The Helix EXPRESS entered Haifa, Israel early this month. Image: HELIX

After wrapping up her deepest work ever at ENI’s Devil’s Tower Southwest project in the Gulf of Mexico, and another subsequent pipelay project in the same region, Helix ESG’s Express pipelay vessel arrived early this month in the Mediterranean Sea for work offshore Israel.

The Express is conducting SURF (Subsea Umbilicals, Risers and Flowlines) work for Texas-based Noble Energy in the Noa natural gas field offshore Israel, in approximately 2,556ft of water (779m).

Image: HELIX, click for larger

With transit speeds up to 12 knots, the 520 foot-long Express is designed to efficiently reach any ocean in the world. Her two reels hold 3,000 tons of pipeline up to 14in in diameter.

Taken on board Helix ESG’s pipelay vessel, Express, these photos show two Pipeline End Terminal manifolds (PLETS) as they are hoisted off an adjacent supply boat and lowered down to the seabed.  All images courtesy HELIX.

First End PLET Lifted and Lowered

A PLET is used on one, or both ends of pipelines to provide connection point from the pipeline to existing subsea structures in place. The existing structure may be a subsea tree, another PLET or a manifold and are connected by a jumper. The PLETs and other subsea structures have upward looking connectors while the jumpers have downward looking connectors. This configuration allows the jumpers to be installed using Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs). Image: Helix

Helix Subsea Construction, a business unit of Helix ESG, is installing this PLET as part of the overall scope of Subsea Umbilical, Riser and Flowline (SURF) work for Noble Energy at the Noa Field, offshore Israel. The field is in approximately 2,556ft of water (779m) and is being developed for natural gas.

Second End PLET installation at dawn

Cat B Well Intervention Rig, image: Aker Solutions

Statoil announced today that they have awarded Aker Solutions a $1.9 billion contract involving a new type of rig, categorized “Cat-B”, destined to provide enhanced well intervention and light drilling capability year round on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

According to Aker Solutions:

“The Cat-B rig is a semi-submersible unit designed for year-round well intervention. It will provide a full range of heavy well intervention and light drilling tasks including through-tubing rotary drilling, wireline, coil tubing, high pressure pumping, well testing and cementing services as well as ROV operations. It will operate in water depths up to 500 metres.”

Statoil noted in their press release that it’s “an entirely new type of rig,” however Helix ESG’s Q4000, which I visited last week, is a Category B well intervention rig and was built in 2002.  To be fair however, this new rig (like the one on currently on order by Helix ESG) will certainly be far more capable than the Q4000, and will feature a number of upgrades to allow it to operate effectively year round in the harsh environment on the Norwegian Continental Shelf.

Image: Aker Solutions

The Skandi Aker, the Aker Solutions-owned well intervention vessel pictured above, is an extremely capable subsea well intervention vessel, however due to it’s ship-shaped design, it’s operations are still somewhat limited due to deck space, and most critically, vessel motions.

The new CAT-B rig. as a semi-submersible, provides a harsh environment solution to both issues.

The mission of this rig…

The key to maintaining the current production level on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS) is increased recovery from existing fields, along with the development of new fields.  Increasing drilling activity on mature fields is important in order to achieve the NCS’ full potential.

“This will be a very important part of the toolbox for increased recovery on the Norwegian continental shelf, making it possible to produce oil and gas that otherwise would be lost,” says Statoil executive vice president of Technology, Projects and Drilling, Margareth Øvrum. “The category B rig is the result of long-term, targeted technology development to increase subsea well recovery rates.”

Ivar Aasheim, Statoil’s Senior Vice President of Field Development continues:

“New and improved well service methods provide a substantial contribution to increased recovery on the NCS. Statoil currently operates around 500 subsea wells, and we need efficient tools to maintain these. Collaboration between many licences has been a precondition for establishing a long-term work programme. We therefore thank our licence partners for enabling us to realise the category B service together.”

Statoil and the licensees will enter into an eight-year contract with options for three times two years for the category B service. The estimated value of the contract is USD 1.9 billion. In addition to rig rental, the contract also includes rental of the necessary equipment and services to carry out well intervention, sidetrack drilling, ROV operations, well testing and cementing.

Why not use a semi-submersible (CAT-C) drilling rig for these operations?

Semi-submersible drilling rigs are certainly capable of well intervention operations, however day rates for these vessels are at a premium and very few are available.  Cat-B well intervention rigs, such as Helix ESG’s Q4000, have the proven ability to commence operations in far less time than it would take for a semi-submersible drilling rig to set up for well intervention. Additionally, on the NCS, there is no alternative service available for performing coiled tubing and through tubing drilling in subsea wells efficiently.

The rig will be in service during 2015.

Helix ESG Chairman and CEO Owen Kratz and Q4000 Rig Superintendent Paul Baker at Keppel AMFELS Shipyard, Image (c) Robert Almeida/gCaptain

I was invited down to Brownsville, Texas this week to meet with senior executives from Helix Energy Solutions Group (ESG) for an overview of their company’s well intervention operations and a rare opportunity to tour the Q4000 semisubmersible which was in drydock at Keppel AMFELS shipyard.

Oilfield diving legend Owen Kratz, now Chairman and CEO of Helix ESG, describes subsea well intervention as “the ability to safely enter a well with well control for the purpose of doing a number of tasks other than drilling.”  A subsea production well, after its initial completion, may require a number of additional interventions over its lifespan for a number of reasons.  These activities include, but are not limited to, fishing, sand screen repair, perforating, pressure/temp flow monitoring, well logging, milling, maintaining well integrity (patching), and well stimulation.

Back in the 1980′s, Kratz and his colleagues at Cal Dive (now Helix ESG) performed the dangerous duties of subsea well intervention via hard hat diving, and in some cases they still do in the shallower waters of the North Sea.  In deep water however, remotely operated vehicles and highly specialized technology is required.

This well intervention technology was thrust into the global spotlight during the 2010 Macondo Well blowout (aka BP Oil Spill) in the Gulf of Mexico.  The Q4000 was the primary well intervention vessel used, and after the well was finally killed, the Q4000 raised the enormous Blow Out Preventer (BOP) to the surface with her 600T Multi Purpose Tower.

Beyond the Macondo disaster however, this critically important and specialized technology has largely sat in the shadows of offshore oil and gas production, but as the deep water market grows around the world, the market for these services follows along closely.   The market for relatively inexpensive intervention vessels like the Q4000 is also positively influenced by the fact they can be used to drill top hole sections and are much more cost-efficient than the ultra-expensive deepwater drilling rigs for well intervention activities.

In a speculative move, Helix ESG has contracted Jurong Shipyard in Singapore to build an upgraded, and larger version of the Q4000.  Very little details of this new vessel are available, however we do know that they will look to add the following capabilities:

• Through tubing well intervention
• Extended top hole drilling
• Riserless Mud Return
• Subsea Rotary Controlled Device
• Well flow back, well testing
• Subsea construction
• Subsea processing support
• Open water completions

Additionally, this vessel will have even better seakeeping characteristics than the Q4000, which is hard to beat considering the Q’s reputation.  Mr. Kratz describes one such case:

“We’ve been locked into a well in 16 to 19 foot seas.

She’s really stable and the derrick is compensated.  We’ve actually had a 100 ton load sitting on the seafloor in 16-foot seas and it’s  been moving less than 1/8th of an inch.”

The new rig, he says, will have better characteristics,  ”she’s a larger vessel and will thus have better motions and be more stable than the Q4000.”

Operated by Canyon Offshore, Helix ESG’s subsea robotics unit, the T1200 will be one of the largest and most powerful ROVs in the world. (Photo: Helix ESG)

Need to cut a 30 foot deep trench in the bottom of the ocean floor to run flowlines out to a new production rig?

No problem.  Helix Energy Solutions’ new T1200 subsea trenching behemoth is just what you’re looking for.

Image: Helix ESG

Looking like a mix between a space ship and an Abrams battle tank, the T1200 is a massive piece of equipment weighing in at over 33 tons (30,000kg) and towering to a height of 12.6ft (3.8m).

While not yet in service, construction of the T1200 trenching and burial unit is one step closer to entering service following testing and installation of its two enormous caterpillar tracks.

The vehicle also got wet for the first time in the manufacturer’s test tank in central England. Still undergoing final fitting, the T1200 is expected to be delivered to Helix ESG this summer and will begin work on board another new asset to Helix ESG’s ROV Support Vessel fleet, the Grand Canyon.

The 1,125hp ROV will use high-powered water jets to cut up to 30 feet into the seafloor and lay power cables, or other tubular products like oil and gas pipelines.

The Grand Canyon is a newbuild offshore construction vessel that will host a new T1200 jet trencher, two 200HP XLX ROV systems onboard along with two more ROV systems. The Grand Canyon is 125m x 25m and has a 250t crane, monopool, dynamic positioning systems and helideck. Accommodations are for up to 108 personnel and will be deployed for work in Europe’s growing offshore wind farm projects where her ROVs will conduct power cable trenching and burial operations. (Image: Helix ESG)

Subsea architecture at the Pazflor field, graphic courtesy FMC Technologies

HOUSTON (Dow Jones)–FMC Technologies Inc. (FTI) said Thursday it struck a $1.5 billion four-year deal with Petroleo Brasileiro SA (PBR) for the supply of subsea oilfield equipment.

The agreement comes as Petrobras, as the Brazilian oil company is known, embarks on an ambitious bid to tap its deep-water oil and gas riches, many of which lie beneath salt domes buried deep beneath the ocean. The deal underscores how U.S. oilfield service equipment providers, which helped pioneer the deepwater revolution in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, the North Sea and elsewhere, are benefitting from that expansion despite strict rules for local content in oil-rich nations like Brazil. FMC shares are up 2.81% at $49.81.

The agreement could include the delivery of up to 130 subsea trees–an ensemble of underwater pipes and valves designed to manage the oil and gas flow of a deepwater well–and other tools. The equipment will be designed and built at FMC‘s facilities in Rio de Janeiro, where Petrobras is based.

“We have made significant investments in our Brazilian operations to enable large-scale product manufacturing and the development of new technologies,” said Tore Halvorsen, FMC‘s senior vice president, Subsea Technologies.

-By Angel Gonzalez, Dow Jones Newswires

Oil and gas will remain the backbone of the world’s energy supplies for a long time to come, and the offshore sector continues to expand in every direction, in particular, toward deeper water and harsher environments.

According to Douglas Westwood’s ”World Deepwater Market Report 2011-2015,” the capital expenditure (CAPEX) index forecasts annual growth rates for the deepwater sector of over 20%.  All aspects of the deepwater market are contributing to this figure, with a share of about 40% for pipelines, subsea production and processing, and other SURF (Subsea, Umbilical, Riser, Flowline) activities.

About 6 months ago, GustoMSC unveiled the new Constructor class of vessels, which were specifically designed to accommodate present and future requirements of the offshore oil & gas construction and SURF market for large offshore vessels.

SURF vessels have to be able to work in deep water for prolonged periods, have short mobilization times, and also have the potential for future upgrades to operate in specific areas or conditions. The increasing water depth is for instance driving the requirements for crane capacities. The remoteness of operating areas requires vessels to be more self-supporting, have a larger payload and be increasingly efficient. Harsher conditions are one driver for improved power generation. The need for short mobilization times is driving the design of the hull for higher speeds.  All future SURF vessels will need to optimally combine these features if they are to be acceptably cost-effective.

Besides the operational requirements, safeguarding and improving health, safety, and the working environment are also essential elements of developmental work. In the offshore sector, comfort is not something to be taken lightly. Offshore vessels often have a large complement of specialists with complicated, intensive tasks to perform. They need a sound reliable platform on which to do their work.  Fatigue is always a concern. Noise and vibration, and a lack of amusement over a prolonged period are all elements contributing to fatigue while the increasingly demanding projects require the crew to be superbly fit and show plenty of stamina. And last but not least, in the hard competition for qualified personnel, owners need to be able to offer an attractive working environment for their crews.  - GustoMSC InSide

The vessels can be provided with various mission equipment systems, such as pipelay systems (S- or J-lay), reel-lay systems, flex-lay systems or be equipped as deepwater installation and cable lay. Mission equipment can be installed to operate either through a moonpool or over the stern or over the side.

We asked GustoMSC’s Sales Manager, Mattijs Faber, what the most unique feature of these vessels were.  His response:

The vessels size and capabilities are most unique and unmatched in the market: 2800sqm of aft deck, 10,000 metric ton payload to play with, capability to install a 600 metric ton subsea crane, as well as sea keeping and dynamic positioning capability in harsh conditions.

He also comments saying that an even larger version, the SURF XL, is currently being developed for operators working in the most demanding regions around the world.  This new vessel will combine reel and J-lay capabilities and have a 1,000 ton heave compensated subsea installation crane and a deep water lowering system.

As an option, all of these vessels can be designed with DNV – Ice Class notation. Their main dimensions are 155 x 30 x 13m (Loa x B x D), (DLV3000  version: 170 x 42 x 12m).

Constructor – DLV 3000

Application: Heavy Lift 

The largest vessel in the Constructor class is a real workhorse, designed to serve a wide range of roles in the construction market. The deepwater S-lay system with removable stinger and versatile 3,000t main crane with heave compensation makes the vessel suitable for deepwater installation roles. The optional mooring system allows the vessel to perform shallow water operations in close vicinity to platforms. The offset crane position provides the vessel with an unmatched effective outreach over the side and over the stern. The A-deck arrangement provides a flush and unobstructed working deck with sufficient space for modules, jackets, piles and all kinds of (subsea) equipment.  An active ballast system will be installed to reduce heeling angles during lifting operations.

Additionally the vessel will be capable of pipelaying by means of a fully covered single joint pipelay factory (Double joint in a lengthened version).

The Constructor – Flex Lay 550

Application: Subsea Umbilicals, Risers, and Flowlines (SURF) 

The vessel takes a vast amount of products in its below deck carousels and has been provided with a 550 MT Vertical Lay System positioned over a moon pool in the mid ships. Ample crane capacity will be provided in order to service subsea operations as well as the deck and moon pool area.

Constructor MPOSV

Application: SURF

The vessel can be provided with various mission equipment systems, such as pipelay systems (S- or J-lay), reel-lay systems, flex-lay systems or be equipped for various other missions, such as deepwater installation and cable lay. Mission equipment can be installed to operate either through a moonpool (option) or over the stern. Ample crane capacity can be provided in order to service subsea operations as well as the deck and moon pool area.

Constructor S-Lay Vessel

Application: SURF

The vessel has been provided with a Single joint S-lay pipelay system located under deck, with a fixed (removable) stinger. The vessel provides a stable platform for lifting operations and high crane capacity can be provided in order to service subsea installation operations as well as other construction activities.

GustoMSC HV Power Cable Lay Vessel

Application: For Linking Onshore and Offshore Power Grids

The vessel takes a vast amount of products in its carousels. An A-frame can be provided for launching and retrieving ploughs and trenchers.

In order to provide the necessary flexibility for crossover work into the offshore construction market the vessel allows for ample crane capacity as well as a large open deck area.

The company, an offshore and subsea services provider, said in a filing with the Singapore Exchange that the contract was for marine installation and pipe lay at the Fram H-Nord development in the North Sea, the third phase of the development of the Fram Field which is tied back to the Troll C Platform.

Engineering, procurement and planning activities will commence immediately and the work is set to commence in the third quarter of 2013, the company said.

-By Matthew Allen, Dow Jones Newswires

Image courtesy Technip

Technip announced today that they had been awarded a subsea installation contract by ExxonMobil for the Hadrian South natural gas project in the Gulf of Mexico in approximately 7,500 feet (2,300 meters) of water.  The awarded project consists of a 9-mile subsea tie-back of flowlines, jumpers, umbilicals, and flying leads to the planned Anadarko operated spar platform, Lucius.   The installation will be completed by Technip’s deepwater pipelay vessel, the Deep Blue.

ExxonMobil contracted the leading-edge Maersk Developer semi-submersible to drill the Hadrian-5 well. image courtesy Maersk

Background on the Hadrian Prospect, via Exxonmobil:

An ExxonMobil exploration effort more than a decade in the making yielded oil and natural-gas discoveries that together represents one of the largest finds in the Gulf of Mexico since the late 1990s. It also strengthened hope that the Gulf still has major potential to supply future U.S. energy needs.

The combined resources from two major oil fields and a gas field discovered 250 miles southwest of New Orleans total more than 700 million oil-equivalent barrels on ExxonMobil-interest leases.

Development of the ExxonMobil-operated Hadrian North oil field and Hadrian South gas field in about 7,000 feet of water will set a deepwater record for ExxonMobil. Initial production from the Lucius oil field and Hadrian South is expected in 2014.

The Lucius reservoirs, which extend into adjoining blocks operated by Anadarko Petroleum Corp., are planned to be developed under a unitization agreement between ExxonMobil, Anadarko, Plains Exploration & Production Company, Apache Deepwater LLC, Petrobras America Inc. and Eni Petroleum US LLC. Gas production from Hadrian South is planned to be transported by pipeline to the Lucius production facility under a separate production-handling agreement. Both agreements will help speed production startup and lower costs.

As development moves forward, the discovery of the Hadrian fields is primarily a story of how ExxonMobil geoscientists working at the leading edges of exploration technology were able to “see” what couldn’t be seen before.

The subsalt puzzle
The discoveries are in the Gulf’s ultra-deepwater subsalt play – an area extending west to east some 250 miles and located about 270 miles off the Texas and Louisiana shores in water 5,000 to 10,000 feet deep.

Below the seafloor, and extending across much of the play, are sections of salt up to 10,000 feet thick.

While more than 50,000 wells have been drilled in the Gulf of Mexico, the amount of undrilled acreage in the subsalt trend is substantial. image courtesy ExxonMobil

Some 170 million years ago, this salt was initially deposited as a near-continuous layer.  Over millions of years, sediments deposited onto the salt forced it into a variety of shapes, some near-vertical and others more lateral. The natural forces
pinched off some areas, creating salt canopies that now overlie thick sedimentary sections.

Drilling in shallower waters in the 1980s and 1990s revealed the presence of potential hydrocarbon-bearing reservoirs below these displaced salt features.

However, the imaging technology allowing geoscientists to plan exploration wells to determine the commercial potential of subsalt prospects was still in very early development.

Continuing Gulf focus
With the Hadrian-area discoveries moving into development, exploration activity will continue in the Gulf of Mexico.

“Our Gulf exploration team will continue looking at prospects along the subsalt trend,” says Adrian Foster, exploration
manager.  “We hold a substantial acreage position, and we intend to maintain a very active exploration program in the Gulf.”
From an energy-security standpoint, Foster notes that the Gulf also offers an attractive location to bring reliable and needed
energy supplies to U.S. markets.

“The Gulf will continue to deliver large discoveries, and we look forward to continued success there.”

EMAS' Boa Deep C DP3 Deepwater Construction Vessel

SINGAPORE, 28 February 2012 – EMAS AMC, the subsea division of Ezra Holdings Limited (“Ezra”), today announces that it has been awarded a contract by Apache Energy Limited to perform subsea transport and installation work for the Coniston Field Development located in Northwest Australia. The base scope for the contract works is currently approximated to be up to US$70 million with various potential add-on work scope options of up to US$30 million in additional contract value. The contract will be managed mainly out of the EMAS AMC’s Perth office with support from the Singapore office.

“We are extremely pleased and proud to have been selected by Apache for this interesting project. This contract marks another important milestone for EMAS AMC in the Asia-Pacific region, combining our regional expertise, our reputable engineering capabilities and our modern fleet of construction assets to deliver an attractive SURF solution to Apache,” says C.J. D’Cort – CEO for EMAS AMC.

The scope of work for the project includes the transportation and installation of PLEMs (pipeline end manifolds), manifold, umbilicals and flexible flowlines in addition to spool fabrication and recovery of two existing flow-lines in approximately 380 meters of water depth. EMAS AMC will execute the project management, engineering, transportation and subsea installation works for the project. Engineering and planning activities for the project will commence immediately with the offshore installation operations scheduled to commence around the first quarter of 2013.

EMAS AMC also recently secured a 2014 contract extension for their umbilical installation vessel for operations in Europe. With these latest awards, EMAS AMC has now achieved its US$1 billion short-term order book target that was set after the completion of Ezra’s acquisition of Aker Marine Contractors AS in March 2011.

“We set a 12-18 month target for our subsea/offshore construction business less than a year ago and we have now achieved this ahead of schedule. This shows the acceleration of activities in the subsea sector and the success of our integrated subsea division which has benefited from these strong sector trends,” says Lionel Lee, Group Managing Director of Ezra.

Technip was awarded a lump sum contract by Hess Corporation for the development of the Tubular Bells field, located in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico at a water depth of approximately 4,500 feet (1,370 meters).  Tubular Bells’ JV partners include BP (30%) and Chevron (30%).

The contract covers the design, engineering, fabrication and subsea installation of more than 28 miles (45 kilometers) of flowlines(1), steel catenary risers(2), pipeline end terminations, piles and structures.

Technip’s operating center in Houston, Texas will perform the overall project management. The flowlines and risers will be welded at the Group’s spoolbase in Mobile, Alabama.

Offshore installation is scheduled to be completed with the Deep Blue, one of Technip’s deepwater pipelay vessel, during the first half of 2013.

Technip's Deep Blue, image courtesy Technip

Last month, Wood Group’s Alliance Engineering announced that they had been awarded the detailed engineering and design of the topside facilities and deck for Tubular Bells’ production facility which will sit atop a Williams Partners’ Gulfstar FPS™ spar production platform.  The construction of this production platform is expected to take upwards of 30 months to built.

Once on station, the facility will have the capacity to produce 60,000 barrels of oil per day, up to 200 million cubic feet of natural gas (MMcf/d), and the capability to provide seawater injection services. The facility is a spar-based floating production system that utilizes traditional three-level topsides mated to a classic spar hull.