Placid Oil Company's development of Green Canyon Block 29 represents a significant advance in floating production systems. Placid's goal is to develop a scheme that will minimize the initial project investment, generate revenue as quickly as possible, and adapt to any offshore location worldwide in water depths of up to 3500 feet. The paper will give an overview of the scope of the project and Placid's philosophy in developing the Green Canyon 29 field.
In the near future, Placid Oil Company will commission the first floating production system in the Gulf of Mexico (see Figure 1). Motivated by the desire to generate revenue as quickly as possible, Placid plans to develop a semi-submersible based system that will be capable of drilling and producing wells simultaneously. Remote satellite wells, previously completed, will provide immediate production once the unit is on station. A sub-sea template located in Green Canyon Block 29 will support the production activities of several of Placid's nearby blocks. The semi-submersible drilling rig, Penrod 72, will remain permanently moored above the template throughout the 1He of the field. The various well streams will flow directly to the Penrod 72 through dedicated lines for initial processing; ultimately, the rig's production facilities will accommodate a maximum of 120 million standard-cubic-feet per day (120 MMscfd) of natural gas and 40,000 barrels per day (40,000 bpd) of hydrocarbon liquids. Twin export lines (fourteen and sixteen inch diameter) will connect the template to a new production platform located in Ship Shoal Block 207, where final processing and sale of the gas and oil will occur.
Placid's development philosophy allowed an ambitious project schedule, with a minimum of project overhead expenses. Experimenta1 technology was considered only when no conventional approach could be found; therefore, up-front developmental engineering expenses were kept quite low. Placid elected not to employ an overall project management company; consequently, close interaction between the various vendors, consultants, and sub-contractors was imperative. In many instances, companies who would normally be considered competitors, have worked closely with one another. Coordinated by the Placid project team, communication and cooperation among the companies has been excellent.
The major engineering contractors include:
Hughes Offshore
Trees, Controls, Template
McEvoy-Will is
Pipeline Pull-in Systems
Cameron Offshore Engineering
Production Riser
R.J. Brown and Associates
Pipelines
Noble Denton and Associates
Mooring System
Omega Marine
Rig Conversion
Humphreys and Glasgow
Shallow Water Platform
Ocean Systems Engineering
Remotely Operated Vehicles
Wimpol, Inc.
Positioning System
Offshore Technology Corp.
Model Basin Testing
American Bureau of Shipping
Certification Agency
The sub-sea drilling template is a structure that supports and houses a variety of equipment necessary to drill wells and produce them in water depths of up to 3500 feet (see Figure II) The Green Canyon Block 29 template is located in the northern half of the Block, in 1526 feet of water. The structure measures 165 feet long, 82 feet wide, and 20 feet tall; it weighs approximately 1250 tons.
