Production Engineering II

Field Development
Concept

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this lecture, students should be able to :
Understand theory and description of oil platforms.
Identify different types of oil platforms.
Identify and understand the different types of facility
options used in oil and gas exploration and production.
Evaluate the types of facilities required for the efficient and
economic means of producing oil and gas while meeting
the appropriate regulatory / statutory requirements.

Overview
An offshore structure is a large structure with facilities to :
Drill wells
Produce and process oil and natural gas
Temporarily store the processed fluids until it is brought to
shore for refining and marketing
Some platforms may contain housing units for crew
accommodation.
Structural frame analysis, environmental load predictions,
transportation analyses and installation procedures are
important considerations during the construction stages of an
offshore structure.

Overview
An offshore platform can be grouped into two parts :
Topsides - can be regarded as deck and may consist of living
quarters, production separators, drilling facilities,
export/metering, etc.
Substructures - these are parts below the topside ; may
consists of jacket, hull,columns,pontoons, risers, etc.

Overview
Platform size depends on facilities to be installed on top side.
(i.e. Oil Rig, Living Quarters, Helipad, Etc)
Classification of water depths are commonly divided as the
follows :

< 350
= Shallow Water
m
< 1,500 = Deep Water
m
> 1,500 = Ultra Deep Water
m

Overview
The options available to develop and produce oil and gas in
offshore regions fall into three broad groups :
(i) Fixed to the sea floor
Physically sit on the seabed. Held in place either by sheer weight
of the structure or by piles driven into seabed and affixed to the
structure.
(ii) Moored and floating systems
Moored in place with tendons or wire rope and chains in order to
stay connected to the wells below.

Overview
(iii) Subsea Systems
Can have a single or multiple wellheads on the sea floor
connected directly to a host platform or to a subsea manifold. The
systems will be connected by flowlines and risers to a fixed or
floating system which could be miles away.

Classification of Oil Platform

Fixed Platforms
Jacket
Compliant Towers
Concrete Gravity-Based Structure

Fixed structures that

extend to the
seabed.

Jack Up

Floating Platforms
Tension-Leg Platforms
Semi-Submersible
Spar Platforms
Floating Production Systems

Floating structures
that float near the
water surface.

Fixed Platforms
A fixed platform is a structure that is used to support
production facilities and/or other equipment
(onshore/offshore) for a specified period of time.
It may be piled or tied up to the ground /seabed or
simply placed onsite due to its gravity.
A fixed platform may be removed when it has served its
purpose or left in-situ after specific make-safe works
has been carried out.

Jacket Platforms
Consists of the following
(i) Jacket : The steel structure that rises
from the seabed to above the water line.
(ii) Deck : Where drilling and production
equipment sits
(iii) Pilings : Steel cylinders that secure the
platform to the seabed

Schematic of a
Jacket Platform

(iv) Conductors/Risers : Steel pipes through

which wells are drilled, completed and
produced.

Jacket Platforms
The jackets act as a protective layer around
conductor pipes.
The deck structure is supported by deck legs
connected to the top of piles.
The piles extend through the seabed and into
the soil.
Typically used in water depths up to 1500 ft.
Schematic of a
Jacket Platform

Jacket Platforms

The typical installation process of Jacket Platforms

Jacket Platforms
Offshore Platform Installation Jacket and Topside Installation

Compliant Tower Platforms

Consists of topside and a flexible frame
structured tower.
The narrow and flexible tower is supported
by pile foundation on the seafloor.
Production is through tensioned rigid risers
and export by flexible or catenary steel
pipe.
By virtue of it flexibility, it can withstand
large lateral deflections under wave
loading than jacket.
Used for moderate water depths of 1500 to
3000 ft.
Schematic of a Compliant Tower

Compliant (Guyed) Tower

Platforms
For compliant towers in general, mooring
is only used in the guyed-tower design.
For guyed-towers, several mooring lines
are attached to the jacket close to the
waterline and are spread out evenly
around it .
Clump weights may be attached to each
mooring line and move as the tower
moves with the wind and wave forces.
To control the tower motions better, the
lines are kept in tension during the
swaying motions.

Compliant Towers (Guyed)

Compliant Tower Platforms

Illustration of a Compliant Tower

Illustration of the current tallest Compliant
Towers worldwide

Concrete Gravity Based Structure

Consists of a topside and a concrete base.
The topside relies on the gravity/weight of
the base.
The bottom structure is fixed, heavy and
remains in place on the seabed without the
need for piles.
The base and column which are made of
concrete makes it fire resistant in the case
of gas explosion and require less
maintenance.

Gravity Based Structure

Concrete Gravity Based Structure

Commonly used in severe harsh
environment (such as North Sea and
Scandinavian Sea)
Used for moderate water depths up to
1000 ft.

Gravity Based Structure

Concrete Gravity Based Structure

Illustration of the Concrete Gravity Based Structures in the Norwegian Shelf.

Jack-Up Rigs
Self elevating unit capable of raising hull
above sea (water) level.
Design to move from one place to
another.
Legs are made of tubular truss
members and the deck is typically
buoyant.
At the drilling site, the legs are set on
the ocean bottom and the deck is jacked
up above waterline.
Jack-Up Rig

Typically used in water depths up to 200

metres

Jack-Up Rigs
Jack-Up Drilling Rig - How Does It Work?

Floating Platforms
The basic idea behind the design is that, once the well has been drilled,
much of the production equipment can be mounted on the seafloor and the
hydrocarbons reach the surface facilities through risers.
Floating structures that float near the water surface such as :
Tension Leg Platform
Semi submersible
Spar
Ship shaped vessel (FPSO)
Floating systems have four common elements :
(i) Hull
(ii) Topsides
(iii) Mooring
(iv) Risers

Some Important Definitions

i) Hull
)The steel enclosure that provides water displacement
)Floating system hulls come in ship shapes, pontoons and caissons or a
large tubular structure.

ii) Topside
)The deck which houses the production equipments used to treat the
incoming well streams and pumps & compressors needed to transfer the oil
and gas.
)Some may include living accommodations for the crew.

Some Important Definitions

iii) Mooring
)A mooring system is made up of a mooring line, anchor and
connectors, and is used for station keeping of a ship or
floating platform in all water depths
)A mooring line connects an anchor on the seafloor to a
floating structure.
)The mooring line can be made up of synthetic fiber rope, wire
and chain or a combination of the three.

Some Important Definitions

iii) Mooring (cont)
)The following are two (2) classification of mooring systems
1) Spread Mooring
2) Single Point Mooring
)The following the common types of mooring systems
1) Catenary Mooring
2) Taut Leg Mooring
3) Semi-taut Mooring

Some Important Definitions

iv) Risers
)Steel tubes that rise from the sea floor to the hull.
)Similar to pipelines or flowlines, risers transport produced
hydrocarbons, as well as production materials, such as injection
fluids.
)Riser system is a key component for offshore drilling or floating
production projects.
)The design of riser system depends on field layout, vessel
interfaces, fluid properties and environmental condition.

Some Important Definitions

iv) Risers (cont)
)The cost and technical challenges is further increased with
water depth.
)Risers can be either rigid or flexible.
)The following are some of the common types of risers :
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)
6)

Attached risers
Pull tube risers
Steel catenary risers
Top-tensioned risers
Riser towers
Flexible riser configurations

Tension Leg Platforms

Buoyancy of a TLP comes from a
combination of pontoons and columns.
Consist of topside and hull; but the hulls
mooring (anchoring) system are
different.
Uses a set of tension legs (or tendons)
attached from the platform to the sea
floor foundation piling.
Allows horizontal movement to
accommodate wave disturbances, but
prevent vertical movement to keep the
platform in place.

Tension Leg Platforms

Has excessive buoyancy over weight,
that keeps the tethers in tension.
No internal storage.
Suitable choice for stability especially in
regions where there is high possibility of
large waves or prone to hurricane such
as Gulf of Mexico.
TLPs are normally used for water depths
up to 5000 ft.

Tension Leg Platforms

E-TLP (a ring pontoon

connecting the four
air-filled columns)

SeaStar TLP (one central

column for a hull)
Moses TLP (fourcolumn hull centralized)

Tension Leg Platforms

Tension Leg Platform Installation

Semi-Submersible Platforms
Consists of topside but
supported by hulls which
can be in either box or
cylindrical form.
Hulls consists of columns
and pontoons of sufficient
buoyancy to cause the
structure to flow and
sufficient weight to keep it
upright.
Partially submerged and
movable.

Semi Submersible Mobilization

Semi-Submersible Platforms
[cont]
Anchored by combinations of
chain, wire rope or polyester
rope or both
Stabilized by anchoring and
ballasting.
Water Depth : 2000-10,000 ft

Semi Submersible Rig

Spar Platforms
Consists of a large cylindrical steel hull which supports the platform.
The mooring system uses steel wire/polyester rope connected to chain on
the bottom.
The polyester has neutral buoyancy in water and adds no weight to the
spar
Because of its large underwater profile, the huge mass provides a stable
platform with very little vertical motion.
To ensure that the center of gravity remains well below the center of
buoyancy (the principle that keeps the spar from flipping), the bottom of
the spar usually has ballast of some heavier-than-water material like
magnetite iron ore.

Spar Platforms [cont]

Three design configurations :
o Conventional Spar
Single 600 ft steel cylinder below
surface.
o Truss Spar
A shortened cylinder section
Below that a truss frame
Below that a ballast section filled with
magnetite.
o Cell Spar
A scaled down version of a large truss spar.
A bundle of 6 tubes clustered around the 7th tube makes up the floatation
section extending below the decks
Water depth : Floats in depth up to 7500 ft

Spar Platforms [cont]

Traditional Spar
Truss Spar

Cell Spar

Spar Platforms [cont]

Kikeh Truss Spar Our Pride

First deepwater development offshore
Malaysia.
First Spar constructed in Malaysia and installed
outside the Gulf of Mexico.
The oil is processed, stored and exported from
a FPSO.
The Truss Spar and FPSO were
the biggest ever to be
constructed in Malaysia.
Achieved first oil on 17th August
2007.

Floating Production Storage & Offloading

(FPSO)
FPSOs consist of large
monohull structure equipped
with processing facilities.
Has the facility to pump and
transfer (offload) the crude oil
into the cargo ship.
Usually anchored at a safe distance from the platforms within a
producing field by different types of mooring systems.
They are moored to a location for long duration.
Water depth : 650-6500 ft (can be deeper)

Floating Production Storage & Offloading

(FPSO)
Advantages of the FPSO
Earlier cash flow because they are faster to develop than fixed
platforms
Reduced upfront investment
Retained value because they can be relocated to other fields
Abandonment costs are less than for fixed platforms
Limitations of the FPSO
The limitation of the concept is motions, which are too excessive
to support dry trees in typical applications.

Floating Storage and Offloading

(FSO)
FSO (Floating storage and
offloading) is a specialty vessel
which stores crude from a
production platform, fixed or
floating where no viable
alternatives for pumping oil via
pipeline exist.
It functions entirely as storage
and off loading facility
It is also anchored closed to the producing platforms (within an oil
field) by various mooring systems.

Subsea Systems
Can have a single or multiple wellheads on the sea floor
connected directly to a host platform or to a subsea manifold.
The systems include connections by flowlines and risers to fixed
or floating systems that could be at a distance away.
Subsea systems can typically be set at any water depth.
The components that make up a subsea system are :
(i)
(ii)
(iii)
(iv)
(v)
(vi)

Wells
Subsea trees
Manifolds and Sleds
Flowlines
Electric and Hydraulic Umbilicals
Subsea and Surface Controls

Subsea Systems

Illustration of a development scheme for six subsea fields.

Integrated Development and Production

Systems
Is a platform complex housing the required facilities for oil/gas
production.
The production (wellheads), separation, compression, pumping,
power generation, flaring and LQs may be housed on a single
platform (huge) or a few individual smaller platforms linked by
bridges.

Integrated Development and Production

Systems
The integrated components may be added-on later to meet the field
development requirement.
Expensive anywhere from $300 Million to $2 Billion
Design must cover all aspects of system life including installation and
decommissioning.

CHECK YOUR CAPABILITY

1), 2) Conventional Fixed Platforms

3) Compliant Tower
4), 5) Vertically Moored Tension Leg and Mini-Tension Leg Platform
6) Spar
7,8) Semi-Submersibles
9) Floating Production, Storage, and Offloading Facility
10) Sub-Sea Completion and Tie-Back To Host Facility

Facilities Requirement

Facilities Requirement
a)

Production facility consists of:

i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
ix.
x.

Production manifolds.
Piping.
Separators.
Strainers / Scrubbers.
Heat Exchangers (Heaters / Coolers).
Control Valves.
Pumps.
Instrumentation & Control.
Water Treating facility.
Gas handling facility

Facilities Requirement
b) Well Testing Facilities
)Each major platform would
normally be equipped with well
testing facility (normally called
test separator).
)It functions as a normal separator
that separates water/oil/gas but
has metering systems to
measure the amount of water, oil,
and gas separated individually.
This test separator can be selectively tied-in to the producing
well for testing and monitoring of its production performance.
Connection is done through the production manifolds.

Facilities Requirement

Simplified process
flow diagram (Test
Separator)

A plant is receiving a multi phased flow of oil and gas from many wells via a
manifold.
Flow from one well is channeled to the test separator.
The test separator has the capacity to separate gas and water from oil, and
to have each component measured, under different conditions.

Facilities Requirement
c) Water Treating Facility
) Produced water is brine that
comes from the oil reservoir
together with the produced fluids.
) Produced water is treated in
offshore operations for overboard
disposal or injection into a
disposal well.
) The produced water must be
purified to eliminate the
dispersed and dissolved oil and
solids to a condition suitable for
environmental, reservoir, or
steam-generation purposes.

Facilities Requirement
d) Power Generation
The power generation system
will provide electrical power
for the drilling operations,
production operations and all
of the platform utility systems.
In most cases the principle
power supply will be from gas
turbine generators.
The generators will normally operate on fuel gas. However diesel will
be used in the event of unavailability of fuel gas.
At all times there would be one spare generator on standby and
additional generators dedicated for water injection operations (if
needed).

Facilities Requirement
e) Accommodation/Living Quarters
)Important consideration in
determining the facilities required for
efficient and safe operations.

)Typical LQ capacity for Malaysian

offshore operations are between 80
120 men LQs.

During peak activities e.g. during Drilling campaign additional space may
be required to house the essential personnel. These may be provided by
hiring an accommodation barge etc.

Facilities Requirement
f)

IOR/EOR Water Injection / Gas Injection

Water Injection facility

consists of water purifying
& treatment units and
water pumping units.
Gas Injection facility
consists of gas
conditioning/treating and
gas compression units.
Space must be provided
on the platform when these
equipment are required.

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

An offshore oil and gas facility provides excellent opportunities of
energy consumption studies.
Not many studies have been carried out in the past due to the lack
of drive and commitment from the oil and gas organizations.
The general perception surrounding the energy abundance of
the E&P activities is partly responsible for the lack of enthusiasm.
Recent regulatory requirements have forced major oil and gas
companies to have a re-look at the energy issues surrounding their
E&P activities

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

The current and anticipated future concerns with regard to
energy consumption, wastage and efficiencies include:
Flaring
Venting
Energy efficiency of equipments used for power generation
Energy efficiency of equipments used for drilling/production
processes

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Why is Natural Gas Flared or Vented?

Volumes of solution gas from crude oil wells may be too small or the location
too remote to justify building pipelines and processing facilities.
Incidents during drilling, production, processing or pipelining may lead to
releases of natural gas.
After drilling a successful well, it may be necessary to produce natural gas
for a short period of time to establish flow rates and gas composition, key
considerations when determining the type and size of equipment to be
installed.

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Why is Natural Gas Flared or Vented?

During and after some drilling and servicing operations, it is necessary to
dispose of natural gas contaminated with drilling mud, fracturing fluids or
acids.
Gas containing hydrogen sulphide (H2S) needs to be disposed off safely.
Combustion converts the H2S into water vapour and sulphur dioxide (SO2),
which are lifted and dispersed by the plume of hot gases.

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Flaring
The controlled burning of natural gas in the course of routine
oil and gas production process.
This burning occurs at the end of a flare stack or boom.
Flare systems generally have a pilot or ignition device that
ignites the gas exiting the system because the discharge may
be either continuous or intermittent.
During flaring, the burned gas generates mainly water vapor
and carbon dioxide.

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Illustration of an offshore flare boom.

Illustration of an offshore flare stack.

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Illustration of bridge
supported flare.

Illustration of remote flare

with subsea relief line

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Venting
In venting, the natural gases associated with the oil production are
released directly to the atmosphere and not burned.
Safe venting is assured when the gas is released at high pressure and is
lighter than air.
These gases might be natural gas or other hydrocarbon vapours, water
vapour, and other gases, such as carbon dioxide.
In some cases, venting is the best option for disposal of the associated
gas.
For example, in some cases, a high concentration of inert gas is present
in the associated gas. Without a sufficiently high hydrocarbon content, the
gas will not burn and flaring is not a viable option.

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Flaring vs Venting
Flaring predominantly produces carbon dioxide and venting
predominantly produces methane.
Both the gases are known as greenhouse gases associated with
concerns about global warming.
However ,the global warming potential of a kilogram of methane is
estimated to be twenty-one times that of a kilogram of carbon dioxide
when the effects are considered over one hundred years.
When considered in this context, flaring will generally be preferred over
venting the same amount of gas in the design of new facilities.

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Energy efficiency of equipments used for power generation
In most offshore installations, power is generated locally by gas turbines
or diesel engines with low efficiencies.
As a result of its low efficiency, high green house gas emissions are
produced.
Energy efficiency of equipments used for drilling/production processes
Wide range of equipment involved in the drilling/production processes
Each of the equipment have their own efficiencies.
Eg,
Pump Efficiency (mud pump, booster pumps, transportation pumps)
Compressors
Heat Exchangers

Energy Consumption On Offshore Facilities

Some of the steps taken to have better energy efficiency include:
Regulatory requirements:- CO2 taxation (Norway introduced
the worlds highest CO2 tax in 1994 )
Energy recovery from production and utility processes
ie. Combined Heat and Power (co-generation)
Alternative energy options
Inter-platform power distribution

THANK YOU
2013 INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY PETRONAS SDN BHD
All rights reserved. No part of this document may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means (electronic,
mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the permission of the copyright owner.

Q&A
Sessio
n