off the coast of East
Kalimantan, all under the operatorship of
Chevron. Terry Knottreports.
President Dmitry Medvedev officially
opened the first Russian liquefied natural
gas (LNG) plant in February, signalling the
imminent arrival of Sakhalin Island in the
Russian far east as a new player on the
highly competitive Asia Pacific energy
scene. David Morganreports.
Dutch transportation specialist Jumbo had
to think outside the box when asked by
installation contractor Acergy Australia to
transport key subsea components for
Apaches Van Gogh oilfield.
The National University of Singapores
Professor Choo Yoo Sang has come a long
way since studying for his O and A Levels
at Ipohs Anglo-Chinese School. As his
tenure as the 106th and first Asian
president of the Institute of Marine
Engineering Science & Technology draws
to a close, Choo talks to David Morgan.
Aberdeen-based Flexlife performed what is
thought to be the worlds first remote well
kill, using flexible pipe to pump concrete
into an over-pressured producer offshore
Tunisia. Darius Snieckusreports.
The ups and downs experienced in the
introduction of marine electromagnetic
survey methods to the offshore E&P oil and
gas industry make a compelling narrative.
Andrew McBarnetadds a new chapter.
Acoustic monitoring sensors delivered by
Sonardyne will oversee the Indian
coastline and warn of tsunami waves.
Paul Eastaughreports.
After tests in the Gulf of Mexico, hotel-
style Internet service has been deployed on
dozens of rigs around the world, with
service to be ramped up in coming months.
Russell McCulleyreports.
OPEs Xiaoping Yang, Steve Craigand Nico
Vandenwormand ODLs Jim Orrdiscuss
the design attributes and business case for
the SSP 320 round floater.
Shipyards roundup (40/41), Product review
(42/43), Contracts/deliveries (44/45),
Company news (46/47), Appointments (48),
Events (48), Display advertisers index (48),
AOGBookshop (49-51).
march/april 2009 ASIAN OIL & GAS
contents
14/15 KUTEI COLLECTION
17 SAKHALIN STARTUP
19 JUMBOS ALL EARS
20-24 ACADEMIC PROGRESS
27 TUNISIANTURNOFF
28-30 EMREVISITED
33 WAVEWATCHER
34/35 SURFERSPARADISE
36-38 INTHEROUND
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aog_M_4_p004_contents 3/3/09 4:03 pm Page 4
AOG_M_4_GAC_FP.indd 1 2/3/09 14:58:36
AOG_M_4_Emerson_FP.indd 1 2/3/09 15:42:48
ASIA PACIFIC
Chevron steady
on E&P spend
Chevron has budgeted
$22.8 billion for 2009, an amount
unchanged from 2008, with
about 75% ($17.5 billion) of it
allocated to upstream oil and
gas exploration and production
projects worldwide.
Much of the corporations
2009 spending will continue to
be on large, multi-year projects
aimed at increasing energy
supplies and improving
operating efficiency.
Major recipients of the
upstream spend continue to be
Asia and the Middle East via
natural gas and LNG
developments such as Gorgon,
Wheatstone and North West
Shelf in Western Australia,
development of the Platong
Gas II project offshore
Thailand, northern expansion
of the Duri field steamflood
project in Sumatra, Indonesia,
one-time payment and initial
development of the
Chuandongbei gas field in
China, and one-time payment
for concession extension and
development in the Partitioned
Neutral Zone of Saudi Arabia
and Kuwait.
NEW ZEALAND
Semi to drill
Tui leads
Australian Worldwide
Exploration (AWE) has
confirmed that the
semisubmersible drilling rig
Kan Tan IVis to operate in the
offshore Taranaki Basin, New
Zealand, starting 3Q 2009. The
plan is to explore five prospects
in the Tui permit area, near to
existing producing reservoirs,
including the Maui field.
Tui oil is currently produced
from four wells linked to the
Umuroa FPSO.
AWE, operator, holds 42.5%
in the permit, and its partners
are Mitsui (35%), NZOG (12.5%)
and Pan Pacific (10%).
INDIA
MHN projects
new phase
ONGC has approved phase two
of the Mumbai High North
(MHN) redevelopment project,
which is expected to yield an
accrued incremental gain in
crude oil production of
137mmbo and 105bcf of natural
gas by 2030.
The decision to launch phase
two follows the success of the
first phase, launched in 2000
and completed in 2006, which is
projected to add incremental
gains of 184mmbo and 215bcf of
gas by 2030, achieved with
73 new wells and 10 sidetracks.
The MHN redevelopments
second phase, estimated to cost
$1.5 billion, involves drilling
some 73 new wells and
sidetracking 38 poor producers.
It is scheduled for completion
in 3Q 2012.
Mumbai High is currently
producing around 90mmbo
annually or 245,000b/d, with
cumulative output to date
estimated to account for 24% of
the fields initial-oil-in-place.
PAKISTAN
Double drill
To help offset annual
expenditures of more than
$6.5 billion on petroleum
imports, the Pakistan
government is reported to have
set a target for drilling around
100 oil and gas exploratory
wells in 2009 in hopes of raising
national output to about
69,000b/d and 4bcf/d. This
compares with the 52 wells 14
by the state and 38 by private
companies drilled in the first
three quarters of the fiscal year
ending March 2008.
ASIAN OIL & GAS march/april 2009
news update
7
Petronas eyes big EOR boost
MALAYSIA
Malaysia has set itself an ambitious target
to add an additional 520 million barrels of
oil to its reserve base by 2010 by applying
enhanced oil recovery (EOR) technologies
to its offshore oilfields.
According to Dr Nasir Haji Darman of
the petroleum resource development
department of state oil company Petronas,
the country currently estimates there may
potentially be another billion barrels of oil
to be won through EOR, and is aiming for
an overall recovery factor of 45% from
some 20 billion barrels of original oil in
place.
We carried out reservoir screening
studies in 2000 to assess the potential for
EOR in Malaysia, Nasir (pictured) told the
2009 GE Oil & Gas technology conference
in Florence, Italy. As a result, we currently
have 11 EOR projects ongoing at different
stages of development, ranging from
laboratory studies to actual projects in the
field.
If all of our planned developments
come to be realised, they will make
Malaysia one the biggest if not the
biggest regions for EOR operations in the
world.
The Petronas studies indicate that EOR
could boost reserves recovery by between
4% and 11%. Of the many types of EOR
evaluated, two have been selected as the
most suitable for Malaysias fields: gas
injection and chemical injection.
Of these, gas injection in various forms
including miscible gas, immiscible gas and
water-alternating-gas (WAG) is proving to
have the most impact, and is being carried
out in five offshore fields.
Full-field WAG is under way in the
Dulang field and Bokor fields, operated by
Petronas Carigali operating arm, and also
in the Tapis field operated by ExxonMobil.
Double displacement gas EOR is being
conducted in ExxonMobils Tabu field,
while a WAG pilot scheme is being run in
Petronas Baronia field offshore Sarawak.
It is understood that a pilot trial for
chemical injection using an alkaline
surfactant has also been completed in the
Angsi field with encouraging results.
Nasir also pointed to the challenges of
getting EOR projects off the ground in
Malaysia, not least because all of the
nations hydrocarbon production is based
offshore, well spacings are large, EOR costs
are high, and the reservoirs are complex,
adding to the
risks of trying
EOR.
In Malaysia
the partners in
production
sharing
contracts have a fixed timeframe to achieve
production from their licences, but EOR is
a longer term strategy and is costly to do,
he added. A further consideration is that
there is competition for the gas between
using it for EOR and sending it for
domestic consumption or to LNG projects.
One alternative supply of gas for EOR
could be to use carbon dioxide, of which
Malaysia has an abundance in many of its
fields some are thought to hold up to 90%
CO2. The possible synergies with EOR
holds many attractions but practical
problems exist to create barriers to CO2
projects moving from the conceptual stage,
among them the fact that no facilities
infrastructure is yet in place to develop
high-CO2 gas fields which require costly
CO2 resistant materials, while the sources
of CO2 are in the main distant from the
fields where gas injection EOR could be
applied. Terry Knott
aog_M_4_p007_news 27/2/09 4:12 pm Page 7
MYANMAR
Janaka-2 well
a $26m write-off
Operator PTT Exploration &
Production International and
CNOOC Myanmar, respective
80:20 stakeholders in block M3
in the Gulf of Martaban,
Myanmar, report that
exploration well Janaka-2,
drilled to a total depth of
3,351m subsea, encountered one
gas bearing formation of 4m in
the zone of interest.
The well was not tested and
considered non-commercial,
written off at a cost of
$26 million.
Further evaluation of the
prospect is planned.
PHILIPPINES
Asian
geothermal
ascendant
The Energy Development
Corporation (EDC), 60%
controlled by First Gen
Corporation, the Philippines
largest vertically-integrated
independent power producer,
has ambitions to become the
largest independent producer
of geothermal energy in the
world.
EDC is currently the
countrys biggest generator of
geothermal energy, producing
1199MW of electricity annually
from geothermal steam fields
located across the archipelago,
second only to Chevron which
produces 1273MW per annum,
mostly in the Philippines and
Indonesia.
In 2008, the Philippines
reported an installed
generating capacity of 1978MW
of geothermal energy, and a net
running capacity of 1838MW,
compared to the slightly higher
US installed capacity of
2544MW and net running
capacity of 1900MW.
EDC expects to participate in
this years government
auctions of three state-owned
geothermal power plants with a
combined electrical generating
capacity of 456MW, which
would increase its capacity to
around 1655MW. The Philippine
government is selling its power
generation assets as part of a
privatisation scheme to attract
investment into the sector. EDC
also plans to develop around
600MW of additional
geothermal capacity on its own
over the next decade.
Industry sources place the
Philippines total estimated
untapped geothermal resources
at 2600MW, with development
seen adding 1200MW of
additional capacity by 2013,
610MW of which is potentially
located within EDC service
contract areas.
This accelerated development
is supported by significant
governmental incentives such
as the recently issued
Philippines Renewable Energy
Act of 2008 that seeks to speed
up exploration and
development of renewable
energy resources in the
Philippines. This Act promotes
the purchase, grid connection
and transmission of electricity
generated from renewable
energy sources, and provides
incentives such as exemption
from various taxes and duties
to renewable energy developers
in the country.
The EDC is also reported to
be studying the feasibility of
harnessing Indonesias
estimated 20,000MW of
untapped geothermal power.
Adding further buoyancy to
the geothermal market, Geysir
Green Energy of Iceland has
increased from 50% to 80% its
equity in Envent, a Philippines-
focused geothermal explorer.
Envent is involved in a number
of geothermal projects,
including one on Biliran Island
in the central Philippines, close
to the grid system, where
surface exploration is
scheduled for completion by
associate Biliran Geothermal
in 2Q 2009.
news update
8
CHINA
CNOOC plans to spend about $6.61 billion
in 2009, an increase of 19% over 2008,
allocating $4.38 billion for development,
$1.11 billion for exploration and
$1.12 billion for production.
Total net production in 2009 is targeted at
around 230 mmboe, compared to an
estimated 195 mmboe for 2008.
During the year, ten new projects are
expected to come on stream, eight located
in offshore China. Overseas, OML130 in
Nigeria and the Tangguh LNG project in
Indonesia will start production in 2009.
Exploration activities will focus on
offshore China, with 80 plus wells and
acquisition of over 30,000km of 2D and
9200km
2
of 3D seismic data both offshore
China and overseas. CNOOC expects a
reserve replacement ratio (RRR) of over
100% in 2009.
. . . as Lishui
development
plans progress
Primeline Energy has entered
into a technical services
contract with CNOOC
Research for preparation of the
overall development plan
(ODP) for the Lishui 36-1 gas
and condensate discovery,
located in block 25/34 offshore
China in the East China Sea.
Funded by Primeline Energy,
field operator, the work
comprises a formal
engineering plan, backed up by
survey results and
environmental studies,
together with full economic
analysis. ODP work is
anticipated to take 6-8 months
and be presented to Primeline
and CNOOC for approval mid-
3Q 2009 before submission to
the appropriate Chinese state
authorities.
The development plan was
initially started following
execution of the agreement in
principle for gas sale between
CNOOC and Zhejiang Natural
Gas Development Company in
4Q 2008.
Ambitious CNOOC
boosts 2009 spend . . .
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INDONESIA
Oilex steady
on Sumatra . . .
Oilex (West Kampar) has
exercised its right to terminate
acquisition of an additional
15% participating interest in
the West Kampar production
sharing contract onshore north
central Sumatra from PT
Sumatera Persada Energi, 55%
stakeholder and PSC operator.
Oilex, retaining its 45%
working interest in the PSC,
says it will continue to pursue
early development there.
. . . as TGS
heads offshore
Marine seismic contractor
TGS-Nopec Geophysical has
commenced acquisition of a
new 9550km multi-client 2D
survey offshore the west coast
of Sumatra.
The new survey is designed
to complement the existing
northwest Sumatra and Sunda
seismic, bathymetric and
coring data acquired under the
expansive TGS IndoDeep
programme, acquired and
interpreted from 2006 to 2008 as
part of the Indonesias frontier
basin initiative. That effort
included 34,000km of 2D
seismic, 400,000km of multi-
beam bathymetric data and
1200 cores samples covering
approximately 1 million km
2
of
Indonesias deepwater basins.
Initial interpretation of the
Northwest Sumatra and Sunda
IndoDeep programmes
indicated that elements of a
potential petroleum system are
present in the new survey area.
Supported by industry funding,
the new project includes both
long offset 2D seismic and
gravity data to be acquired by
the MV Mezen.
INDIA
Rajasthan DoC
for Cairn
Cairn India has received
approval in regard to a further
declaration of commerciality
(DoC) for Rajasthan licence
RJ-ON-90/1 in northwest India.
The DoC is for the three
discovery wells, Kameshwari
West 2, 3 and 6, along with a
new 822km
2
development area
within the northern appraisal
area on the Rajasthan Basins
western margin.
Cairn and joint venture
partner ONGC now have
3111km
2
under long-term
contract on the Rajasthan
licence of which the main
Mangala field development
plan (FDP) covers 1859km
2
and
the Bhagyam FDP 430km
2
.
VIETNAM
Unlocking
Tonkins
treasure
The Yen Tu-1X well in Song
Hong Basin blocks 102 and 106
in the northern Gulf of Tonkin
has been re-opened as part of
an overall development plan
initially involving drilling
three more wells, commencing
with Yen Tu-2X.
The first oil discovery in
north Vietnamese waters, Yen
Tu-1X was originally drilled to
a depth of 1932m in 2004,
encountering hydrocarbon-
bearing zones in two
formations and the carbonate
basement. It was then plugged
and abandoned.
Blocks 102 and 106, together
covering 8560km
2
off the coast
of Hai Phong, have had four
exploratory wells drilled
Yen-Tu, Ha Long, Thai Binh,
and Ham Rong resulting in
the discovery of three oil and
gas fields. Subsequent testing
and evaluation indicated
potential for high commercial
production rates.
In mid-2008, Ham Rong-1X
was drilled to a TD of 3700m and
successfully drill stem tested at
a commercial rate from
hydrocarbon-bearing zones in
carbonate basement formations.
Petronas Carigali operates
blocks 102 and 106 and has a
50% interest in the production
sharing contract, with ATI
Petroleum holding 20%,
Singapore Petroleum Company
20% and PetroVietnam 10%.
ATI Petroleum CEO Dr Huu
Duc Dinh commented recently
the latest round of exploration
activity had conclusively
demonstrated the existence of a
bare minimum of several
hundred million of barrels of
oil in the Gulf of Tonkin.
AUSTRALIA
Mixed results
for Fletcher
The Fletcher oil discovery in
offshore western Australia
exploration permit WA-191-P
has had mixed results lately,
with the Fletcher 3 appraisal
well drilled to a measured
depth of 3015m in 156m of
water in the eastern section of
the prospect intersecting a 20m
gross interval of oil-bearing
sands as predicted, followed by
a kickoff with less success.
Fletcher 4, drilled as a
deviated sidetrack from the
third well, was positioned about
500m to the northwest of the
Fletcher 3 target and
intersected the primary
reservoir but found it to be
water wet. Fletcher 4, designed
to appraise a fault block
adjacent to the Fletcher 1, 2 and
3 oil discoveries, will now be
reviewed to determine the
potential of the Greater
Fletcher High.
news update
10
Antelope heralds
onshore gas bonanza
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
InterOil has discovered the
largest gas and gas liquids
column by far in Papua New
Guinea with onshore exploratory
well Antelope-1 in licence PPL
237, a cumulative total reservoir
of 3156ft over the interval 5728ft
to 8891ft.
A drill stem test (DST) between
7861ft and 8071ft produced gas at
a rate of 13.1mmscf/d within a
dolomite and limestone reefal structure which
has demonstrated exceptional porosity and
permeability. Antelope-1,
currently at a total depth of
8892ft, is to have a series of DSTs
run in the lower sections of the
wellbore and other zones of
interest following evaluation of a
vertical seismic profile (VSP)
with the well under pressure and
completion of logging.
InterOil is the operator and
100% working interest holder in
PPL 237 as well as in adjacent
PPL238, which contains the largest portion of
the Elk/Antelope gas field.
VIETNAM
Neon to shed
light on lead
Neon Energy has signed a
production sharing contract
with PetroVietnam for block
120 in the Song Hong Basin.
Block 120 covers an area of
nearly 8500km
2
and extends
from east of Haiphong
southwards to Da Nang in
water depths of 50-1000m. It is
situated within a sedimentary
basin that includes part of the
Quang Ngai Graben. The only
exploration well drilled in the
block to-date encountered a
small oil column.
THAILAND
PTTEP spells out
five-year spend
PTT Exploration & Production
Public Company capital and
operating expenditures during
the five-year period 2009-2013
will be around $11.9 billion,
according to PTTEP CEO Anon
Sirisaengtaksin.
PTTEPs estimates cover a
total of 42 projects 15
production, four development
and 23 exploration. Not
included are those under
Coogee Resources (CRL) in
which a PTTEP subsidiary has
just purchased 100%
shareholder equity.
The projected outlay in 2009
will be approximately
$2.76 billion for production,
development and exploration
projects, the bulk going to
Bongkot, Arthit, S1, B8/32 & 9A
and Pailin in Thailand,
MTJDA-B17 in the Malaysia-
Thailand Joint Development
Area, and Yetagun, offshore
Myanmar. Capex is forecast to
steadily decline from
$1.99 billion in 2009 to
$1.06 billion in 2013 and opex
from $765 million to
$620 million.
Average petroleum sales
volumes are projected to
progressively increase over the
period, from 235,000boe/d this
year to 294,000boe/d in 2013.
THAILAND
Bua Ban set
for 2009
development
Coastal Energy has received
approval from the Kingdom of
Thailand for a 282km
2
production licence surrounding
its Bua Ban field in the shallow
waters of the southwestern
Gulf of Thailand. The licence
is effective for 20 years, or until
production ceases. Bua Ban
contains an estimated
22 million barrels of 2P oil
reserves based on a 2007 year-
end reserves report compiled
by Huddleston & Company.
Coastal, operator and 100%
interest holder in the field,
which is contained within its
2.2 million acre G5/43 block,
plans to develop Bua Ban
beginning in 2Q 2009.
Production is projected to
commence in 3Q through
temporary storage and
offloading facilities and is
expected to average 9500b/d by
end 4Q. This is additional to the
10,000b/d planned from the
Songkhla field, also located in
block G5/43, where Coastal has
installed a mobile offshore
production unit and storage
tanker with a view to restarting
production end February.
A 3D seismic survey covering
a major north-south structural
trend extending through much
of the southern half of the
G5/43 block has so far
identified nine additional
prospects which look similar to
the Bua Ban field and are
located in the same production
licence. One of these structures
was penetrated by Benjarong-1,
which encountered 105ft of net
pay between depths of 9954ft
and 10,379ft.
Current estimates suggest
the Bua Ban area prospects
may hold as much as 312mmbo
and the Benjarong area leads
upwards of 39mmbo.
VIETNAM
Offshore
prospect
appraisal
PetroVietnam has approved two
appraisal areas within block
16-1, located offshore in the Cuu
Long Basin about 100km
southeast of Vung Tau. Block
operator the Hoang Long
Joint Operating Company
(HLJOC) has submitted
documentation required for
formal approval by the Vietnam
government.
The 150km
2
Te Giac Den
appraisal area includes the
HP/HT discovery well Te Giac
Den 1X-ST1 on prospect E, and
the analogous E South
prospect. This area borders the
southern boundary of the Te
Giac Trang field where pre-
development activity is under
way.
The 100km
2
Voi Trang
appraisal area is conditional
upon a successful commercial
reserve assessment report of
previous discoveries in the
awarded area, which consists of
the Voi Trang discovery and
several adjacent leads.
Following government
sanction, anticipated soon, 3D
seismic over the Te Giac Den
appraisal area will be
reprocessed in preparation for
drilling a well in 2010.
Soco Vietnam holds a 28.5%
working interest in block 16-1,
and Opeco retains 2%, the
balance being held by the
HLJOC. Soco International has
an 80% stake in Soco Vietnam
and 100% ownership of Opeco.
news update
11
INDONESIA
The Indonesian government is reported to have rejected a plan of
development (POD) for the huge Natuna D-Alpha block gas
prospect submitted by ExxonMobil Corporation to BPMigas at the
end of last year.
Energy minister Yusgiantoro Purnomo contends that the
ExxonMobil contract ceased in 2005 as the required time frame to
submit a POD was not met. ExxonMobil counters that its
concession is valid till 2009.
The Natuna D-Alpha block, situated in the South China Sea
about 1100km north of Jakarta, has around 220tcf of natural gas
of which only about 45tcf is potentially recoverable because of a
very high CO2 content. Development costs are estimated to be as
high as $40 billion.
Newly installed Pertamina president director Karen
Agustiawan (see Appointments) has said the state oil firm will
keep a 40% stake in the Natuna D-Alpha gas project, while 60%
will be shared among partners. These could include, among
others, Shell, Chevron, Total, Statoil and PetroChina, as well as
ExxonMobil, not least because of expertise gained through long
involvement.
Further complicating the issue, the chairman of the Investment
Coordinating Board (BKPM) Muhammad Lutfi has indicated that
Shell might up its chances of managing exploration of Natuna
D-Alpha should it decide to shift its fuel refining from Singapore to
Indonesia.
Natuna D-Alpha
still up in the air
TIMOR SEA
Oliver up tempo
Stuart Petroleum is
accelerating development
studies of the Oliver oil field,
located 700km west of Darwin
in Timor Sea permit AC/P33,
which has a potential 19 million
barrels of recoverable oil and
condensate.
3D seismic data will be
reprocessed to better determine
the Oliver structure and select
an appraisal well to be drilled
late 2009 or early 2010.
INDIA
Cambay cash
milestone for
Oilex . . .
Oilex has marked its transition
to cash flow in India with
substantial production from its
Cambay field in the Cambay
Basin, Gujarat, on the west
central coastal area of India.
The company holds 40-45%
interests in the onshore
Cambay, Bhandut and
Sabarmati fields.
Between October and
December 2008, 16,800 barrels of
oil were produced from the
Cambay field, constrained by
lack of infrastructure. Two
additional development wells
are planned for the field in 2Q
to raise output to 3000b/d by the
end of the year.
. . . as Quippo
group nets
onshore PSC
The Indian government has
awarded a production sharing
contract for onshore block CB-
ONN-2005/11, covering around
257km
2
in the Cambay Basin, to
lead operator Quippo Oil & Gas
Infrastructure (40%) and
co-venturers Quest Petroleum
(20%), SREI Infrastructure
Finance (20%), Vectra
Investment (10%) and Primera
Energy Resources (10%).
The initial four-year
exploration phase work
obligations include
comprehensive 3D seismic
acquisition and the drilling of
15 exploration wells.
KAZAKHSTAN
New north
Caspian venture
ONGC Mittal Energy (OMEL)
and Kazakhstan state oil
company KazMunaiGaz (KMG),
have signed heads of
agreement for oil & gas
exploration in the 1582km
2
offshore Satpayev block.
Situated in the Pre-Caspian
Basin in 5-10m of water, this
northern Caspian Sea block is
in close proximity to major oil
fields such as Karazhanbas,
Kalamkas, Kashagan and
Donga.
OMEL, a joint venture
between ONGC Videsh and
Mittal Investments, and KMG
are finalising an exploration
and production contract with
the Kazakh government.
TURKMENISTAN
Reserves
certified
The Cheleken contract area,
offshore Turkmenistan along
the southeast Caspian Sea
coast, have been certified by
Gaffney, Cline & Associates to
have 2P reserves of 645 million
barrels of oil and condensate
and 3.2tcf of gas.
This follows additional
processing of 652km
2
of 3D
seismic data collected in 2004 to
2005 over both the producing
Dzheitune (Lam) and
Dzhygalybeg (Zhdanov) fields.
Dragon Oil is the operator
and 100% stakeholder of the
950km
2
Cheleken contract area
PSC where 52 wells producing
from 12 platforms averaged
40,990b/d in 2009.
news update
12
AUSTRALIA
Nexus Energy, along with joint venture
partner Osaka Gas Company, has been
offered production licence AC/L9 in
relation to the Crux liquids project in the
Browse Basin, offshore northern West
Australia. The notification by the Joint
Authority of the Offshore Area of the
External Territory of Ashmore and
Cartier Islands represents the final
regulatory approval milestone to permit
sanction of the Crux liquids project.
The licence grant would have an
indefinite term and apply to the entire area
previously defined by the AC/P23
exploration permit covering the Crux field
and the Auriga and Caelum structures.
Nexus has signed an agreement with
Single Buoy Moorings to negotiate for the
integrated build, supply and operation of
the Crux liquids project FPSO.
Participants in PL AC/L9 (on grant):
Nexus Energy WA (85%), operator, and
Osaka Gas Crux 15%.
AUSTRALIA
WOOLLYBUTTWALKABOUT: The Premuda Group, owner of the
leased 40,000b/d capacity FPSO Four Vanguard, will take it into
dry dock for upgrades to ensure the vessel can continue
producing 11,000b/d of oil from Woollybutt until the end of this
Western Australian fields projected life. The Woollybutt field, in
Carnarvon Basin block WA-25-L about 50km west of Barrow Island,
is operated by Eni (65%), partnered by ExxonMobil (20%) and Tap
Oil (15%).
Crux at the regulatory crossroads. . .
. . . as Libra
strike boosts
confidence
The Libra-1 exploration well in
exploration permit AC/P41,
which surrounds and encloses
AC/P23, has been declared a
significant find.
Now plugged and abandoned
after being drilled to a total
depth of 3929m TVDSS by the
semisubmersible Ocean Epoch,
Libra-1 is estimated to have
encountered a gross
hydrocarbon column of 206m
as determined by logging,
pressure data and reservoir
fluid samples, which also
indicate the Libra field is
separate from the Crux field,
about 15km to the north.
Confidence in the
prospectivity of the Greater
Crux area has provided
additional incentive for follow
up drilling at the adjacent
Auriga and Caelum prospects.
AC/P41 participants are
Shell (65%), operator, Mitsui
(20%) and Nexus (15%).
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TLP would be used. The Gendalo hub FPU
will take production from the Maha,
Gendalo and Gandang gas condensate
fields, located in water depths of 1080-
1718m, some 80-130km from shore.
Fifteen producing subsea wells will
deliver up to 25,000b/d of liquids and
25 million m
3
/d of gas, which will be
processed on the FPU and piped to an
onshore terminal at Senipah, before being
transported on to Bontang.
The second FPU will be located at the
Gehem gas condensate field in 1785m of
water.
Production from Gehem will be at high
pressure over 10,000psi through
12 subsea wells delivering up to 30,000b/d
liquids and around 15 million m
3
/d of gas
first to the Santan terminal, then on to
Bontang. Gehem is sited some 11km from
the Ranggas discovery, which might also be
tied back to the hub.
Operator Chevron will be going out to
tender for geophysical and geotechnical
survey work in the coming months.
W
est Seno came onstream in 2003
through a tension leg platform
(TLP) moored in around 1000m of
water, and produces through an adjacent
floating production unit (FPU) from which
oil and gas are exported by separate
flowlines to the onshore Santan terminal
(AOG September/October 2003). The gas
serves as feedstock for Indonesias existing
Bontang LNG plant on the island.
Speaking in Florence at the annual GE
Oil &Gas technology conference in
January, Gde Pradnyana, executive advisor
to Indonesias oil and gas regulator
BPMigas, said that while the countrys oil
reserves are dwindling, gas output is
increasing Indonesia is the worlds third
largest LNG exporter after Qatar and
Malaysia.
As part of the strategy to develop and
export more gas, two further hubs are
planned for the Kutei Basin to bring in four
other fields as subsea developments tied
back to two new FPUs earlier
development plans had indicated a second
indonesia
More Kutei Basin fields in
development frame
Indonesias first producing deepwater field, West Seno, looks set to be joined
by several other fields in the Kutei Basin in the Makassar Strait off the coast of
East Kalimantan, all under the operatorship of Chevron. Terry Knottreports
G
R
A
P
H
I
C
:
C
O
U
R
T
E
S
Y
C
H
E
V
R
O
N
march/april 2009 ASIAN OIL & GAS 14
Pressure
Vessels
Wanted
Top dollar
paid for used
vessels
1.5m (58) min ID
6m (20) min length
380 bar (5500psi) min
Will arrange decommission
and transport
Contact
steve@pressuretesting.eu
aog_M_4_p014_indonesia v3 2/3/09 6:38 pm Page 14
Another discovery, the dry gas Bangka
field, situated in 975m of water 20km from
West Seno, will be tied back to the West
Seno FPU through two development wells.
In addition to development plans for
Kutei, Pradnyana also outlined plans for
Indonesias latest offshore discovery. The
Adabi gas field, estimated to hold 9tcf of
lean gas, is situated in a remote region of
the Timor Sea next to the median line
between Indonesia and Australia, 150km
from the Tanimbar Islands and 600km from
the Aru Islands. Japans Inpex holds the
licence for Adabi, located in 400-700m of
water.
The development proposal is for a
floating LNG plant a world first
measuring 500m wide by 800m long, with
LNG production capacity of 4.5 million
tonnes per annum. LNG export would be
via ship-to-ship transfer. Sources indicate
the project could have a price tag of
around $20 billion and be in production in
2016.
ASIAN OIL & GAS march/april 2009 15
indonesia
Gde Pradnyana, executive advisor to Indonesias oil and gas regulator BPMigas,
addressing the GE conference in Florence.
Oil production from the then Unocal Makassar-operated West Seno development
Indonesias first deepwater oil and gas project began in August 2003 from phase one
facilities including a tension leg platform with tender-assist drilling rig and nearby
floating production unit.
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AOG_M_4_UMW_FP.indd 1 2/3/09 16:11:48
T
he 9.6 million tonnes per annum
capacity LNG plant is the centrepiece
of the Sakhalin Energy Investment
Companys huge Sakhalin II project in the
Sea of Okhotsk which, as well as the LNG
plant, has seen the development of two oil
and gas fields (Piltun-Astokhskoye and
Lunskoye) and the construction of two
major platforms offshore northeast
Sakhalin, an onshore processing facility,
300km of offshore and 1600km of onshore
pipelines, and an oil export facility since
work began in 2003.
Start-up of LNG production had come a
crucial step closer in January this year,
when Tim Hake, Sakhalin Energys
production director, confirmed that first
gas had been produced from the
Lunskoye-A (Lun-A) platform. This, he
said, was a critically important step in
the ongoing commissioning of all the new
Sakhalin hydrocarbon facilities.
Production rates from an initial two wells
were, he added, being gradually
increased with the gas being routed from
Lun-A through the developments
offshore multiphase pipelines to the
onshore processing facility and on via the
Trans-Sakhalin pipeline to the LNG plant
in the south of the island.
With start-up of Lun-A, all three
Sakhalin II platforms were onstream. In
late December 2008, first oil flowed from
the Piltun-Astokhskoye-B installation.
Around the same time the Molikpaq
platform, which has produced over 100
million barrels of Vityaz crude since it
first went into service offshore Sakhalin
ten years ago but only exporting oil
during the regions six-month ice-free
season (AOG January/February 2003),
switched from seasonal to year-round
production thanks to the commissioning
of the Trans-Sakhalin pipeline system.
Oil is being transported through a tanker
loading unit installed 4.5km offshore in
Aniva Bay that is connected to the
Prigorodnoye port export terminal by
subsea pipeline.
Sakhalin Energys CEO Ian Craig
(pictured) said: Sakhalin has now firmly
established its
position on the global
energy map. When the
Sakhalin II project is
fully onstream, it will
supply around 5% of
the worlds LNG and
make a significant
contribution to strengthening global
energy security.
Nearly all of the production capacity of
the LNG plants initial two 4.8mtpa
processing trains has already been
committed to supply customers in Japan,
Korea and North America the first
Russian gas to go to those regions. The
LNG plant output was contracted under
long-term contracts of 20 years or more
before the end of construction. Around
65% of all Sakhalin LNG will be exported
to nine buyers in Japan. The remaining
volume (in roughly an equal split) will go
to South Korea and (via a regasification
terminal in Mexico) North America.
The plant is expected to reach its design
capacity of 9.6mtpa in 2010. The plant
uses a specially adapted technology of
double mixed refrigerant, which
enhances the plants efficiency by taking
advantage of Sakhalins cold climate.
Sakhalin Energy Investment Company
was set up in 1994 for implementation of the
Sakhalin II project. Stake holdings in the
company are now: Gazprom (50% + one
share), Royal Dutch Shell (27.5% one share),
Mitsui (12.5%) and Mitsubishi (10%).
russia
Sakhalin LNG signs in
President Dmitry Medvedev officially opened the first Russian liquefied natural gas
(LNG) plant in February, signalling the imminent arrival of Sakhalin Island as a new
player on the highly competitive Asia Pacific energy scene. David Morganreports.
Molikpaq, now exporting crude
year-round.
LEFT: The Lunskoye-A platform
started feeding gas to the
Sakhalin II facilities in January.
aog_M_4_p017_sakhalin 27/2/09 4:21 pm Page 17
For more information visit www.clough.com.au
Throughout our 90 year history Clough has evolved from a civil construction company into a
leading Australian engineering, construction and asset support contractor providing full project
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engineering design produced is construction optimised, reducing the risks, costs and time involved
in getting our clients assets into production.
constructability n (also see Clough)
1. a project management technique to review construction processes from start to nish
during pre-construction phase. It is to identify obstacles before a project is actually built
to reduce or prevent error, delays and cost overrun.
2. combining sound engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) to build or assemble
something by putting together separate parts in an ordered and precise way.
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ONSHORE GAS PLANTS
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PLATFORMS AND PIPELINES
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Photo courtesy of Woodside
3088 04 M i Ad D9 i dd 1 3/3/09 2 46 04 PM AOG_M_4_Clough_FP.indd 1 3/3/09 15:55:43
Dutch transportation specialist Jumbo
had to think outside the box when asked
by installation contractor Acergy
Australia to transport key subsea
components for the
FPSO-based development of Apache
Energys Van Gogh oilfield in 340-370m
water depths in northwest Australias
Exmouth sub-basin.
Among the subsea equipment packages
to be delivered to the Exmouth Gulf
location was the FPSOs 500t
disconnectable turret-mooring (DTM)
buoy, which could only be lifted from the
top using a single-point connection.
A lifting device to suspend a Balltec tool
was designed in-house and manufactured
under Jumbos supervision in Singapore.
A special grillage was designed to support
and sea-fasten the buoy. Extensive motion
analyses together with finite element
calculations were carried out to
determine the loads exerted by the buoy
on the main deck, caused by accelerations
in rough seas.
When Jumbos Fairlane arrived in
Singapore, the grillage was placed on the
vessels main deck hatch covers and the
special lifting gear prepared. Another
grillage was installed to enable the
assembled lifting gear to be stored next to
the buoy. A barge carrying the DTM buoy
was maneouvered alongside Fairlane. The
ball tool male connector was lowered into
the female receptacle on top of the buoy.
Once inserted, the hydraulic pressure was
taken off and the connection completed.
The Fairlanes two 400t mast cranes then
slowly lifted the buoy on deck, using
almost all the available lifting height.
Following sea-fastening, the heavy lift
vessel sailed to Dampier to await its
Exmouth Gulf rendezvous with the
installation vessel Toisa Proteus and two
anchor handling tugs. There, the ball
connector was again lowered into the top
of the DTM buoy, while one AHT was
already connected with a long polyester
line. The Fairlane gently discharged the
buoy into the water, while it was
automatically ballasted. The heavy lifters
water system was used to ballast four
J-tubes inside the buoy for additional
stability. The other AHT was also
connected to the buoy, and when the
stability and draft of the buoy were
correct, the ball connector was
disconnected and retrieved. The buoy
could be towed to its final destination
offshore.
The Fairlane subsequently also
delivered two subsea manifolds of 160t and
180t respectively and four riser bases of
100t each to location from the port of
Henderson, near Perth, before completing
the final leg of its assignment:
demobilising other equipment from the
Toisa Proteus to Singapore on 3 December.
First oil from the Van Gogh field was
imminent as AOGwent to press.
marine operations
Heavy lift vessel Fairlane, two anchor
handlers and a Balltec connector combined
to install the 500t DTM buoy.
Van Gogh buoy
hitches a lift
aog_M_4_p019_Van Gogh 27/2/09 4:23 pm Page 19
A
n appreciation of first principles
and willingness to revert to them
has never deserted Malaysian-
born Choo Yoo Sang since they were
drummed into him back in the 1970s as a
Manchester University undergraduate
studying civil engineering. And there was
probably no better time or place to learn
them.
Britains engineering establishment
was still reeling from the collapse during
erection of two steel box girder bridges in
1970, and new interim rules were
hurriedly being drawn up to prevent a
recurrence. Heavily involved in the
preparation of those rules was
Manchesters Professor Michael Horne,
with whom the young Choo worked
closely as a research student and
assistant while obtaining his MSc in
structural engineering and subsequent
doctorate.
Choos two research projects on
combined strength of plate girders, and
strength of intersections of composite
sandwich shells under external pressure
required good understanding of plastic
analysis of structures, an area in which
the late Prof Horne had achieved world
renown.
As with many things, engineers were
not accounting for effects that show up
when extending the range of slender
bridge designs, recalls Choo.
The two men would remain firm friends
until Prof Hornes death in 2000 and Choo
today regularly pays homage to the man
he fondly looks back on as both mentor
and role model. Echoing Sir Isaac
Newton, Choo observed while delivering
the 23rd Chua Chor Teck memorial
lecture in Singapore this January: If I
have seen further than others, it is by
standing upon the shoulders of giants
like Professor Horne. He added: He was a
great mentor, encouraging me to explore
while providing reassuring support
through his expert advice. He had a
unique talent for developing complicated
analysis into simplified design aids for
practising engineers.
Choo acquired an early taste for things
subsea while still at Manchester, working
with Prof Peter Montague on the
structural aspects of a one-atmosphere
subsea production system designed for
500m water depth. This research project
which envisaged the installation of an
integrated structure with a number of
interconnected pressure vessels on the
seabed, each about 50m long and 10m
diameter was funded by the European
Union and contractor McAlpine. That
water depth was quite challenging at the
time, but when I attended the DTec 2008
deepwater offshore technology
symposium in Shanghai recently an
engineer from CNOOC said the company
was now looking at prospects in
4000m!observes Choo.
He stayed on at Manchester for another
year post-doctorate but by now the desire
to become an engineer, particularly in the
offshore industry, had taken a firm grip.
What better place to start than with those
profile
Singapore spreads
the offshore word
The Institute of Marine Engineering Science & Technology
chose well when it elected Professor Choo Yoo Sang to be
its first Asian president last year. For the civil engineer-
turned-academic has since embraced the role with the
same determination and energy that he has applied in
recent years to making the National University of Singapore
a key centre of offshore engineering research and
education. As his tenure as the 106th IMarEST president
draws to a close, Professor Choo talks to David Morgan
about his past endeavours and future hopes.
NUS Offshore
Engineering
graduates celebrate
with Prof Choo.
aog_M_4_p020_profile v2 27/2/09 4:26 pm Page 20
Prof Choo and family revisit the
Anglo Chinese School in Ipoh.
Choo, born in the small
Malaysian town of Kampar,
stayed at the school hostel for
four years for his O and A
Levels. The first year there was
very challenging as I had to transition
from Chinese to English, and that meant studying
past midnight most days of the week, he recalls.
serial innovators in Barrow-in-Furness,
Vickers Offshore (VO), then part of
British Shipbuilders.
Pushing the engineering envelope was
second nature to VO and Choo thrived in
the technology-stretching environment,
working on the design of fixed and
floating structures such as the BS 8000
semisubmersible while his colleagues in
the London office worked on the Hutton
TLP. His VO contemporaries around that
time included Edward Huang, developer
of the Extended TLP and now
engineering director at FloaTEC; Mike
Isherwood, of Orcaflex fame; Singaporean
Frank Lim, a 2H stalwart, and Mike Leece
(a past president of the Society for
Underwater Technology) whom Choo
would rediscover by chance many years
later sitting together on the IMarEST
board of trustees.
In 1984 Choo and his Singaporean wife
Pin returned to Southeast Asia. But for a
last-minute hitch with paperwork, he
might well have joined Shell in Sarawak
but instead he was headhunted by J Ray
McDermott and joined them as senior
structural engineer in Singapore,
working under the then structural
manager Dudley Sampson.
McDermott Southeast Asia had a very
good group at that time in structures and
naval architecture, notes Choo. It was a
wonderful group, about 20 people in those
days, many with postgraduate training
and we were working very well as a team.
I worked on projects in Sarawak and
Australia, interacting both with the
fabrication yard in Batam and other
McDermott offices around the world. One
of the more challenging projects on which
he worked at this time was the large
struts employed in the strengthening
programme for Essos Bass Strait
platforms (OE April 1988).
Choo was posted to McDermotts
headquarters in New Orleans in 1985 to
participate in the train-the-trainer
programme in their integrated computer
aided design, analysis and
drafting/control system. McDermott had
a vision that was a very good one, but
perhaps a bit ahead of its time due to the
expensive computer and networking
systems, says Choo. In early 1987 I was
taking charge of the structural technical
quality assurance. I feel that experience
has been very good for me, and for others
like me. The reason is that you take an
independent look at what they design; you
assess from first principles and check
whether it makes sense or not. You may
not have run the numbers but you can
sense when something isnt looking quite
right.
In late 1987, with the oil & gas industry
taking a breather and a growing family to
take care of, Choo bade a reluctant
farewell to his McDermott colleagues and
headed for the more secure environs of
academia. Its a decision he says he has
never had cause to regret since. Joining
the National University of Singapore
(NUS) as a computer-aided design and
manufacturing specialist, he progressed
through the ranks and by 1995 was
director of the universitys computer-
aided engineering (CAE) centre. But he
really wanted to teach and do research.
In 1999 he asked for a transfer to the
department of civil engineering, a move
that would enable him to leverage not
only his finely attuned CAE skills but
also the knowledge of materials, codes
and structures, design and installation
engineering accumulated during his
earlier years.
It wasnt long before Choo was making
his presence felt in that most
Singaporean of offshore pursuits: rig and
platform construction.
Heavy lift helper
Funded by Singapores National Science
& Technology Board and hosted by
Sembawang Marine & Offshore
Engineering (SMOE) and Asian Lift, the
then Associate Professor Choo served as
principal investigator for a $1.1 million
R&D project which aimed to provide local
fabrication yards with a knowledge-based
decision support system for lift
installation of structures. From this
work, assisted by research fellow Dr Ju
Feng and colleagues within the NUS civil
and mechanical engineering departments
and supported by key industry partners
such as Keppel Offshore & Marine,
Sembawang Marine & Offshore
Engineering and Heerema Marine
Contractors, emerged H-LIFT, a widely
acclaimed knowledge-based engineering
system for heavy lifts using sheerleg
crane vessels.
A lot of the design factors in current
codes and specifications
are based on empirical
assumptions and may be different from
actual measurements, says Choo,
explaining the rationale behind
H-LIFT. Different construction and
installation approaches may be adopted,
which are directly linked to the available
construction equipment and structural
characteristics. Because lifting schemes
for 1000t plus modules consist of
sub-systems such as rigging (for example,
slings and spreader bars) and lift points
(for example, fabricated trunnions and
padeyes) connected to the module
structure, the load distribution is
dependent on the rigging arrangement
and factors including sling length misfits,
friction and deformation.
For engineering systems like slings
you are always faced with issues such as
how well matched the sling lengths can be
from manufacture they are not after all
machined components, adds Choo.
Design recommendations, whether from
the warranty surveyors or ISO, offer
factors that are supposed to cover for
tolerances and so on. Since you could
have an uneven load which cannot be
determined beforehand, you may have
potential problems if the sling load is
larger than calculated. But as an engineer
you want to do better and understand the
system behaviour to ensure consistent
safety of the sub-systems. So that was my
motivation.
The resulting H-LIFT 3D solid
modelling-based system enables
engineers to model, compute, design and
check geometrical and other
requirements. The software includes the
domain knowledge on heavy lift, rules
and design criteria, along with
component databases and R&D results on
strength of lift point components and
sling load distribution obtained by Choo
and his research team. DNV rules for
marine and offshore lift operations
provided the systems basic design
criteria.
With topside loads getting larger by the
day, local yards needed little
profile
encouragement to enlist Choos aid and
try the new system. Early success came
when SMOE and Asian Lift used it on
Shell Philippines Malampaya project.
SMOE wanted to fabricate the platforms
three deck panels concurrently and then
lift them one on top of the other. Now
each of those panels measured about 90m
long x 45m wide and the lift weight was
over 1100t imagine how flexible that is!
says Choo. The centre of gravity is not at
the geometric centre and youre lifting
using many slings its actually very
complicated.
Working closely with the yards
engineers, he and Ju Feng came up with a
multi-tier rigging scheme which
facilitated lift installation of the panels.
A system involving doubled slings
(around special sheaves which enabled
sling tension equalisation for the doubled
slings) and 16 lift points was adopted to
ensure minimal deformation of the
flexible deck panels during lifting. Special
techniques and algorithms were
developed to enable the engineers to
optimise selection of available slings, and
to maintain the stresses in the system
within allowable limits.
The operation was a complete success
as acknowledged by various professional
bodies at the time, including the
Institution of Engineers Singapore which
responded with its prestigious
Engineering Achievement Award in 2003.
Choo would later also receive the
IMarESTs Stanley Gray Medal and the
Institution of Civil Engineers 2005 James
Watt Medal.
Another Singapore company, PPL
Shipyard, sought Choos advice on using a
heavy lifter (Asian Hercules II) to lift and
integrate the deck structure of the
pioneering Sedco Forex (now Transocean)
Cajun Express deepwater
semisubmersible drilling vessel. With the
common longitudinal bulkheads utilised
by the two side blocks, the centre block
at 2450t, a record lift for plated structures
in Southeast Asia in its day had to be
reinforced appropriately to ensure
compatible, and minimal, deflections of
the deck plates while integrating the
structure.
Again, H-LIFT was called into play and,
with appropriate choice of crane barge,
rigging arrangement, careful
proportioning and selective
reinforcement, the Cajun Express deck
was despatched in no time at all, and a
few months ahead of the two identical
drilling units being built simultaneously
in a French yard which had adopted a
system of strand jacks and towers for
deck/hull integration.
According to Choo, the Cajun Express
deck lift operation, through lifting off the
yard to final placement, took less than
seven hours. Even he was amazed, he
says, to discover the crane barge had left
before he arrived at work the next
morning. Sufficient welding to ensure
proper integration and load transfer was
completed overnight, and the crane barge
was then deployed elsewhere for another
heavy lift project.
Through large-scale tests using the
1000t test rig at NUS, with associated
numerical study, research has also been
conducted into appropriate schemes for
fabricated trunnions which may be
suitable for heavy lift operations. The
through-pipe trunnion concept provides
effective load transfer and can be cost-
effective, reports Choo.
We have done quite a bit now on lifting
in the air, he adds.
Now we are looking at marine
operations and installing structures on
the seabed in deepwater and the critical
issue of course is finding ways to
minimise the effects when you are
transitioning from air to water. We have
recently come up with a concept and it
worked when we tested it in the lab. We
have yet to take it to the physical
prototype stage and may still encounter
profile
Actual lifting of Malampayas weather deck using the multi-tier rigging system two weeks after installation of the lower deck and
(right) how the operation was pre-planned using H-LIFT.
The H-LIFT software
and expertise developed
from associated R&D
by Choo and NUS
colleague Dr Ju Feng.
22
some problems there, but we feel that, at
least from first principles again, if we can
devise something it will be helpful. The
NUS research team is hoping to take this
concept further in conjunction with
Singapore industry partners such as
Franklin Offshore and Keppel Offshore &
Marine.
CORE values
It was largely through the encouragement
of Keppel, backed by Singapores
Economic Development Board (EDB), that
the NUS in 2002 began to broaden its
offshore research efforts and take them to
a much higher level. Particularly vocal in
his support was Choo Chiau Beng, then
chief executive of Keppel Offshore &
Marine and now Keppel Corporation
CEO, who is one of only 16 Honorary
Fellows of the IMarEST.
With the formation of Keppel Offshore
& Marine following the May 2002 merger
of Keppel Fels and Keppel Shipyard came
a new initiative aimed at encouraging the
island republics universities to focus
more attention on the offshore and
marine sectors. Keppel asked NUS and
Nanyang Technological University to
submit their proposals, and from that
initiative emerged the NUS Keppel
Professorship and a number of new
courses.
The following year, the Centre for
Offshore Research & Engineering
(CORE), with Prof Choo as its founding
director, came into being in NUS. Choo
also serves as director of the Offshore
Engineering Programme established
within the NUS Department of Civil
Engineering with support from the EDB
in September 2004.
The first Keppel Professor was Torgeir
Moan, director of the Norwegian
University of Science & Technologys
Centre for Ships & Ocean Structures.
Subsequent appointments to CORE and
the various industry affiliations that have
sprung up around it have been similarly
high profile.
When Moans term was complete, Choo
approached another distinguished
engineer and academic, Andrew Palmer, a
world authority on pipelines and arctic
engineering, to take over as Keppel
Professor. He did so initially in a visiting
capacity, and then in April 2007 accepted a
full-time post for two years, recently
extended for a further two.
Two more key professorships stemmed
from NUS agreements with the newly
formed Lloyds Register Educational
Trust (LRET) and Singapores Maritime
& Port Authority (MPA), with long-time
Shell platform design guru Peter
Marshall joining the team as LRET
Professor and ice mechanics expert John
Dempsey as the first Maritime
Technology Professor. Expertise in
tubular structures is further enhanced
through closer collaboration with Prof
Jaap Wardenier from the Netherlandss
Delft University of Technology, where
Prof Choo has himself been a guest
lecturer since 2000.
Block funding to the tune of $10 million
from Keppel O&M, LRET, A*Star, MPA,
EDB and others underpinned the March
2007 launch of an Offshore Technology
Research Programme that firmly
establishes CORE both as the national
focal point for offshore & marine matters
and an increasingly influential player on
the world stage. An impressive line-up of
industry partners American Bureau of
Shipping, Cameron, J Ray McDermott,
Keppel O&M, Lloyds Register, Sembcorp
Marine and WorleyParsons further
reinforces the fledgling centres
credentials.
Such backing, augmented by bilateral
and joint industry project funding, has
enabled COREs 20-strong academic staff
together with post-doctoral research
fellows and PhD research students to
initiate a number of interesting research
programmes. Various installation
profile
Choo on-site as PPLs technical consultant for installation engineering during the 2450t
centre block lift from the yard by Asian Hercules II.
Lift installation of the Cajun Express
centre block with dual hook, four lift point
rigging arrangement.
A prime mover behind the expansion of
NUS offshore research efforts was Keppels
Choo Chiau Beng (right), pictured
receiving a rare IMarEST Honorary
Fellowship from Prof Choo.
LRET Professor Peter Marshall with John
Stansfeld (left), LR regional director Asia.
concepts are under investigation, along
with smart sensing, integrity management
and control of offshore infrastructures,
innovative structural systems including
very large floating structures and subsea
process technologies. And the centre is
working closely with Keppel O&M and
both the University of Western Australia
and Oxford University on various jackup
foundation projects that Choo is confident
will yield vital insights into spudcan pile
interaction and the punch-through
phenomenon.
CORE has graduated a number of PhD
students who have joined the Keppel
Offshore & Marine Technology Centre, set
up in Singapore at the end of 2007 under
the direction of Charles Foo, the former
Lloyds Register senior principal
surveyor and representative in China,
and his deputy, Dr KS Foo, who also
serves as general manager of Keppels
Offshore Technology Development with
established in-house jackup rig designs.
In coming years Prof Choo sees CORE
researchers devoting more and more
attention to deepwater matters in
particular, followed by subsea systems,
Arctic engineering issues and the
exploitation of methane hydrates.
Growing people
Through its undergraduate and
postgraduate programmes, supported as
they are today by the academic staff and
company experts in their respective
fields, Choo says Singapore is ready to
play its part in preparing for the offshore
industrys upcoming and much-debated
Big Crew Change, indeed is already
doing so. We now have a good group of
friends and experts teaching at specialist
level within the NUS and there has been
good take up on the initial offshore
engineering course, he enthuses.
Having launched specialisations in
Offshore Engineering and Offshore Oil &
Gas Technology at the Bachelors of
Engineering level, we followed up two
years ago with specialisations at the
Masters level. And we are planning by
January 2010 to expand it to a full MSc
course in Offshore Technology, with
concentrations in Offshore Engineering
and Subsea Technology, through the
combined efforts of the NUS civil and
mechanical engineering departments and
our friends in the industry.
I hope such initiatives will make a
contribution to training local engineers to
take over key roles when the Big Crew
Change comes along, says Choo. With
Asia Pacific offshore activity increasing,
and with the well-established activities in
Singapore of companies like Keppel
Offshore & Marine, Sembcorp Marine and
so on, theres certainly an internal need
for such courses and if we can build on
top of that to cater for Asia Pacific I think
we can play a key role. Although there
has been no course advertising as such,
word of mouth is already proving a
powerful ally, he adds. One engineer from
WorleyParsons in Australia took a years
leave to do the full-time course and
another from McDermott is currently
doing likewise, while an engineer from
driller Transocean has just completed the
course part-time around a busy offshore
schedule.
Choo stresses that educational
establishments, learned societies,
meetings, journals, conferences and paper
competitions all have a role to play in
attracting more young and motivated
engineers to the offshore oil and gas
industry, and retaining them.
But the value of industry greybeards
passing down their accumulated wisdom
to the newcomers should not be under-
estimated, he adds.
Recalling his own life-long mentoring
by the estimable Prof Michael Horne, he
says: I feel that in engineering,
education, etc we need role models and
mentors. Mentoring doesnt need to take a
lot of time; its giving advice to someone
who can benefit significantly from that
interaction.
The beauty of the offshore industry is
that it is huge, yet at the same time very
small in people terms. At least as far as I
have experienced, we are all very friendly
I still keep in touch, for example, with
my former colleagues at McDermott but
we all know what we need to do to get a
job done well. And because clients are
constantly testing us and posing technical
challenges, a young offshore engineers
capabilities can expand and grow at a rate
quite unlike those of his or her
counterparts in any other industry. And
we are growing not just in technical
terms.
Along the way we gather more and
more friends and that is a part I find very,
very satisfying, he adds.
Looking back over his year as president
of IMarEST, which coincided with the
50th anniversary celebrations of the
Institutes Singapore branch, he says the
experience has left him feeling very
privileged.
During my time as president, meeting
with people in Australia, China, Japan,
Russia, the Netherlands, UK and US,
I became more conscious than ever of the
value of international networking.
Knowledge is something that is alive, its
not something you just file in a library.
What we call knowledge management is so
vital. And that is my concern, personally,
about this Big Crew Change. We have to
catch and retain that knowledge,
otherwise history may repeat itself.
Prof Choo was succeeded as IMarEST
president in March by international
shipping authority Michael Everard.
profile
Among eminent industry greybeards helping to raise the NUS offshore education and research profile are (left to right): Keppel Professor
Andrew Palmer, LRET Professor Peter Marshall, spars pioneer Dr John Halkyard, Delft tubular structures expert Professor Jaap
Wardenier and Oxford University visiting professor Richard Snell, chairman of the ISO Offshore Structures Standards Committee.
Prof Choo served as co-supervisor of PhD
research by Dr Michael Perry, pictured at
the NUS commencement ceremony.
TAM understands the logistics and costs involved
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AOG_M_4_TAM_FP.indd 1 2/3/09 19:15:33
SPE is what you need.
Society of Petroleum Engineers
For more information about these events or other SPE
conferences, workshops, and forums visit www.spe.org/events.
Asia Pacic Events
Meet with other professionals to learn about and discuss the latest E&P technical
advancements at these upcoming SPE events:
30 March2 April Production Management Best Practices
for CBM Fields Workshop
Queensland, Australia
1924 April Forum Series in Asia Pacic: Overcoming
Barriers to Deliver 15 km Extended-Reach
Wells and Beyond
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,
Malaysia
2427 May Reservoir Testing for Maximising
Understanding and Recovery Workshop
Kota Kinabalu, Sabah,
Malaysia
46 August SPE Asia Paci c Health, Safety, Security and
Environment Conference and Exhibition
SPE Asia Paci c Oil and Gas Conference and
Exhibition
Jakarta, Indonesia
1013 August Non-Thermal EOR Workshop Bali, Indonesia
1720 August Deepwater Drilling Technology Workshop Guangzhou, China
AOG_M_4_SPE_FP.indd 1 2/3/09 11:11:31
T
he trend toward rigless offshore
remedial work diversified into
emergency well control recently with
a remote well kill assignment carried out
by Aberdeen-based flexible pipe
consultancy Flexlife on a PA Resources-
operated producer on the Zarat permit off
Tunisia. Handled by Flexlifes three-man
project team in the space of four months,
the 2 million job involved pumping zonal
isolation concrete from the deck of an
anchor handling vessel specially-
equipped with a pair of pumping stations,
cement blender and pipe chute, into the
Didon 3 well, in answer to downhole
pressure concerns.
Flexlife was approached in April 2008 to
join forces with Norways AGR, already
contracted by PA Resources for a 270-day
well management campaign, to take on
the pioneering assignment, the
workscope of which encompassed
manning the AHTS Team Sallalah,
overseeing flexible pipe installation and
concrete pumping, and designing and
installing a purpose-built mooring system
for added vessel stability during the
operation.
Normally this sort of job would use a
semi or a jackup to kill the well but there
were issues surrounding the wells
integrity, explains Flexlife projects
director John Marsden. So killing it
remotely was what needed to be done, and
this entailed injecting water to bullhead
the fluids all the way down the well and
then pumping in the concrete to kill it.
The pressures were in the region of
2000psi.
As devising a method with existing
technology to kill the well was proving
quite difficult, the consultancy opted to
use a length of standard flexible pipe,
engineered up for a short term dynamic
application to perform the operation.
Though located in less than 80m of water
in a relatively benign environment,
Flexlife took a belt-and-braces approach
to station-keeping and designed and
outfitted the DP AHV with a full
mooring spread, with the vessel picking
up pre-laid anchors as it sailed on to the
field.
Pumping began on 3 August. With the
150m long NKT flexible pipe in a
free-hanging catenary configuration,
some 40m
3
of Schlumbergers
self-healing Futur active-set cement was
pumped down into the Didon well to a
total depth of around 3000m.
Given the success of this operation, it
may well be that it raises a few eyebrows
as another way of
doing this sort of
thing, notes Marsden
(pictured), but for the
time being I think the
remote well kill is
likely to remain a
method used only in
emergency situations. This work was
carried out in short order and safely so it
is certainly a reference point for the
industry going forward.
well control
Licence to
remote well kill
Aberdeen-based Flexlife performed what is thought to be
the worlds first remote well kill, using flexible pipe to
pump concrete into an over-pressured producer on the
Didon field off Tunisia. Darius Snieckusreports.
The DP Team Sallalah was outfitted with a
full mooring spread for the well kill.
Flexlifes team completed the well kill in
under four months.
aog_M_4_p027_flexibles 27/2/09 4:40 pm Page 27
T
he evolution of commercial marine
surveys employing electromagnetic
(EM) methods has already provided
the ingredients for an as yet unwritten
science and business saga which in many
respects is still unfolding. It even features
the eureka moment in the late 1990s when
it dawned on two Statoil research
scientists that EM investigations of the
subsurface could have huge potential
application for the direct detection of
hydrocarbons, especially in deep water.
Since the early 1980s, marine EM and
related research had been confined
mainly to the academic universe, and no
one had spotted the industry connection.
Things have of course moved on. A
scientific cruise in 2001 sponsored by
Statoil off West Africa to test the
controlled source electromagnetic (CSEM)
concept was to prove successful but
ultimately divisive among those on board.
The Norwegian company Electromagnetic
GeoServices (EMGS) emerged as a spin-off
from Statoil, but found it had competitors
in Offshore Hydrocarbons Mapping
(OHM), a spin-off from the University of
Southampton, and AGO, now part of
WesternGeco Electromagnetics.
Representatives of all three companies
had been aboard the original research
project and contributed to joint papers on
its outcome.
Over the ensuing years EMGS, now a
public company on the Oslo Brs, has
taken a leadership role in promoting
CSEM technology which it prefers to call
seabed logging. Today it carries out
around 80% of the CSEM surveys
worldwide, for a time operating with five
vessels. For a brief period UK company
OHM, based in Aberdeen, was up to three
vessels, and WesternGeco EM was
operating two crews. Despite the best
efforts of CSEM proponents and the
example of early adopters, the technology
has not yet transitioned into the
mainstream. The actual market is
estimated at not much more than
$200 million and is probably sliding
downwards in the face of reduced
exploration budgets.
Theres not much EM-related companies
can do about the impact of global
economic forces, but some of the other
reasons for slow take-up for what is
universally recognised as promising
technology are beginning to become
clearer, and in one regard the news may
actually be good.
This is where we rejoin the saga.
Courting controversy
In January 2009 in the London High Court
WesternGecos parent company
Schlumberger won judgement against
patents previously granted to EMGS by
the European and UK Patent Offices. It
may prove a significant development in
clearing away a cloud that has been
hanging over CSEM technology as a result
of aggressive patent applications.
Ostensibly EMGS purpose has been to
protect what the company believes to be
its rights over the technology, given its
initiation of the first commercial
application. However, competitors such as
Schlumberger and OHM have always
considered the patent card played by
EMGS as unjustified and a self-defeating
strategy. EMGS may have captured more
of the available business in the short
term, but the market for the technology
was never likely to grow with just one
main player. More importantly, an
unidentified percentage of potential
customers have almost certainly been
reluctant to get involved with a
technology solution where the provenance
is not clear and the danger of becoming
embroiled in costly and time consuming
legal proceedings is real.
There have already been proceedings in
London and The Netherlands contesting
the patents which have not gone in favour
of EMGS to any point near where it could
challenge the legality of its competitors
business. However, the latest judgement
won by Schlumberger seems the most
significant to date. OHM has been the
most vocal in complaining that the EMGS
patents were too general and all-
encompassing and failed to recognise the
substantial history of CSEM research,
albeit mainly by academia but also
notably by Dr Len Skrnka of ExxonMobil
who has been honoured by the industry
for his work in the field. The revoked
patents cover the general use of CSEM for
direct detection of hydrocarbons, the
direct detection of hydrocarbons by CSEM
surveying
Recording the
marine EM story
The ups and downs experienced in the introduction of
marine electromagnetic survey methods to the offshore
E&P oil and gas industry make a compelling narrative.
Andrew McBarnetadds the makings of a new chapter.
OHM in action: source being lowered into the water.
aog_M_4_p028_seismics 27/2/09 4:41 pm Page 28
using certain 3D geometries, and
combining CSEM and seismic for direct
detection of hydrocarbons.
OHM was quick to welcome the outcome
of the High Court proceedings. Dr Lucy
MacGregor, OHMs chief scientist and
former academic scientist specialising in
marine EM research, was certainly clear
in stating that too much time, effort and
focus has been placed on dealing with
EMGS now discredited patent claims
rather than promoting the value of this
technology to the industry. This decision
will hopefully allow us all to get on with
our mission of helping our clients
improve their exploration success without
uncertainty, interference or threat of legal
action from these claims.
OHM probably has some grounds for
believing that these more wide-ranging
patents still being claimed by EMGS
elsewhere in other jurisdictions are
unlikely to be upheld following the
judgement by the London court, and
Schlumberger will certainly be
encouraged to continue with its bid to free
the market from what it regards as
unjustifiable restraints. It follows that
EMGS will be forced to ponder the wisdom
of going toe to toe in courts around the
world with Schlumberger, which has
much deeper pockets and is not known for
quitting this kind of action.
Immediate reaction to the High Court
verdict from EMGS is open to
interpretation, on the one hand defiant,
but also acknowledging that the playing
field may indeed be changing. The
company pointed out that it retains over
115 patents in 32 jurisdictions and in
excess of 130 applications in
26 jurisdictions around the world. Bjarte
Bruheim, EMGS chairman said:
Following todays decision, which is open
to appeal, our IP position still remains
strong. Although the decision is
disappointing, these patents apply only to
certain activities in UK waters and we
retain full patent protection in more than
30 other jurisdictions. EMGS remains the
market leader in EM and the only
company that can offer a full suite of EM
products globally.
However, in a distinct change of tone,
Bruheim also stated that the EMGS board
had decided to undertake a strategic
review as part of our ongoing strategy to
exploit fully the commercial opportunities
created by our EM technology. The
review is to be carried out by Goldman
Sachs and its anyones guess how that
might turn out.
One of the distinctive features of
EMGS development is that it has retained
control of its destiny, moving with the
original management team led by CEO
Terje Eidesmo from a Statoil spin-off to a
public company via an IPO. In other
words, it has not sought a partner to grow
the technology and/or the business. It is
arguable that this independence may be
working against it when most geophysical
applications for the E&P industry are
offered by integrated companies with
major acquisition and processing
capability. It is surely not inconceivable
that Goldman Sachs will recommend
strengthening the company through a
merger.
At its current price, the company is
already vulnerable to takeover should
there be an interested party and could
prove something of a value buy in the mid
to long term.
Any strategic review has to address the
impact of the economic woes confronting
the entire EM-related market. EMGS, for
example, continues to win new contracts,
recently for CSEM surveys offshore
Malaysia and in the Gulf of Mexico, but
the reality is that business is seriously
down. Last November the company
acknowledged the inevitable and
announced the reduction of its fleet from
five to three operating vessels over the
winter period when sales are traditionally
slow. This was especially painful given the
launch in December of the companys
new flagship BOA Thalassa, proclaimed
to be the first purpose-built EM survey
vessel in the world and a reminder of
better times for CSEM surveys. The vessel
was built by Bergen Group Fosen and is
leased from the owner BOA Offshore on a
long-term charter.
A matter of interpretation
A thorough strategic review of EMGS
should bring to light what is probably the
main stumbling block to expanding the
CSEM business for any of the companies
involved, namely processing and
interpretation of CSEM data. This is not
something which EM companies can fix
on their own because one of the issues is
the lack of familiarity with EM data in
todays oil companies.
There are numerous exploration
departments which simply do not have the
capacity or capability to take on CSEM
projects even though they may like the
idea in principle. It is quite obvious that
larger oil companies and national oil
companies with the resources have been
the main customers for CSEM to date.
However, the demand being heard from
the client side is that CSEM will only
reach its full potential when the data can
be integrated satisfactorily with other
measurements such as seismic and well
logs.
EMGS Clearplay package offering an
end-to-end support system from
acquisition through interpretation
includes Bridge software for integration
with other geophysical data applications.
There is little to suggest that Bridge
surveying
On board the OHM Express: EM receivers awaiting deployment.
provides the complete integration that oil
company customers are looking for, and it
may also be that EMGS is perceived as
being focused primarily on EM with
insufficient depth of expertise in seismic
and well technology issues. Compared
with an integrated geophysical services
company, it also appears light on
processing resources although a year ago
it did treble the size of its computer
cluster.
WesternGecos EM division is quite
explicit about its aim of developing a
service which combines its CSEM and
marine magnetotelluric data with the best
in downhole, well-to-well, cross-well, and
well-to-surface EM and seismic
technology. A year or two ago the
company bought Italian-based Geosystem
to help meet the processing challenges,
and ultimately the company will
presumably look to bringing in its well
logging expertise especially for reservoir
monitoring where CSEM could have a role
to play.
OHMs response to the processing and
interpretation issue has been to purchase
the US-based company Rock Solid Images
which was already working on the
integraton of rock physics, well and
seismic data. This has actually resulted in
quite a flow of CSEM data from oil
companies looking for improved
understanding of what they have
acquired. OHM and Rock Solid have also
established the WISE Consortium in the
UK supported by Total, Chevron, Dong
Energy and the Department of Business
Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR)
to support study of how to combine
CSEM, seismic and well data. Whilst this
initiative addresses the fundamental
challenge for CSEM, OHM has, in
common with EMGS and WesternGeco,
been obliged to cut back on its vessel
capacity in light of poor demand.
Beyond these three players, some
limited offshore activity has been carried
out by Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS)
based on its acquisition of MTEM, the
Edinburgh University spin-off. It seems to
be no secret that the companys concept of
producing a towed EM acquisition
solution that could be packaged within a
seismic survey project has hit something
of a technical roadblock. In the current
economic climate there may not be a big
incentive to pour in the money and
resources necessary to bring the service
to market.
Any initial scepticism about the
feasibility of a towed EM solution may be
assuaged by work being carried out by the
Scripps Institute Marine EM Laboratory,
San Diego, where veteran marine EM
researcher Prof Steven Constable is in
residence. Last summer the lab was
involved in industry-funded research in
the Gulf of Mexico investigating the use
of marine EM methods to characterise gas
hydrates. During that project a towed
three component EM receiver Vulcan
was deployed with what are reported to
have been encouraging results.
Sponsors of the project such as
WesternGeco, EMGS and Fugro (which
has so far unrealised operational
aspirations in EM technology) will
doubtless be watching that particular
aspect of the research with extra interest.
Prof Constable is also advising Quasar
Technologies, a San Diego-based company
which may have identified a potential gap
in the market by developing an
independently available ocean bottom
receiver for EM surveys. The QMax EM3
prototype was launched at the SEG
annual meeting in Las Vegas last
November.
Another marine EM-related company
that has managed to keep under the radar
is Petromarker, based in Stavanger,
Norway, which has been working closely
with Discover Petroleum, but now has
Schlumberger as an investor. Last
November the company signed up with
EON-Ruhrgas to develop survey projects
offshore Norway in 2009. The companys
TEMP-VEL and TEMP-AEL methods
using vertical transmitters and receivers
in the time domain and in near zone
involve a two vessel operation with ROV
support for seabed receiver placement.
Some advantages claimed for the
technique are improvements in
investigation depth down to 5000m, in
horizontal resolution for target areas
between 5-25km
2
, and in vertical
resolution with minimum target reservoir
thickness between 30-100m. Last year the
company mobilised the Far Sovereign and
the Bourbon Pearl to carry out a six
month survey campaign for Discover
Petroleum and partners in the North Sea,
Norwegian Sea and Barents Sea in water
depths ranging from 180-1280m.
And so the story continues with more
than a suspicion that the best chapters
have yet to be written.
surveying
Scripps Vulcan towed EM receiver: ready to make a splash.
New player: Quasar prototype EM ocean
bottom receiver.
SPE Offshore Europe is where the
E&P community meets to nd the
solutions required to keep up with
an accelerating technology race,
and understand the demands of
a changing industry committed to
ensuring security of supply in an
increasingly complex world.

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AOG_M_4_Ad_Page32 2/3/09 7:05 pm Page 1
A
network of new sensors will be
deployed alongside the existing
Sonardyne sensors in the Bay of
Bengal and off the west coast off India
where they will continuously monitor the
ocean for the characteristic water
pressure changes that indicate a
developing tsunami.
The Sonardyne monitors are based on
sophisticated subsea transponders
equipped with highly accurate pressure
sensors that are positioned on the seabed
hundreds of miles off the Indian coast. If
one of the transponders detects a small,
but continuous, change in water pressure
it transmits an acoustic emergency
warning signal to a radio buoy moored on
the surface above it. The buoys are
operated by NIOT (National Institute of
Ocean Technology) of India and they
relay the warnings via a satellite link to
the organisations headquarters in
Chennai. From there, alerts can be
forwarded to the appropriate authorities
in time for precautions to be taken.
The contract for a tsunami detection
system for India was awarded to
Sonardyne following an initial trial early
in 2007 when systems from Sonardyne
and three other manufacturers were
evaluated. According to Sonardyne, only
its sensors performed satisfactorily so the
company was asked to supply a further
eight monitoring transponders which
were installed to provide immediate
coverage for the areas at most risk. The
latest delivery of sensors completes the
Indian early warning network and now
provides monitoring for Indias entire
coastline.
The success of the Sonardyne system is
attributed to its use of proven acoustic
technology that is in everyday use in the
offshore oil and gas industry. Sonardyne
is a leading supplier of subsea
navigation, positioning and
communications systems for this
industry and the companys Compatt 5
acoustic transponder proved to be the
ideal hardware platform on which to base
the tsunami detection sensor.
The reliability of the Sonardyne
detection system was convincingly
demonstrated to NIOT when the first
sensors had only just been laid. The NIOT
ship Sagar Manjusha was returning to
Chennai after the deployment of six
tsunami buoys. When the ship was an
hour from port, one of the Sonardyne
sensors it had just laid registered a
tsunami warning, triggering an alert to
NIOT. The vessel was prevented from
entering the harbour for berthing and all
vessels in Chennai port were evacuated as
a precaution. Although a dangerous
tsunami did not develop, it was felt that
the Sonardyne system had proved its
reliability and effectiveness.
The National Early Warning System for
Tsunami & Storm Surges in the Indian
Ocean is a collective project initiated by
the Ministry of Earth Sciences of India.
It was launched following the devastating
tsunami of December 2004 and has
become a significant demonstration of
Indian expertise.
Responsibility for development and
deployment of the tsunami buoy system
and the algorithm for the seabed pressure
reference systems was given to NIOT. The
tsunami prediction modelling and the
final prediction was assigned to the
Indian National Centre for Ocean
Information Services (INCOIS) in
Hyderabad.
Sonardyne provided the specialized
acoustic technology.
environment
Tsunami warning system
watches over India
The latest batch of acoustic monitoring sensors delivered by UK firm
Sonardyne International will oversee the Indian coastline by providing the
early detection and warning of tsunami waves. Paul Eastaughreports.
aog_M_4_p033_tsunami 27/2/09 4:43 pm Page 33
H
otel-style Internet service
broadband that can be accessed
with nothing more than a wireless
card-equipped laptop, a credit card or
account and a few clicks can be found in
some of the worlds most remote reaches.
Now, a group of offshore service
companies is pushing to extend the
service to mobile oil and gas rigs and
vessels. Dubbed the Gulf of Mexico
Broadband Special Interest Group, the
association of major service companies,
which includes Fugro Chance,
BJ Services, Baker Hughes and
Halliburton, has been lobbying
communication providers to come up
with a simple solution for third-party
company employees to get online
hundreds of miles from shore. And
despite the challenges most
prominently, encouraging enough billable
usage to make such an offering
economically feasible communications
companies are delivering.
Late last year, Houston-based CapRock
Communications rolled out NetSpot, its
wireless broadband offering for the
offshore industry. While the service
allows contractors to use the internet for
business communicating with shore
operations, seeking help from experts on
land, troubleshooting, relaying status
reports without having to deploy their
own communications systems at the work
site, wireless broadband offers a less
mission-critical, but equally important
benefit for crews, says Rohit Chhabra
(pictured), CapRocks director of product
management and marketing. The
number one challenge our customers are
facing today is crew morale, and an
extreme shortage of
skilled crew, he says.
Wireless access for
the laptop-dependent
Generation X is an
important
recruitment and
retention tool,
Chhabra says. CapRock had been looking
at kiosk-style internet access and phone
service for crew before the company,
along with a handful of other
communications providers, was
approached by the service company
group. The special interest group gave us
the ammunition to kill two birds with one
stone: the needs of service companies for
the kind of internet access they would
find in a hotel or Starbucks, and the needs
of the crew for entertainment and
communication with families, he says.
CapRock installed test systems on two
rigs in the Gulf of Mexico Rowans
Gorilla IV and Diamond Offshores Ocean
Valiant and plans to expand service to
others. Any new installs we do, the plan is
to have NetSpot deployed, Chhabra says.
That will include more than 140 drilling
rigs owned by Transocean, which
recently awarded CapRock a contract to
standardize its communications systems
(see panel below).
NetSpot follows on the heels of WiFi
HotSpot, the service piloted in late 2007
and introduced in the Gulf of Mexico late
April 2008 by RigNet, which is also based
in Houston. RigNet first rolled out the
service in the Gulf on rigs operated by
Ensco and Noble Corp; by December,
HotSpot was installed on rigs in the
Middle East and Europe, and the company
was expanding the service to the Asia
Pacific region, says RigNet product and
satcoms
Offshore surfers
want bandwidth
After tests in the Gulf of Mexico, hotel-style Internet
service has been deployed on dozens of rigs around the
world, with service to be ramped up in coming months.
Russell McCulley looks at whats driving the trend, and
the group of oilfield service companies behind it.
Scott Talbot of RigNets project team installs
and tests connections on the Ensco 93.
Landing a
VSAT
big one
CapRock Communications
ended months of
speculation last month
when it announced a
five-year contract to update
and standardize VSAT
communications aboard
Transoceans worldwide
drilling rig fleet of some
140 rigs.
Neither party disclosed
the financial terms of the
contract.
Its a huge win for us,
says Ron Wagnon, CapRock
VP and general manager,
North America. Weve been
on track growing
internationally for some
time already. We will
probably be standing up a
couple of additional
networks for satellite
transmissions to
accommodate the expanded
business.
Transocean has
contracted with CapRock
for a portion of its
communications services,
mostly in the Gulf of
Mexico, for more than a
decade. But the drilling
giant also relied on a
handful of other providers,
and the November 2007
merger with GlobalSantaFe
increased the complexity of
the companys
communications systems.
CapRock will consolidate
the Transoceans various
VSAT systems, including
those at onshore support
facilities, into a common
network that will support
voice over IP (VoIP), secure
access to Transoceans
corporate network, and
Internet access.
The deployment the
largest for a single drilling
contractor should be 90%
complete in 12 to 16
months, Wagnon says, with
the remainder to be
completed as existing
communications contracts
are terminated.
All rigs will feature
separate networks, one for
Transoceans internal use
and another for third-party
contractors and crew.
CapRocks NetSpot wireless
Internet service will be
installed on all Transocean
rigs, Wagnon says,
allowing users a consistent
look and feel throughout
the world.
aog_M_4_p034_satcoms 27/2/09 4:45 pm Page 34
marketing manager Peter Chouquette. As
of early December, the company had
deployed the service on more than 90
offshore rigs and 40 on land.
Response is getting stronger and
stronger, Chouquette (pictured) says. It is
a high priority for us to deploy public
WiFi HotSpot on all our rigs. One
challenge for RigNet and other
communications providers has been
developing an economic model that covers
the cost of providing the service while
still making it affordable for workers on
the rigs; because it costs much more to use
satellite to provide broadband, rates and
fees tend to be higher than land-based
Internet service. Factor in the uncertainty
about reaching a critical mass of users on
a rig theres no guarantee that enough
crew members will
sign on to the service
to make it cost-
effective to provide it
and the economics of
offshore wi-fi become
more complicated.
Because you dont
know whos on the rig or what the rig
activity will be, theres not a guaranteed
buy-in, he says.
RigNet has structured its pricing
system around selling blocks of time:
subscribers are billed only for the time
they use, Chouquette says, unlike many
hotel-style services, which charge a fixed
daily rate. It minimizes abuse, while
keeping the service affordable, he says.
Over 90% of users use it for less than an
hour at a time. And its not intended to be
for playing games all day, but for crew
morale and quality of life.
CapRocks plans call for three payment
options: hourly usage, a daily rate and
corporate subscriptions. The service also
segregates usage, creating a virtual dual
network, with one portion reserved for
business-only use and the other for crew
leisure.
While CapRock and RigNet were the
first to deliver the service, Jerry Greig,
chief information officer at Fugro
Chance and chair of the Gulf of Mexico
Broadband SIG, says the group has been
in talks with three other major
communications providers Stratos
Global, Schlumberger and Broadpoint
Communications from the start. All five
companies have indicated a commitment
to moving forward with this model, Greig
says. Were not playing favorites. We need
all five to play into this. Were not
requiring them to have the same
components or rate schedules. We just
satcoms
Parallel thinking
Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC)
has been expanding its business in Asia in
recent years, connecting its branch
offices to the regional headquarters in
Singapore through a single network. To
support this expansion, the petrochems
group needed a parallel network that
could support many applications and
provide redundancy in the event of an
outage on its primary network.
Seeking to avoid the time-consuming
challenges of managing multiple in-
country providers, while at the same time
improve collaboration among
employees, SABIC consulted Macquarie
Telecom, with which it had been a Voice
customer since 2002, about providing
Data services too.
Macquarie Telecoms solution was to
deliver a DSL IP Site-to-Site VPN for SABICs
11 sites in nine countries in the Asia Pacific
region. Additionally, SSL-VPN remote
access was also deployed. The new
network enables applications to
communicate in real time. It also allows
for an automatic failover should
connection to its primary network fail. This
provided the redundancy that SABIC
wanted to achieve, says Macquarie. In
addition, with our multi-carrier backbone,
the new network also provided diversity
and load balancing.
The SSL VPN remote access included a
two-level authentication process for staff
to connect to the regional network
anytime and from anywhere. SABIC also
highlighted that the new network has
enabled staff to work offsite as though
they are in the office, adds Macquarie.
With soft phones on their laptop, they
can retrieve voice messages, make VoIP
phone calls and stay connected. In
addition, it also gives them the flexibility to
work offline. Unlike its predecessor, the
new system does not require staff to stay
connected and logged on the whole
time, allowing them to log in and
synchronize their emails and work offline.
As well as enhanced ITsupport and
remote troubleshooting, the readily
scalable network also came with a real
time monitoring application,
MacquarieView. This provides SABICs
Singapore-based ITteam with the visibility
to monitor its traffic and performance as
well as the security status of its networks.
Macquarie says customisable billing
options also offer the companys admin
department the flexibility of billing in
different currencies for the various sites.
want to know that we can walk onto a rig
and have hotel-type service. We dont care
whos providing it.
Greig says talks with the
communications companies have
revealed some challenges that go beyond
devising pricing structures. Complex rig
designs make creating a wireless network
throughout the structure cost-prohibitive;
access points have to be deployed
judiciously, usually in crew common
areas such as lounges and galleys. And
the system necessarily eats into the rigs
broadband access. Broadband has been
an issue, he says. We are, basically,
guests of our client while on the rig. As a
welcomed guest, we do not want to impact
the ability of the communications
provider, rig owner or operator to live up
to their service level agreements. We
simply want access to excess capacity, or
for the VSAT provider to carve a new
virtual LAN for this use, assuming the
demand warrants it.
As things stand, offshore service
companies must haul their own
communications equipment to job sites,
even for short-term commitments.
Wireless broadband access could reduce
the time, expense and space involved, he
says.
Greig says he is encouraged by the
reaction among communications
providers to the service company groups
initiative. Our hope is that in six to 12
months, we can disband the group and
declare success. But it may take longer
than that, he says. And wed like to see
this model extended worldwide. The Gulf
of Mexico was the pilot area, but theres
no reason to think there is not a similar
demand worldwide.
aog_M_4_p035_satcoms 27/2/09 4:45 pm Page 35
I
t has been found that the optimized
number of cargo tanks for the Satellite
Service Platform (SSP) 320 FPSO is six
according to both stability and operational
requirements. Six pie-shape tanks reduce
the structural steel usage by eliminating
extra tank bulkheads and offer simplicity
of pumping and piping arrangements,
consequently reducing the capex of the
pumping system.
The SSP 320, as a round floater, offers a
larger operational envelope for tankers
directly moored to it than other direct
offloading alternatives.
Tank layout stability and
sloshing loads
The purpose of the tank layout study was
to find the optimum number of tanks by
considering the operational and stability
requirements with the aim of achieving a
safe, stable and robust design at a
competitive fabrication cost.
Stability is one of the primary starting
points of the SSP 320 design. The stability
criteria applicable to the SSP, as stated by
Marpol and ABS, are given in Marpol
Annex 1 Reg 27 and MEPC Resolution
139(53) amended by Resolution 142(54)
Guidelines for application of Marpol
Annex I requirements to FPSOs and FSUs
and ABS Rules for building and classing
mobile offshore drilling units. The Marpol
rule states that the radial extension of the
damage zone is to be taken as everything
outside a vertical line 38ft (11.5m)
measured horizontally from the outer hull
at the fully loaded (the deepest) draft. By
locating cargo tanks out of the damage
zone, only the designed outer void/ballast
tanks become flooded during a
catastrophic hull penetration. The design
offers two benefits: minimizing the risk for
crude release during a catastrophic hull
penetration and minimizing the list
associated with a hull penetration.
Damage stability analysis of the SSP 320,
based on a six-tank configuration,
indicates the SSP 320 is able to maintain
good stability even when damaged with
the static heel angle being significantly
less than the Marpol specified limit of 25.
The configuration also meets and
exceeds all other Marpol and ABS
damaged and intact stability requirements
with respect to minimum GM by at least
50%, as shown in Figure 1. It should be
noted the stability is achieved without the
use of an active ballast system, which
again simplifies the SSP design and
operability while further reducing capex.
Six wedge-shaped cargo tanks is also the
minimum required number of tanks based
on operability.
One of the concerns of a large size tank
is the sloshing of hydrocarbon products;
however, the SSP 320 has a sloshing
natural period that is far outside the range
of the SSP hull roll/pitch natural period,
which is approximately 27 seconds. As a
result, sloshing is expected to be
minimal within the wave energy zone, so
baffle plates within the tanks can be
avoided. The sloshing loads, if any, will be
further investigated by simulation using
ABS 3D CFD software during detail
design.
Tank layout operability
A detail evaluation was performed for the
impact on SSP operability based on the
number of cargo tanks taken out of
service due to cargo washing, inspection,
etc. By assuming a production rate of
80,000b/d, production capacity scenarios
can be developed as approximately 12 days
production capacity for one tank out of
service and approximately 10 days
production capacity for two tanks out of
service.
With high production rates the number
of cargo tanks could force lower
fpso design
Floating production
in the round
The developers of a novel floating
production platform now moving
into the detail engineering phase
believe their round floater design
offers the market a safe, stable, operator-friendly unit
with major capex savings over conventional ship-shape
FPSOs. Here, OPEs Xiaoping Yang, Steve Craig and
Nico Vandenwormand ODLs Jim Orrdiscuss the design
attributes and business case for the SSP 320.
Jim Orris the senior operations
consultant at ODL. Xiaoping Yang is
engineering specialist, SSP interface
engineer at OPE. Steve Craig is senior
project manager SSP at OPE. Nico
Vandenwormis VP corporate business
development at OPE.
About the authors
Figure 1. SSP 320 intact and damage stability performance vs ABS and Marpol criteria.
aog_M_4_p036_fpso design 27/2/09 4:46 pm Page 36
production in the event of a cargo tank
being out of service for inspection or
maintenance; however, the SSP 320 is
designed to store 1.2 million barrels of
crude oil, which is much more than the
typical 1 million barrel offloading package
that the current tanker market offers.
Because of this, the number of tanks
becomes less critical.
The SSP 320, as an FPSO, is designed to
allow slop storage. Two slop tanks are
incorporated into the design, each with a
25,000bbl capacity. During operation, one
slop tank is always designated as dirty
while the other is clean. In each slop
tank, gravity-separated oil will be
skimmed off through open-ended
standpipes connected to the dirty
stripping/slop tank pump. Skimmed oil
can then be transferred to any cargo tank
or returned to the process. Separated
water from the dirty slop tank will be
decanted under hydrostatic pressure by an
internal pipe connecting the two slop
tanks into the clean slop tank for further
gravity separation. Clean water is then
drawn off the bottom of the clean slop
tank by the clean stripping/slop pump for
overboard discharge. This discharge is
sampled via the oil discharge monitoring
equipment.
Slop tanks are positioned near the
center of the SSP and are of a deep design
to allow water to settle out, enabling
discharge without settling being impacted
by high pitch motions.
The tank layout of the SSP 320 as shown
in Figure 3 satisfies all the operational
requirements for cargo and slop tanks.
The SSP 320 design also includes a
10,000bbl dead oil storage tank.
Dead oil is used for displacing riser
fluids in a shutdown/start-up case to
address flow assurances issues.
Optimizing the number of tanks reduces
the structural steel weight by eliminating
extra tank bulkheads associated with
more tank compartments. The reduced
number of tanks also simplifies the
pumping and piping arrangement and
consequently reduces the capex of the
overall pumping system.
Crude oil pumping options
Two alternatives conventional pump
room and submerged pumping were
considered during design of the cargo
pumping system. The base case was
developed around a conventional tanker
pump room at the bottom of the hull fitted
with six electric motor driven centrifugal
pumps. The pumps are connected radially
to the crude oil storage tanks at the tank
bulkheads in the circular pump room as
shown in Figure 2. Unlike tankers that are
programmed to come out of service at
intervals of two to three years to allow
repairs to the underwater parts of the hull
and machinery systems, repairs to piping
and valves in the pump room on an FPSO
need to be avoided to prevent interrupting
production uptime.
Reliability of todays tanker cargo
handling systems has significantly
improved over the past 15 years with the
advent of good piping corrosion coatings
and advanced valve technology. Pump
rooms are now spaciously designed, well
lit and ventilated and incorporate a host of
safety monitoring features. It is not
uncommon for tankers to come out of
service for hull repairs and inspections, as
required by the classification societies,
only to find that repairs to the cargo piping
systems are not required. The pump room
option offers the advantage that repairs to
the cargo pumps can be efficiently carried
out while the vessel is in service with
fpso design
Figure 2. SSP 320 cargo and slop tank layout.
Figure 3. Conventional pump room layout.
minimum disruption to operations.
Therefore, the pump room option of a
proven technology offers a logical
selection for the SSP 320.
However, the conventional pump room
option demands a significant hull space
and added structural steel to segregate the
pump room and access ways from other
tank compartments. In addition, the pump
room needs to be located at the bottom of
the hull, which leads to safety concerns
with respect to ingress/egress. Further, a
conventional pump room needs a
dedicated bilge system.
The submersible pumping option is
based on submersible pumps with pipe
stacks and pump heads inside the tank.
Figure 4 illustrates a typical hydraulic
driven submersible pump. The submerged
pumping concept offers improved
operational reliability and eliminates
potential problems with inter-tank
pipeline corrosion and potential of
passing valves. The elimination of
pipelines penetrating cargo tank
bulkheads has attractive benefits with full
isolation of tanks enabling a combination
of tanks to be effectively isolated in
preparation for gas freeing.
Not only does the submersible pumping
option eliminate the considerable space
required by a conventional pump room,
along with the associated added structural
steel and fabrication cost, it also obviates
the need for a dedicated bilge system.
More importantly, this option also
eliminates the safety concerns associated
with pump room ingress/egress.
A cost comparison of the two
alternatives found that the submerged
pumping option offers significant cost
advantage over the traditional pump
room option. The submersible pump is
currently considered a preferred option
for the SSP 320, but both the submersible
system and conventional pump room will
be investigated in the detail design phase
to establish which is most beneficial when
accounting for all aspects in the design. It
should be noted, however, that either
pumping system can easily be
implemented, should an operator have a
preference.
SSP 320 offloading system
The SSP offers a direct offloading system
that can accommodate tankers of
opportunity without requiring the
additional CALM buoy that is currently
the standard offloading solution of many
operators. The objective of the SSP 320
offloading system was to eliminate the
high capital investment of a CALM buoy
by providing a safe and cost-effective
alternative that takes advantage of the
SSPs round hull shape.
The SSP offloading system enhances the
weathervaning capability by:
using an articulated hawser reel system
available in the market to allow the hawser
to swing about 90 around the SSP; and
providing a trackline system at the
periphery of the SSP to allow passive
movement of an articulated hawser reel
around the periphery.
OPEs SSP offloading system offers three
levels of weathervaning during offloading:
Level I system uses a current market
available hawser reel system, eg Conitech
Beattie, Pusnes;
Level II system includes a 90 trackline
system at the periphery of the SSP, which
allows the tanker to weathervane around
the SSP for approximately 270, as shown
in Figure 5; and
Level III system includes a 180 trackline
system positioned at the side shell of the
SSP, which allows the tanker to
weathervane around the SSP for
approximately 360.
OPE has employed Alkyon Hydraulics of
The Netherlands to perform the offloading
simulation to determine the tanker
operational envelope and reasonable
operation scenarios during a high squall
event in West Africa. The base case for the
West Africa application is the Level II
weathervaning system. The preliminary
results indicate promising operational
scenarios under a one-year squall event for
offshore Angola. Further work is under
way to also verify safe envelopes for
offshore Brazil.
Conclusion
OPE conducted three HAZID workshops,
attended by major E&P operators, to
discuss the hull configuration, tank
compartmentation, cargo pumping
arrangement and offloading system. The
E&P operator HAZID workshops verified
the SSP design. OPE is proceeding into the
detail engineering phase.
Figure 4. Typical hydraulic driven
submersible pump system.
Figure 5. Offloading
tanker operation of
envelope for Level II
weathervaning system.
fpso design
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AOG_M_4_Ad_Page39 2/3/09 7:20 pm Page 1
T
he backlog of orders
placed in previous years
continues to fuel shipyard
fabrication activity. However,
renegotiation of several
jackup contracts by Seadrill at
two Singapore yards,
termination of a deepwater
by Scorpion Offshore and
cancellation of a support
vessel by Lewek Shipping
coupled with substantial
financing problems
encountered by PetroMena for
ultra-deepwater semis under
construction at SembCorp
Marine underscore the
challenging economic climate.
Jackups
Sinopec Shanghai Offshore
Petroleum Exploration &
Development Corporation has
had first steel struck for an as
yet unnamed newbuild jackup
hull at PPL Shipyard in
Singapore.
KSAM2 Petrodrill Offshore,
a joint venture led by
Singapore-based KS Energy
Services and Saudi-based
Amwal Al Khaleej and
Maritime Industrial Services
(MIS), has had the jackup
KS Endeavour hull loaded out
at MISyard in Sharjah, UAE.
The Friede & Goldman (F&G)
Super Mod 2 design rig,
30,000ft drilling depth rated
and operable in a 300ft water
depth, is 80% complete and
ahead of schedule with
delivery in 1Q 2010.
MIS has also cut steel for the
first of two newbuild F&G
Super Mod 2 jackup drilling
rigs for MENAdrill, valued at
$364 million in total, to be
delivered in 3Q and 4Q 2010,
respectively.
COSL has taken delivery
three months early of the
jackup drilling rig COSL
Confidence from PPL Shipyard.
It is a Baker Marine Pacific
Class 375 design capable of
drilling to 30,000ft in 375ft
water depths for operations in
Bohai Bay, China.
Maersk Drilling has taken
delivery of the jackup drilling
rig Maersk Resolve built by
Keppel Fels (KFels) in
Singapore. Suited to North Sea
operations, this is the third of
four such high efficiency units
ordered by Maersk (AOG
March/April 2008).
Aban Singapore has
collected its newbuild jackup
drilling rig Deep Driller 8, a
KFels Super B class design,
and the fifth delivered to Aban
by Singapores KFels since
2006.
Seadrill Jack-Ups and KFels
have agreed to continue
building two jackup drilling
rigs on revised and mutually
beneficial terms. The contract
value of the two jackups is
$420 million.
Seadrill and PPL Shipyard
have also agreed to revised
terms on two jackup drilling
rigs ordered by Seadrill in
June last year. The contract
value for both remains the
same at $430 million.
Amendments to the four
jackup contracts involving
PPL and KFels postpone all
remaining milestone
payments for the second units
to be built at both yards until
delivery and revise the
milestone payment schedule
for the first two units.
Scorpion, through
subsidiaries Scorpion
Freedom and Scorpion
Deepwater, has secured
financing for its remaining
construction payments on the
LeTourneau Super 116 jackup
drilling rig Offshore Freedom
and a new credit facility
totaling $169 million. Offshore
Freedom, being constructed by
Lamprell Energy in Sharjah,
UAE, is due for delivery in
mid-April.
Scorpion Intrepid, a
Scorpion Offshore subsidiary,
has taken delivery of the
jackup drilling rig Offshore
Intrepid, built by the Keppel
O&M subsidiary in Texas,
Keppel AmFels. The last in a
series of five LeTourneau
Super 116 jackups
commissioned by Scorpion in
2005, the rig has been
chartered by Odfjell Drilling
Services for operations in the
Arabian Gulf.
Semisubmersibles
Transocean has taken delivery
of Development Driller III, an
ultra-deepwater
built by KFels in Singapore to
the yards proprietary DSS 51
design. Able to drill wells
37,500ft deep in water depths of
up to 7500ft, and upgradable to
40,000ft and 10,000ft
respectively, the rig has a
payload capacity of 13,500
tons. The semi will be
deployed to the Gulf of Mexico
for BP.
Larsen Oil & Gas has had
turnkey construction
completed for Petrorig I, the
first in a series of four ultra-
deepwater semisubmersible
drilling units the company has
on order with Sembcorp
Marine Singapore subsidiary
Jurong Shipyard. A sixth
generation Friede & Goldman
Ex-D Millennium Class design
capable of drilling up to
37,500ft in DP mode in water
depths of up to 10,000ft, the rig
is scheduled for sailaway in
March to begin a five-year
charter in the Gulf of Mexico.
Chinas Cosco Zhoushan
Shipyard in Nantong, has
delivered the semisubmersible
drilling rig Island Innovator to
Marine Accurate Well. A
Global Maritime GM4000-WI
fabrication
40
Yards cruise on
back orders
Asia Pacific shipyards remain busy but
warning signs of a slowing market abound.
John Muellerupdates his regional files.
Maersk Resolve jackup.
Transoceans Development
Driller III is to be deployed to
the Gulf of Mexico.
aog_M_4_p040_fabrication 27/2/09 4:49 pm Page 40
design rig built for North Sea
operations, it has DP3 and
coiled tubing capabilities.
Seadrill has taken delivery
of the newbuild deepwater
West Aquarius from the DSME
shipyard in South Korea. The
semi has been deployed to
Indonesia for its first
assignment under a four-year
worldwide exploration
contract with ExxonMobil.
Scorpion Offshore
subsidiary Scorpion
Deepwater has reached an
amicable agreement with
KFels and third party vendors
to terminate construction of a
$405 million DSS-38 class
semisubmersible drilling rig,
absorbing a loss not exceeding
$74 million. Scorpion says it is
working closely with KFels
and the vendors to progress
discussions with other parties
who have expressed an
interest in constructing and
equipping the semi.
Other rigs/vessels
Kencana Petroleum subsidiary
Kencana HL has started
building a second tender
assisted drilling vessel at its
53-acre fabrication yard
located in Lumut Port
Industrial Park, Perak, West
Malaysia. Completion is set for
2Q 2010.
Flex LNG and Samsung
Heavy Industries have agreed
to certain changes to the
construction contracts for four
floating LNG (FLNG)
production vessels the
worlds first currently on
order. Delivery dates for these
units have been pushed back
six to seven months.
In a related matter, Kanfa
Aragon, a subsidiary of
Norways Sevan Marine, has
signed a contract valued at
$200 million with SHI for
development of an LNG
production topside for the
FLNG production vessel.
PetroProd has agreed to sell
the MT Arc, under conversion
to an FPSO at Jurong
Shipyard, to an undisclosed
operator for $216 million. First
utilisation of the vessel is
scheduled in 1Q 2010.
PetroProd is exiting the FPSO
market to focus on jackups.
The McConnell Bovis (MCB)
partnership has had an
$8.8 million laybarge
conversion and fit-out
completed by Kencana HL in
Malaysia. Capable of handling
pipe up to 67in diameter, the
laybarge will be transported to
Sydney, Australia using the
Dockwise heavy transporter
Black Marlin.
Latest addition to the
Superior Energy Services fleet
is the 400ft long, 880t lift
capacity derrick and
accommodation barge
Superior Pride. On completion
in Xiamen, China, the barge
was loaded on to the Dockwise
submersible transporter
Trustee, bound for service
offshore West Africa.
Hallin Marine has added the
newbuild subsea operations
vessel (SOV) Ullswater to its
roster, eight weeks late due to
construction delays at Pan-
United Marine shipyard in
Singapore. Oslo-based marine
group RS Platou has set up a
company to buy Ullswater for
$45 million and charter the
SOV to Hallin Marine.
Lewek Shipping, a
subsidiary of Singapore-based
Ezra Holdings, is working on a
mutually agreeable
termination of its $69 million
contract with Keppel
Singmarine for a multi-
functional support vessel
(MFSV). The 30,000bhp
newbuild was originally slated
for completion in 2010.
fabrication
41
Feeling
the pinch
Shipyards are increasingly
feeling the pinch as more
contracts are renegotiated.
As Keppel Corporation has
observed, the global
economic slowdown and
financial crisis as well as the
drop in oil prices have
affected the oil & gas
industry with the
consequence of fewer rig
contracts. Ship repair is also
expected to slump as low
freight rates result in more
vessels being laid up.
However, Keppel sees
demand for FPSO
conversions remaining strong,
and, with an outstanding
order book worth around
$7 billion and deliveries into
2012, Keppel Offshore &
Marines yards will remain
busy.
SembCorp Marine has
been experiencing more
serious difficulties with
Norwegian drilling contractor
PetroMena over payment for
ultra-deep drilling semis the
yard has contracted to build.
Long-term contracts have
already been secured by
PetroMena for Petrorig I, II
and III upon delivery.
This cloud may be passing
as the driller recently
announced that its subsidiary
Petrorig III and J urong
Shipyard have agreed to
postpone a $105 million yard
installment related to
Petrorig III that was due in
J anuary 2009 to the delivery
of the rig in 1Q 2010.
Moreover, subsidiary Petrorig I
has a conditional
commitment from Lloyds TSB
Bank regarding financing
$200 million out of the
$300 million debt for Petrorig I,
the $100 million balance
being sought from another
bank. Meanwhile, Larsen Oil
& Gas, as business manager
for PetroRig III, says it has
received a conditional offer
of around $540 million for that
unit.
The recently completed
Petrorig I is bound for
the Gulf of Mexico.
Newbuild rig Island Innovator.
aog_M_4_p041_fabrication 27/2/09 4:49 pm Page 41
Rigid & flexible
pipe lay
Cecon has finalised
engineering of a pipelay ramp
which enables flexible and
rigid pipe to be deployed
through the same ramp,
offering both J-lay and reel-lay
capabilities for rigid pipes.
The reel-lay method is suited
to areas with good
infrastructures served by
spool bases such as the North
Sea and the Gulf of Mexico,
while the J-lay method would
be used in remote areas when
transit time and loading
capacity is critical.
According to Cecon, the full
advantage of the system is
emphasised for SCRs (steel
catenary risers) when fatigue
sensitive parts require the
J-lay method while the rest
can be installed by reel-lay.
Conversion between J-lay and
reel-lay modes can be
accomplished within one to
two days, adds the Norwegian
company.
The system can be deployed
in shallow to deepwater and
handle flexible pipes from
100-700mm diameter and 4-24in
rigid pipes using J-lay and
4-12in rigid pipes with reel-lay.
Padding
pipelines
CRC-Evans Pipeline
Equipment has made available
Super Padder, the companys
most advanced, highest
volume machine able to screen
dirt piles for ditch padding for
pipeline diameters of 36in and
above.
The Super Padder is self-
loading and self-propelled,
allowing a single operator to
control the device using a
wireless remote that manages
speed, direction and all other
functions from a safe distance.
It is track mounted with a
high-frequency vibrating
screen that outputs volumes of
fines from either side and from
varying distances. Screened
rocks and debris are
discharged outside of the
track path, either into the
ditch or away from it.
GTL water
cleansed
Durapipe UK has supplied its
Corzan CPVC (chlorinated
polyvinyl chloride) pipework
and actuated ball valves to the
Pearl GTL project in Qatar,
UAE. They are installed in an
electro-chlorination plant,
which converts artificial
seawater into sodium
hypochlorite to sterilise the
system and prevent biological
growth in the array of water
systems within the plant.
Durapipes products were
specified and installed by
Cumberland Electrochemical,
a designer and manufacturer
of electro-chlorination
systems. The pipework, in
sizes up to 63mm, was utilised
in cooling tower circuits,
potable and service water
circuits and effluent treatment
plants.
CBM plug
and play
Universal Well Site Solutions,
a full-service automated and
wireless well-site production
solutions provider for coal
bed methane (CBM), shale
gas and low pressure gas
projects, has launched
UniSkid, hailing it as a cost-
effective alternative to old well
site trenching, integration and
installation of equipment that
has historically required
individual set-ups and
expensive on-site project
management.
The UniSkid platform,
developed over a decade from
field experience, provides
instant CBM well-site hookup,
with all equipment
communicating immediately.
It features gas field plug-and-
play technology that allows
customisation, such as the
addition of separators, gas
and water measurement and
communication devices.
All UniSkids are fitted with
product review
42
TORO on tour
Reflex Marine has launched what it considers a
revolutionary personnel transfer capsule, TORO, initially
demonstrated in Aberdeen and now embarked on a world
tour that takes in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia,
Abu Dhabi and Houston, Texas.
Developed as a low-cost buoyant and self-righting
transfer device that maintains passenger protection and
operational performance established with earlier Reflex
Marine designs, TORO can carry up to four passengers,
protecting them from side impact and heavy landings. The
protected body position and seat design allow it to be used
without seatbelts, facilitating fast loading and unloading
of personnel.
Certified by CE and ABS type approval, the capsule fits
into a standard shipping container, providing logistical
benefits.
Following early orders from Chevron and BG Group for
operations in the North Sea and Africa, Reflex reports it
has received serious inquiries from Asia Pacific and the
Middle East.
aog_M_4_p042_BOB 27/2/09 4:51 pm Page 42
an operator interface that can
be manually programmed, and
communication antennae, a
skid option, enable
information transfer from
well-site to computer
anywhere in the world.
Flowmeter
blockage
detection
Yokogawa has boosted the
reliability of its Rotameter
family of float-type flowmeters
with the development of a
patented float-blocking
indication system for the
RAMC flowmeter that
automatically detects any
problems with the free
movement of the float, based
on the fact that the float
oscillates slightly when there
is a flow.
Software is incorporated in
the transmitter to detect
whether this basic movement
is present and, if absent,
triggers an error signal and
the output current is adjusted
to fault-current level. Remote
diagnostics then indicate the
instrument is no longer
working correctly.
The Yokogawa Rotameter
Series RAMC and RAKD
flowmeters are housed in
stainless steel enclosures and
carry hazardous area
approvals, and the RAMC also
complies with safety integrity
level SIL1 and SIL2
requirements.
Custody transfer
improved
Welker Flow Measurement
Systems, a Texas-based
manufacturer of oil & gas
custody transfer metering
equipment, has introduced the
bi-directional SCS (straight
calibrated section) liquid
Prover, available in line sizes
from 3-42in and ANSI 150 to
900 flange ratings.
Advantages of the SCS
Prover design include no
expensive alignment flanges or
elbows in the calibrated
section which can be rolled out
and inspected without another
water draw. It is suitable for
coriolis and ultrasonic liquid
meters with manufactured
pulses as the flow is not
disrupted by the ball passing
through elbows and flange
sets, and since the flow
through the calibrated section
is smooth the pulses from
conventional PD (positive
displacement) and turbines
will be more evenly spaced.
Solvent-free oil
measurement
Turner Designs Hydrocarbon
Instruments has developed a
bench-top method to measure
oil-in-water that uses no
solvent.
The less than 10 minute
analysis technique
encompasses all oils including
heavy crude to condensates up
to 50API and refined diesel
range oil, lube oils, and heavy
fuel oils in water over a range
from below 1ppm to over
10,000ppm independent of
WSO (water soluble organics)
and is unaffected by
suspended solids, process
temperature and salinity.
Waxy crude
solution
Dow Hyperlast has developed a
proprietary rigid foam
technology system to meet
EN253 standards for onshore,
underground, heated
pipelines.
The rigid polyurethane foam
is being coated in a 90mm
thickness on a 600km-long
underground pre-insulated,
heat-traced pipeline that will
transport waxy crude oil from
Barmer in Rajasthan to Salaya
terminal in Gujarat, west
India when complete in
mid-2009.
Perma-Pipe Inc, which is
performing insulating and
jacketing of the piping system,
selected Dow Hyperlast, a
division of Dow Polyurethanes
Systems, for this assignment.
Jindal Saw is fabricating the
24in diameter pipes.
The foam is manufactured at
Dow Polyurethane Systems
sites based in Europe, with
technical support provided
locally through Dow Indias
polyurethanes system house
in Mumbai, India.
product review
43
Flexible arc welding
Swedish welding and cutting specialist ESAB has designed a
new Origo/Aristo range of CC/CV (constant voltage/ constant
current) welding machines to produce a high level of flexibility.
The new Origo and Aristo machines are supplied with ESAB
control units that enable different weld types to be produced and
many process parameters to be set before welding starts, also
allowing parameters to be changed during welding. The range
includes:
For TIG (tungsten inert gas) welding: The Origo Tig 3001i, a
300amp inverter power source, will produce a safe start and
stable arc, facilitating welding of all types of stainless and mild
steel, together with a range of other materials with plate
thicknesses of 0.5mm and up.
For MIG (metal inert gas) welding: High-alloyed material can
be welded with the new 400 amp compact Origo/Aristo Mig
4001i, A24 and Mig 4001iw units with chassis made from
galvanised steel.
For MMA (manual metal arc) welding: Origo Arc 4001i with
either the A22 or A24 control panel is designed to weld most metals
from alloyed and non alloyed steel, stainless steel, and cast iron.
aog_M_4_p043_BOB 27/2/09 4:51 pm Page 43
Gumusut-
Kakap award
JP Kenny Wood Group has
been awarded a four-year
contract by Sabah Shell
Petroleum for provision of
specialist subsea engineers,
engineering studies, design
and follow-on engineering
support through to the
fabrication and
commissioning phases of the
Gumusut-Kakap deepwater
development, located 120km
offshore Sabah, East Malaysia
in 1300ft of water.
The Gumusut-Kakap fields,
involving 19 subsea wells with
oil exported via a pipeline to a
new oil and gas terminal to be
built in Kimanis, Sabah, and
produced gas for re-injection,
have been combined into a
single development under a
unitisation agreement.
Co-venturers are Shell and
ConocoPhillips Sabah, each
holding 33% interests, with
Petronas Carigall 20% and
Murphy Oil 14%.
Operator Sabah Shell will
deploy Malaysias first
deepwater semisubmersible
with a production capacity of
150,000b/d.
Lump sum deal
for Asab
upgrade
Petrofac has been awarded a
$2.3 billion lump sum,
44-month contract by Abu
Dhabi Company for Onshore
Oil Operations (ADCO) for
development of the Asab oil
field in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Petrofac will provide
engineering, procurement and
construction services to
upgrade production capacity
of the Asab field to 1.8 million
barrels.
Moreover, Petrofac will also
upgrade both the facility's
ability to accept increased
production from the Sahil,
Shah and other southeast
fields and associated utilities
and water handling facilities.
Kashagan
phase two
under way
A joint venture comprising
Aker Solutions, CB&I and
WorleyParsons, has received a
front-end engineering and
design (FEED) contract valued
at $135 million for phase two of
the full-field development of
the Kashagan oil field in
Kazakhstan, offshore in the
northern sector of the Caspian
Sea.
Phase two work scope
includes the FEED of both
onshore and offshore facilities
and pipelines, with options for
early works, detail
engineering and procurement
services, technical assistance,
and design/system integrity.
The contract, expected to be
completed in 1Q 2010, also
allows for optional FEEDs for
the Kazakhstan oil fields
Aktote, Kairan and Kalamkas,
so could potentially extend up
to eight years.
The JV participants are
WorleyParsons Europe (45%),
CB&I UK (25%) and Aker
Engineering & Technology
(30%).
Reindeer gas
In Western Australia, Apache
and joint venture partner
Santos have signed a contract
to supply 154bcf of natural gas
from the offshore Reindeer
field, 75km northwest of
Dampier, to Citic Pacifics Sino
Iron project over a period of
seven years from 2H 2011.
Total return to the Apache and
Santos 55:45 JV is estimated at
$1.27 billion.
Gas will be supplied via 65-
mile offshore pipeline and an
onshore processing facility at
Devil Creek, 28 miles
southwest of Dampier, with a
capacity to process
210mmcf/d.
Indian well
control
Boots & Coots International
Well Control has renewed its
Safeguard contract with
Indias Oil & Natural Gas
Corporation (ONGC) for an
additional five years. The
award involves training,
inspection and blowout control
for 28 offshore and 94 land rigs
and also allows Boots & Coots
to work on special projects for
ONGC, both within and
outside India.
The company recently
completed a well control
secure and salvage project for
ONGC off the coast of India
that found and killed a well in
2600ft of water using an ROV
and the recovery of an 18
3
/4in
10,000lb blowout preventor.
China pipe
Wuxi Seamless Oil Pipes
Company of China, a WSP
Holdings subsidiary, has won
several contracts to supply a
total of 142,777t of oil country
tubular goods to China
National Petroleum
Corporation (CNPC), China
Petroleum & Chemical
Corporation (Sinopec), and
Shaanxi Yanchang Petroleum,
primarily for delivery by mid-
2009.
The CNPC contract, won
against 39 prequalified state-
owned and private PRC OCTG
manufacturers, involves the
supply of 90,202t of OCTG, of
which 70,000t will be API
casing and tubing of N80
grade steel or above. CNPC,
Sinopec and Yanchang will
receive 52,575t of steel pipe,
about half for API casing and
tubing of N80 grade or above.
Waxy crude
transport
Punj Lloyd Group has been
awarded a $22 million EPC
contract by Cairn Energy
India for a 24in diameter crude
oil heated and insulated
pipeline and an 8in gas line
over a distance of 57km in the
second phase of the Mangla
development project in
Gujarat.
Punj Lloyd rates the project
as unique since the waxy
Rajasthan crude oil,
solidifying at ambient
temperature, requires
continuous heating within the
pipeline. Gas from the
adjacent pipeline will power
three generator heating
stations, also to be constructed
by Punj Lloyd, all to be
completed within seven
months.
ONGC
integrates
geoscience
workflows
Seismic Micro-Technology
(SMT) has signed a software
agreement with Indias ONGC
for its full suite of KINGDOM
software which enables
integrated geoscientific
workflow spanning
interpretation, modelling,
analysis and data
management.
KINGDOM is able to co-exist
contracts/deliveries
44
MALAMPAYA MAINTENANCE: Hallin Marine is deploying its new
flagship subsea operations vessel Ullswater (pictured) to execute
a $20 million contract offshore Palawan Island in the Philippines.
The 78m, DP2 vessel is operating in the role of accommodation
support vessel for offshore oil and gas owner/operator Shell
Philippines Exploration into 2010 as part of the Malampaya
shallow water platform maintenance programme. Ullswater,
which recently completed an assignment in Indonesian waters,
is on a ten-year lease to the company.
aog_M_4_p044_BOB 27/2/09 4:52 pm Page 44
with the legacy software
ONGC currently uses and
provide geoscience to
distributed interpreters with
the portability of Windows-
based computing. SMT will
also train 200 ONGC
geoscientists.
Saudi yard
taking shape
Saudi Aramcos offshore
projects division recently
celebrated the start-up of
fabrication activities for four
offshore platforms at the
kingdoms newly constructed
STAR fabrication facility in
Dammams King Abdulaziz
Port.
It is Saudi Arabias first
in-kingdom offshore facilities
fabrication yard and the
centerpiece of the new long-
term agreement (LTA)
contract awarded to the
consortium of Snamprogetti
Saudi Arabia and Saipem,
TAQA, Al-Rushaid
Fabrications (STAR).
The LTA required the
contractor to build a full-
service fabrication yard and
offshore support base capable
of constructing the company's
increasing number of offshore
wellhead platforms and
pipelines. The STAR facility
covers 300,000m
2
and is capable
of fabricating 14,000t of
structural steel per year.
Northern area projects
department manager
Abdulaziz I Fallatah
commented: In addition to
advancing Saudi Aramcos
business objectives, this new
state-of-the-art facility also
achieves the companys goals
of stimulating the Saudi
economy and developing
Saudi nationals in the highly
skilled offshore fabrication
industry.
In addition to building
offshore facilities in-kingdom
for Saudi Aramco, it is
expected that the yard will
secure projects and build
facilities for other GCC-based
clients and beyond.
Rolls powers
India gas
Rolls-Royce will supply six
RB211-GT61 gas turbine
compression packages valued
at $130 million to Gas
Authority India Ltd (Gail) for
an extension to a major gas
pipeline in west central India.
The aim is to increase gas flow
to about 2bcf/d as part of an
integrated national gas grid
Gail is creating.
Delivery of all six units is
scheduled for 1Q 2010,
bringing the number of RB211
compression units operating
on the Gail network to 14.
ABB drives
China
Orders worth $30 million have
been won by ABB for electric
propulsion, power generation
and power distribution
systems that maximise the
fuel efficiency for an
undisclosed number of
offshore supply vessels to be
built in China.
ABB will furnish an
integrated electric propulsion
solution for each vessel,
supplying generators,
switchgear, transformers,
drives and motors.
They are to be delivered to
Fujian Mawei shipyard,
located on the southeast coast,
in 2010 and 2011.
LNG carriers
under control
Yokogawa Electric
Corporation subsidiaries have
received orders from two LNG
carrier owners in the Asia
Pacific for the companys
Centum VP integrated
production control system.
The orders include
engineering, manufacturing,
installation, and
commissioning services.
In Australia, North West
Shelf Shipping Service, on
behalf of International Gas
Transportation Company, has
placed an order with
Yokogawa Electric (Malaysia).
The award is part of a
longevity project involving
replacement of the integrated
control system for an LNG
carriers cargo and machinery
operations, including boiler
control. Delivery is scheduled
for mid-2009.
In Brunei, Yokogawa
Electric Korea has received a
first-time order from Brunei
Gas Carriers, in conjunction
with contractor Daewoo
Shipbuilding & Marine
Engineering, for delivery of
monitoring and control
systems for two LNG carriers
with dual-fuel diesel electric
propulsion units.
System deliveries are
scheduled for 4Q 2009 and
1Q 2010, respectively.
LNG capacity
expansion
CB&I has been awarded an
expansion project for a
2.6 million tonnes per annum
capacity LNG import terminal
in Chinas Fujian province by
CNOOC Fujian LNG Company
for an undisclosed sum.
CB&Is scope of work includes
engineering, procurement and
construction of two additional
160,000m
3
full containment
LNG storage tanks, to be
completed in 2011.
The EIA (Energy
Information Administration)
forecasts natural gas demand
in China will grow 6.4% per
year for the ten year period
from 2010, with 25% of needs
met by LNG imports in 2020.
Offshore
separation
award
ProSep Technologies, a
Houston, Texas-based provider
of process solutions, systems,
and services for gas, oil, and
water separation, has been
awarded a $3.7 million
contract by an undisclosed
engineering and construction
firm to supply fuel and gas
seal packages to an offshore
project in Asia. The equipment
is to be used to condition and
process natural gas, removing
hydrocarbons and other
compounds.
contracts/deliveries
45
Singapore gas line repair
PT Global Industries Asia Pacific, a Global Industries
subsidiary, is providing replacement and zero downtime
repair of a 28in pipeline segment offshore Indonesia for
PT Transportasi Gas Indonesia (Transgasindo). The pipe
transports gas from Grissik in Sumatra via Batam Island,
Indonesia to Singapore.
Global will utilise its pipelay barge Comanche to install
23km of pipeline in the Kuala Tunkal-Panaran section.
The project also includes a total of eight hot tap
installations to tie in the new and existing pipelines, to be
carried out without interruption of the gas flow. Worth
about $75 million, the
contract is to be completed in
2Q 2009.
Under an $8 million
contract, PT Hallin Marine
Indonesia will provide
marine and subsea support
utilising subsea operations
vessel Sanko Angel, a
saturation diving system and
a work-class C-ROV in the
55m water depth.
aog_M_4_p045_BOB 27/2/09 4:53 pm Page 45
Asia Pacific
JV nixed
International underwater
contractors Technip and
Subsea 7 have agreed to
dissolve their joint venture,
Technip Subsea 7 Asia Pacific
(TS7), once all its existing
projects and tendered work
have been completed.
The two companies have
worked together on significant
projects in the Asia Pacific
region for several years,
forming TS7 in 2006 to provide
subsea construction services
across the region with the
exception of India and the
Middle East. The JVs project
credits include Stybarrow for
BHP, Donghae for KNOC,
Kikeh for Murphy and Vincent
for Woodside.
In a joint statement, the
companies said: With the
expected continued growth of
the deepwater subsea
construction market in the
region, the parties now wish to
pursue separate strategic
development opportunities,
but this does not exclude
working together on a case-by-
case basis on future projects.
Sonardyne
expands in
Singapore
Subsea acoustic systems
specialist Sonardyne Asia has
inaugurated new premises in
Singapore, upgrading from a
regional office to a 9000ft
2
customised building in Loyang
in response to an upsurge of
offshore activity and product
demand in the Southeast
Asian region.
The new facility will include
an acoustic test tank, a
modern service and repair
area and a secure area for
controlled products such as
the companys Lodestar
attitude and heading reference
system, as well as a training
room for monthly courses.
Pictured at the recent
inauguration of the new
premises are (left to right):
Sonardyne Asia SVP John
Ramsden, UK High
Commissioner in Singapore
Paul Madden and Sonardyne
Group MD Barry Clutton.
Clough trims
Australian engineering and
construction firm Clough will
reduce staffing at its Perth and
Bangkok based operations by
approximately 75 in a
restructuring process
designed to focus on project
delivery and the procurement
of new business seamlessly
and efficiently in response to
the current economic climate.
The companys CEO John
Smith observed that good
opportunities are still
available, particularly in the
oil and gas market.
ME onshore EPC
The Kentz Group and Global
Process Systems have formed
a 50:50 joint venture, Kentz
Global Oil & Gas Process
Systems, to market, tender and
undertake onshore contracts
in the oil & gas and related
industries.
Based in Dubai, UAE, the JV
will offer turnkey solutions on
an engineering, procurement
and commissioning (EPC)
basis for complete early and
interim production systems
including site infrastructure,
process and utility modules
and flowlines.
Geographical areas of focus
will include the Middle East,
Africa and the Caspian.
SMD opens
Asia Pacific
office
Long-established UK subsea
systems designer and
manufacturer Soil Machine
Dynamics (SMD) is opening an
Asia Pacific office in
Singapore, with sales manager
John McCann at the helm.
Having made its name in the
subsea trenching and burial
systems market, SMD is now
looking to attain similarly
prominent status with a range
of workclass remotely
operated vehicles.
Among the companys latest
orders is one from Vietnams
Petroleum Technical Services
Corporation (PTSC) for the
supply of a 2000m water depth
rated Quasar compact
workclass ROV with tether
management, launch and
recovery systems, control
cabin and workshop.
MCS expands
down under
Global subsea engineering
company MCS, now part of the
John Wood Group, has moved
to larger premises in Perth,
Western Australia.
The riser design and subsea
integrity management
specialist, with field-leading
proprietary software such as
Flexcom and Pipelay among
its industry credits, says its
staffing in Perth has already
doubled over three years in
response to sustained business
growth and is expected to rise
again early this year from the
current 25 to 35.
Neptune
adds SES
Perth-based Neptune Marine
Services has acquired
Aberdeen-based subsea
consultancy and project
services supplier Subsea
Engineering Services (SES).
SES will provide the
Neptune group with advanced
technical capabilities in the
design of specialist subsea
equipment and long-term
partnerships with companies
that include BP, Shell,
Petronas, Woodside and Total.
Curtis LNG a
step closer
QGC, a BG Group business,
has finalised purchase of
270ha at North China Bay on
Curtis Island from the
Queensland government,
moving a step closer to
building its Queensland Curtis
LNG plant at Gladstone,
Australia.
A plant and export facility
capable of producing up to
12mtpa of LNG is envisioned
on the island in four years, the
gas feedstock to be extracted
and transported by
underground pipeline from
the onshore Surat Basin.
Woodside logo
a gas
Woodside has unveiled a
change to its logo, placing
greater emphasis on the future
of its liquefied natural gas
business while acknowledging
foundation oil and gas
projects.
It is the first substantial
change to the companys brand
insignia in 32 years. According
to a Woodside statement, the
new logo is comprised of left
grey, middle sandstone and
right red coloured ellipses
representing oil assets, a
hydrocarbon reservoir and gas
business, respectively.
company news
46
aog_M_4_p046_BOB 27/2/09 4:53 pm Page 46
Bangkok base
for Maverick
Systems integrator and
operational consulting firm
Maverick Technologies has
commenced operations in
Bangkok, Thailand.
Maverick Technologies-TH
will offer support to Asia
Pacific customers in the oil &
gas and petrochemical
industries, overseen by CEO
Paul Galeski and Mark Hall,
VP global business.
The company is supported
in its global expansion in
Thailand, the Philippines,
Indonesia and Australia by
Zi-Argus, an independent
system integrator that
specialises in providing
industrial automation
solutions.
Viet safety
school
Danish health, safety and
rescue training services
provider Falck Nutec, along
with local partners Mermaid
Maritime Vietnam and
Alternative Company, is
opening a new training centre
in Vung Tau, the petroleum
hub on the southeast coast of
Vietnam.
The new centre, the first
training provider in Vietnam
to be certified by the Offshore
Petroleum Industry Training
Organisation (Opito), will be
located next to Mermaids
premises and offer a range of
products and services to the
offshore, marine and aviation
industries.
Expected to open in April
2009, the training centre will
be designed to cater to
upwards of 5000 students
annually.
Rock physics
alliance
Knowledge Reservoir and
Ingrain have formed an
alliance to accelerate the use
of Ingrains digital rock
physics labs which use 3D
imaging technology and
patented computational
methods for the rapid and
accurate determination of the
physical properties and fluid
flow characteristics of
reservoir rocks, applicable to
core samples and drill
cuttings.
Knowledge Reservoir, a
geoscience and engineering
consultancy, plans to develop
enhanced reservoir modelling
workflows around the data
generated by Ingrains
technology.
Bahrain goes
for gas
Bahrain and Royal Dutch Shell
have signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) to study
gas imports in order to meet
the kingdoms growing
demand for natural gas.
Bahrains gas consumption
in 2007 was 1.3bcf/d, a rate
expected to rise to 2bcf/d in 10
years. The National Oil & Gas
Authority and Shell will
examine the import of LNG as
well as gas by pipeline and
gas-to-liquid products from the
Pearl GTL project in Qatar,
expected to start production
late in 2010.
Additionally, Shell will
develop capacity for gas from
crude oil and heavy residues
at Bahrain Petroleum
Company (Bapco).
Bahrain has also held talks
with Qatar, the worlds largest
exporter of LNG, and Iran,
regarding importing 1bcf/d of
natural gas.
Cameron
gets a lift
The size and geographic reach
of Camerons artificial lift
businesses will be increased
by its recent acquisition of
Kansas-based firm Precision
Downhole Pumps.
Precision, which distributes
and services rod lift pumping
systems and associated
services as well as supplying
sucker rod pump parts and
accessories, will also broaden
the scope of products and
services Cameron offers both
in America and
internationally.
Precision is being integrated
into the Surface Systems
division of Cameron's
Drilling & Production Systems
group, based in Houston.
Detail design
double
Life-cycle marine and offshore
engineering services provider
Noble Denton has doubled the
size of its detail design
engineering office in Sharjah,
UAE as a result of rising
demand.
The office accommodates
naval architects alongside
structural, mechanical,
piping, electrical and
instrumentation engineers.
company news
47
MODEL INDUSTRY: Recently unveiled
in Kuwait was this model of the
Kuwait Oil Companys oil & gas
display and exhibition centre, to be
built in Al Ahmadi.
Designed by architect Morgan
Professional Services to point up the
scale of Kuwaits oil industry, the
8800m
2
circular ammonite-shape
inspired building will be arranged
over three floor levels with a viewing
tower above.
PORTFOLIO PUSH: Germanischer Lloyd (GL) has acquired
Singapore-based asset management company International
Refinery Services (IRS).
Pictured discussing this latest in a series of GL oil & gas industry
acquisitions in recent years are (left to right): IRS managing
director Douglas Pauling, GL board member Pekka Paasivaara
and IRS Asia/Pacific director Bruno Solinas.
Established in 1992, IRS lays claim to having contributed to the
safety, reliability and environmental performance of onshore
and offshore installations, pipelines, terminals, refineries and
chemical plants in Southeast Asia and the Middle East through
implementation of its total asset integrity management
services and the use of tools such as HAZOPS, QRA and RBI to
identify, evaluate and monitor risks associated with an asset.
aog_M_4_p047_BOB 27/2/09 4:54 pm Page 47
Sudhir Vasudeva has taken over
as director (offshore) of Indias
Oil & Natural Gas Corporation
(ONGC), succeeding NK Mitra.
Robert Dudley
(pictured) joins the
board of BP on 6
April. As an MD of
the BP Group he will
assume responsibility for broad
oversight of the companys
activities in the Americas and
Asia. Dudley was most recently
president and CEO of TNK-BP.
Greg Hill has been named
president, worldwide
exploration and production and
an EVP of Hess Corporation,
succeeding the retiring John
O'Connor. Hill was with Shell
for 25 years, most recently as an
EVP Asia Pacific region E&P.
Karen Agustiawan
(pictured) has been
promoted from
upstream director to
the top position of
president director at
Indonesian state oil company
PT Pertamina.
Rod Starrhas been named
general manager Asia Pacific at
TGS-Nopec Geophysical. The
company also promoted Tanya
Johnstoneto regional manager,
Indonesia & Australasia, and
appointed Iain Buchanregional
manager, South & Southeast
Asia.
Lee Boothby
(pictured) has been
named president at
Newfield Exploration
and is expected to be
named to the additional role of
CEO when present incumbent
David Triceretires in May.
Gary Packerwill be named as
Newfields EVP and COO.
Paul Smithhas been appointed
EVP international operations
(west) and Richard HerbertEVP
exploration by Talisman.
Joining the company from
TNK-BP, they replace,
respectively, retirees Nigel
Haresand John Hart.
15-18 March
MEOS 2009
Manama, Bahrain
Contact: Allworld Exhibitions
tel: +44 (0)20 7840 2100
info@oesallworld.com
24-27 April
Beijing 2009 International
geophysical conference and
exposition
Beijing, China
Contact: SEG
tel: +1 918 497 5539
semery@seg.org
28/29 April
Alaska natural gas
value-added manufacturers
conference
Anchorage, Alaska
www.AKnaturalgas.com
4-7 May
OTC
Houston, Texas
Contact: Offshore Technology
Conference
tel: +1 972 952 9494
service@otcnet.org
Exhibitor services:
bkatz@otcnet.org
25-28 May
Gastech 2009
Abu Dhabi, UAE
Contact: Dmg World Media
(UK) Ltd
tel: +44 (0) 1737 855000
info@gastech.co.uk
26-28 May
Pipeline Integrity
Management 2009
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact: IQPC
tel: +65 6722 9388
enquiry@iqpc.com.sg
31 May-3 June
APPEA 2009
Darwin, Australia
Contact: APPEA
tel: +61 7 3802 2208
jhood@appea.com.au
10-12 June
OGA 2009
Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Contact: Malaysian Exhibition
Services
tel: + 603 4041 0311
enquiry@mesallworld.com
appointments conferences
48
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Emerson 6
Fugro Geoteam As 13
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ISBN: OIL 370388 | PRICE: $ 99.95
Dr||||ng Doto HB 8/Ed
An up-to-date revision of data
needed in the feld, rig foor, or the
offce...Handy 5 1/2 x 7 in x 1 in, in-
dexed sections such as: conversion
factors; drill string stds; casing, tub-
ing & line pipe stds; drilling bits &
downhole motors; pumping & pres-
sure losses..
ISBN: OIL 808714 | PRICE: $115.00
Gulf Coast Oil Directory 2008
UPDATED...With extensive information on companies...
Offcers, emails, locations, wats lines...More. Organized
by applications, felds of interest, listing of companies by
name...Very very detailed and informational book.
ISBN: OIL GULF 2008 | PRICE: $ 99.00
ASIAN OIL & GASmarch/april 2009 50
Product Title/Description Item# Unit Price QTY
Total
Price
Subtotal
Credit Card Information
Card Type: Mastercard Visa American Express Discover
Credit Card Number: Expiration date:
Name on card: Signature:
Sh|pp|ngJ8||||ng In|ormot|on Note: We cannot ship to a P.O. Box
Name: Company:
Address:
City/State/Zip/Country
Phone: Fax:
E-Mail:
Oilonline, 1635 West Alabama, Houston, TX 77006 USA
Dictionary For The Oil
& Gas Industry
Defnitions in this dictionary come
from many sources- writers & edi-
tors, industry personnel, petex in-
structors & coordinators, & various
published works.
ISBN: OIL 982138 | PRICE: $107.00
Solas 2004
- Eng||sh Ed
Safety standards for ships engaged in
international trade, providing safer
shipping and cleaner oceans.
O|| & Gos:
The Production Story
a basic description about oil & gas
production, from its origin to the sur-
face. This story is twofold: to enlight-
en those whose jobs require a general
knowledge of production operations;
and to serve as an intro to the petex
oil & gas production series.
ISBN: OIL 98002X | PRICE: $60.00
MODU Code 2001
(Mobile Offshore)
Code for the construction and equip-
ment of mobile offshore drilling
units (MODU code), 2001. (No 2004
edition is expected.
AOG
AS I AN OI L & GAS
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