Referring to a real case located in the lower Adriatic Sea (involving the floating exploitation of an oil reservoir in deepwater conditions), the paper presents the first results of new hazard analyses focused upon the role of the components of the production system which are located between the subsea wellheads and the FPSO unit. Therefore, the main concern of the study is the validation of a risk assessment methodology and its application to a real and peculiar study case. The analysis leads to start drawing significant conclusions concerning the most serious accidental events, together with the possible implications related to the occurence frequency and to the dimension of the outcoming consequences. The results of the study outcome in a project-oriented way, as far as project review and editing (e. g.) could be concerned, with particular reference to the impact prevention toward the environment, within a global project overview.
AGIP Aquila oil field lies in 850 m of water about 45 km offshore Brindisi, mid-Otranto channel, Adriatic Sea, having proved recoverable oil reserves of 20 MM bbl, as far as today's Reservoir Engineering know how can state, with a foreseen peak production of 17000 BOPD;4 oilwells already exist, drilled by SONAT and R.&B. contractors. The heavy environmental conditions and the limited amount of reserves do combine altogether to make the field development extremely complex from many different points of view. The conditions found in deepwater impose the use of absolutely new technologies, where - moreover - the fundamentally economic pressure proper of any small oil field exploitation project requires to strongly drive down the development and operating costs, as already extensively documented in the recent past by careful studies such as: Giannesini et al., 1995.
