ABSTRACT

Arctic shelf of Russia is a region rich in production of hydrocarbon materials. The nearest prospect is the development of oil and gas fields in the Pechora Sea. Intensive surveying of this region including hydrometeorological, geological, geotechnical and ice studies for deployment of prosperous fields were carried out during the last years. Analysis of possible types of permanent platform substructures (caisson, monocone, multicolumn and truss types) applicable for hydrocarbon extraction in Pechora Sea was carried out accounting for the influence of soil conditions on the design. Qualitative comparison of technical parameters is given for various substructure types.

INTRODUCTION

The Arctic offshore zone is a promising region for oil and gas production. A most urgent prospect is the development of the fields in eastern part of the Barents sea (Pechora sea). A number of promising oil deposits has been discovered in the early 80ies by geophysical prospecting, such as Varandey-more, Medynskoya, Poliarnoye, Prirazlomnoye, Alekseevskoye, Vostochno-Gulyaevskoye, Severo- Gulyaevskoye, Yuzhno-Dolginskoye and Severo-Dolginskoye (fig.l). The presence of oil was recorded at 5 sites (Prirazlomnoye, Varandeymore, Medynskoye, Severo-Gulyaevskoye, Severo-Dolginskoye) by the subsequent prospecting boring, which permitted to include those sites into the category ofoil fields. The proper selection of substructure design of marine ice-resistant platforms and their anchoring is the function of numerous conditions, the main of them the following:

  1. Principal diagram of site development, production and transportation technology:

    • The distance between construction and transportation bases and the Shore functions, performed by a structure (boring, fuel production and processing, storing, pumping into tankers or ashore or combination of the above operations at one structure);

    • treatment and transportation chart;

    • operation life of the structure.

  2. Environmental conditions at the installation site: hydrometeorological and ice conditions; sea depth in the point of installation and over the transportation zone;

Keywords:
platform, operation, upstream oil & gas, superstructure, subsea system, manufacture, limitation, penetration, monocone, platform substructure
Subjects:
Offshore Facilities and Subsea Systems
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2000. The International Society of Offshore and Polar Engineers
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