Development of semi-submersible production vessels and its application to Australian waters

2008 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 241
Author(s):  
Hilde Engelsen ◽  
Henrik Hannus
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North ◽  
Hull Design ◽  
Steel Catenary Risers ◽  
Drilling Rigs ◽  
In The Beginning

Semi-submersible platforms have a long history in the North Sea. In the beginning they were used mainly as mobile offshore drilling units, but in the last two decades the permanently moored semi-submersible production vessels have become widely used both as gas processing units and combination oil and gas production vessels. The design of production semi-submersibles evolved from that of drilling rigs, but there have since been significant improvements to the design of the hull and the topside configuration in relation to operational requirements and construction processes. The design methods have also been successfully adapted to areas with different environmental conditions, in combination with steel catenary risers and polyester mooring systems. On recent designs, simplifications of the hull systems are being implemented, which ease operation and enhance the passive safety. Finally, the semi-submersible production vessel’s application to Australian waters is discussed with focus on topside layout, hull design and mooring system design. Environmental conditions offshore northwest Australia are compared to North Sea and Gulf of Mexico conditions, along with vessel class and regulatory requirements.

The Beryl Field, Block 9/13, UK North Sea

1991 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. A. Knutson ◽  
I. C. Munro
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Middle Jurassic ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Upper Jurassic ◽  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Upper Triassic ◽  
Oil Field ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North

AbstractThe Beryl Field, the sixth largest oil field in the UK sector of the North Sea, is located within Block 9/13 in the west-central part of the Viking Graben. The block was awarded in 1971 to a Mobil operated partnership and the 9/13-1 discovery well was drilled in 1972. The Beryl A platform was emplaced in 1975 and the Beryl B platform in 1983. To date, ninety-five wells have been drilled in the field, and drilling activity is anticipated into the mid-1990s.Commercial hydrocarbons occur in sandstone reservoirs ranging in age from Upper Triassic to Upper Jurassic. Structurally, the field consists of a NNE orientated horst in the Beryl A area and westward tilted fault blocks in the Beryl B area. The area is highly faulted and complicated by two major and four minor unconformities. The seal is provided by Upper Jurassic shales and Upper Cretaceous marls.There are three prospective sedimentary sections in the Beryl Field ranked in importance as follows: the Middle Jurassic coastal deltaic sediments, the Upper Triassic to Lower Jurassic continental and marine sediments, and the Upper Jurassic turbidites. The total ultimate recovery of the field is about 800 MMBBL oil and 1.6 TCF gas. As of December 1989, the field has produced nearly 430 MMBBL oil (primarily from the Middle Jurassic Beryl Formation), or about 50% of the ultimate recovery. Gas sales are scheduled to begin in the early 1990s. Oil and gas production is forecast until licence expiration in 2018.The Beryl Fields is located 215 miles northeast of Aberdeen, about 7 miles from the United Kingdom-Norwegian boundary. The field lies within Block 9/13 and covers and area of approximately 12 000 acres in water depths ranging from 350-400 ft. Block 9/13 contains several hydrocarbon-bearing structures, of which the Beryl Fields is the largest (Fig. 1). The field is subdivided into two producing areas: the Beryl Alpha area which includes the initial discovery well, and the Beryl Bravo area located to the north. The estimated of oil originally in place is 1400 MMBBL for Beryl A and 700 MMBBL for Beryl B. The fiel has combined gas in place of 2.8 TCF, consisting primarily of solution gas. Hydrocarbon accumulations occur in six reservoir horizons ranging in age from Upper Triassic to Upper Jurassic. The Middle Jurassic (Bathonian to Callovian) age Beryl Formation is the main reservoir unit and contains 78% of the total ultimate recovery.The field was named after Beryl Solomon, the wife of Charles Solomon, who was president of Mobil Europe in 1972 when the field was discovered. The satellite fields in Block 9/13 (Nevis, Ness and Linnhe) are named after Scottish lochs.

The Composition of Produced Water from Shell Operated Oil and Gas Production in the North Sea

1992 ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. P. W. M. Jacobs ◽  
R. O. H. Grant ◽  
J. Kwant ◽  
J. M. Marquenie ◽  
E. Mentzer
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Produced Water ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

scholarly journals Measuring methane emissions from oil and gas platforms in the North Sea

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuart N. Riddick ◽  
Denise L. Mauzerall ◽  
Michael Celia ◽  
Neil R. P. Harris ◽  
Grant Allen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Normal Operation ◽  
Total Production ◽  
Emission Inventories ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Ch4 Emissions ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea

Abstract. Recent studies suggest oil and natural gas production facilities in North America may be underestimating methane (CH4) emissions during extraction. This, coupled with unusually high CH4 mole fractions observed at coastal sites during onshore winds in the UK, suggests CH4 emissions from oil and gas extraction activities in the North Sea could be higher than previously reported. To investigate if these coastal CH4 enhancements could have come from oil and gas production platforms, we use near-source measurement techniques to estimate CH4 emissions from eight oil and gas production platforms in the North Sea. We estimate the mean CH4 emission from the eight platforms to be 10.1 g CH4 s−1, with a range of 1.1 to 25.0 g CH4 s−1. When matched to production records, individual platforms lose between 0.01 % and 1.58 % of gas production with an average loss of 0.61 % of gas production. However, when the measured platforms are considered collectively, i.e. when the total measured emission is compared to total production of the platforms measured, the CH4 loss is estimated at 0.27 % of gas production. These calculated ranges are at least double the most recently reported loss rates for these platforms, which are currently estimated at 0.13 % of gas production. In fact, the vast majority of reported emissions are due to gas flaring and offshore oil loading, neither of which was taking place at the time of these measurements. If emissions measured here resulted from leakage during normal operation, they represent significant additional emissions (at least 0.27 % of production) above previous estimates of CH4 leakage from off-shore oil and gas production platforms. These emissions are not explicitly included in UK emission inventories. Further research to determine CH4 leakage from all operations occurring at off-shore oil and gas platforms, and how to include them in national emission inventories, is needed.

Britain's North Sea Oil and Gas Production: A Critical Review

1996 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-11
Author(s):  
P.R. Odell
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Economic Conditions ◽  
Energy Output ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
New West ◽  
Oil Reserves ◽  
The North ◽  
Gas Market

The size and longevity of Britain's offshore hydrocarbons resources have been underestimated. Gas reserves were seriously under-exploited for almost 20 years from the late 1960s, given a belief that gas should be used only as a premium fuel and in the context of an uncompetitive market. Oil reserves' development and production has suffered from time to time from inappropriate politico-economic conditions. Nevertheless, offshore oil and gas has come to dominate the UK's energy production over the past 20 years and currently accounts for 85% of the country's total energy output. Fears for resources' exhaustion remain unjustified, as the industry continues to replace oil and gas reserves used each year. The North Sea is still not comprehensively explored: the continuation of the process will enable oil production to remain at high levels and that of gas to expand further. Supplementary output from the new west of Shetland province will become progressively more important after 2000. But continued intensive production overall depends on the maintenance of attractive politico-economic conditions and on present oil prices. It also requires the European gas market to remain firm but, ironically, the planned flow of UK gas to the mainland constitutes a threat to this condition.

scholarly journals Continuous measurements of atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide on a North Sea gas platform

2010 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 113-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. T. van der Laan-Luijkx ◽  
R. E. M. Neubert ◽  
S. van der Laan ◽  
H. A. J. Meijer
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Atmospheric Oxygen ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Co2 Uptake ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
The North ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
Atmospheric Concentrations

Abstract. A new atmospheric measurement station has been established on the North Sea oil and gas production platform F3, 200 km north off the Dutch coast (5°51' N, 4°44' E). Atmospheric concentrations of O2 and CO2 are continuously measured using fuel cell technology and compact infrared absorption instruments, respectively. Furthermore, the station includes an automated air flask sampler for laboratory analysis of the atmospheric concentrations of CO2, CH4, CO and O2 and isotope measurements of δ13C, δ18O and Δ14C from CO2. This station is the first fixed sea based station with on-site continuous O2 and CO2 measurements and therefore yields valuable information about the CO2 uptake in coastal marine regions, specifically the North Sea. This paper presents the measurement station and the used methodologies in detail. In comparison to land-based stations, the data show low day-to-day variability, as they are practically free of nightly inversions as well as human influences, due to the station's remoteness. Therefore, the data set collected at this measurement station serves directly as background data for the coastal northwest European region. Additionally, the first data are presented showing the seasonal cycle as expected during August 2008 through June 2009. Furthermore, some short-term O2 and CO2 signals are presented. The observations at the platform include several large and fast changing negative atmospheric O2 excursions without an accompanying change in the CO2 signal, which most likely indicate marine O2 uptake.

scholarly journals Late Cretaceous basin development of the southern Danish Central Graben

1969 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
pp. 15-18
Author(s):  
Finn Jakobsen ◽  
Claus Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Late Cretaceous ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Seismic Inversion ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Structural Development ◽  
Oil Accumulation ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
Basin Development

The Danish oil and gas production mainly comes from fields with chalk reservoirs of Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) and early Paleocene (Danian) ages located in the southern part of the Danish Central Graben in the North Sea. The area is mature with respect to exploration with most chalk fields located in structural traps known since the 1970s. However, the discovery by Mærsk Oil and Gas A/S of the large nonstructurally and dynamically trapped oil accumulation of the Halfdan Field in 1999 north-west of the Dan Field (e.g. Albrechtsen et al. 2001) triggered renewed exploration interest. This led to acquisition of new high quality 3-D seismic data that considerably enhanced imaging of different depositional features within the Chalk Group. Parallel to the endeavours by the operator to locate additional non-structural traps in porous chalk, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland took advantage of the new data to unravel basin development by combining 3-D seismic interpretation of a large number of seismic markers, well log correlations and 2-D seismic inversion for prediction of the distribution of porous intervals in the Chalk Group. Part of this study is presented by Abramovitz et al. (in press). In the present paper we focus on aspects of the general structural development during the Late Cretaceous as illustrated by semi-regional time-isochore maps. The Chalk Group has been divided into two seismically mappable units (a Cenomanian–Campanian lower Chalk Unit and a Maastrichtian–Danian upper Chalk Unit) separated by a distinct basin-wide unconformity.

scholarly journals Telemetry Tracking During Directional Drilling

2021 ◽  
pp. 127-138
Keyword(s):  
Oil And Gas ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Gas Production ◽  
Main Task ◽  
Directional Drilling ◽  
Oil And Gas Production ◽  
Construction Methods ◽  
Accuracy Of Measurements ◽  
Intensity Of Development ◽  
Drilling Rigs

The article discusses the main features of the organization of telemetry in directional drilling. The constant increase in the complexity of the conditions for the development and operation of fields, oil and gas production, an increase in the intensity of development of already explored fields due to horizontal and cluster drilling required a significant increase in the requirements for the accuracy of diagnostics and active control of the spatial position of the field. In general, the accuracy of measurements and the efficiency of their processing largely determine the cost of well construction. Directional drilling is one of the well construction methods. The most effective directional drilling application is the development of fields located in water areas, in swampy or rugged terrain, where the construction of drilling rigs may violate the requirements for environmental protection and environmental safety. Directional drilling is also widely used in the creation of relief wells for killing blowouts, for forming multilateral wells or deviating the lower part of the well along the productive horizon in order to increase drainage. Well profiles may vary, but the top of the deviated wellbore must be vertical, followed by a deviation of the calculated azimuth. Therefore, the main task of the telemetry system in directional drilling is to constantly monitor the planned trajectory, as well as to maintain the bit trajectory within the corridor that runs inside the open formation.

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