Abstract
Chevron's portfolio of subsea assets in the Gulf of Mexico is poised to more than double in the next 5 years starting with First Oil of Jack/St. Malo, the development of Buckskin Moccosin, and the expansion of its exisiting Tahiti and Blind Faith subsea development assets such as Tahiti 2 and Blind Faith 2. Subsea well recovery rates typically underperform when compared to their surface well counterparts. One significant factor is the relatively high access costs for subsea well intervention. Without frequent intervention to maintain well performance, a lot of barrels are left behind. At Blind Faith Chevron is investigating platform-based intervention alternatives that dramatically improve economics by reducing or eliminating the need for vessel-based intervention. A key enabler is the Coiled Tubing Intervention Riser (CTIR) system that creates a direct vertical access point to the flowline riser from the platform. With the flowline accessible by coiled tubing, services such as acid stimulation, artificial lift, hydrate remediation, etc. become feasible. The reach of the coiled tubing is limited to the pipeline end terminations of the riser flowlines making direct vertical access to the subsea trees still a job for the large, expensive vessels. The CTIR system does not replace the need for vessel-based intervention, but it does support some well intervention options.
