June 2016
World news
8 |
Oilfield Technology
June
2016
First cargo of Yamal oil shipped from Arctic gate terminal
The year round shipments of Yamal oil from the Arctic Gate (Vorota Arktilo), an Arctic loading
terminal, were marked by an event which took place on 25 May in the Mys Kamenny settlement
(Yamal Peninsula, Yamal-Nenets Autonomous Area). The event was attended by Alexey Miller,
Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, and Alexander Dyukov, Chief Executive
Officer of Gazprom Neft.
It was via videocall that Russian President Vladimir Putin gave the command to start
loading a tanker with oil from the Novoportovskoye field.
The Novoportovskoye oil, gas and condensate field, the richest in oil reserves in the
Yamal Peninsula, is located 700 km away from the existing pipeline infrastructure. That is why it
was decided to ship Yamal oil by sea for the first time in history of Russia’s oil and gas industry.
Thanks to the technologies employed in building the production, transportation and, most
importantly, loading infrastructure, it took only four years to arrange commercial oil production
from the field. There are plans to extract 6.3 million t of feedstock from the field as early as 2018.
The plan for further field development will be outlined before late 2017.
A pipeline over 100 km long transports oil from the Novoportovskoye field to the Ob Bay
coast. The bay’s ship channel with a depth of 11 m is too shallow for ship traffic, which is why
the oil loading terminal was placed in the sea, 3.5 km offshore. The annual capacity of the oil
transshipment terminal is up to 8.5 million t. The terminal ensures a year round landing of
tankers with Yamail oil for further shipments via the Northern Sea Route.
According to Alex Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, “Gazprom
is systematically exploring the Russian Arctic. We are successfully extracting oil from the
Prirazlomnye field, Russia’s only hydrocarbon production project on the Arctic shelf. We have
opened the Arctic Gate to deliver Yamal oil to European consumers via the Northern Sea Route
all year round.”
GE Oil & Gas to use 3D
printing and robotics
Two new high-tech component production
lines have been inaugurated at the
GE Oil & Gas plant in Talamona, Italy. The
new nozzle production line marks the first
completely automated line for GE, and a
new additive manufacturing line will use
laser technology to 3D print burners for gas
turbine combustion chambers. These new
advanced manufacturing lines establishes
this site as a centre of excellence for the oil
and gas industry.
The official unveiling of the upgraded
turbine and compressor components
manufacturing facility is the result of
a €10 million, two year investment to
establish the plant as one of its most
cutting production centres. Previous
investments in 2013 increased the plant’s
production capacity.
With this new line, GE Oil & Gas will be
able to produce components in Talamona
that it previously purchased from
third-party suppliers.
KOC awards Amec Foster
Wheeler FEED contract
Amec Foster Wheeler has announced that
it has been awarded a FEED contract by
Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) to upgrade its
Oil Gathering Centre GC-24.
This project sees a continuation
of Amec Foster Wheeler’s work with
KOC on major projects since 2004,
which has recently included three new
Gathering Centres and strategic pipeline
projects in North Kuwait.
Roberto Penno, Amec Foster Wheeler’s
Group President said, “Kuwait Oil Company
is one of our key customers and this further
strengthening of our working partnership
follows our success in delivering projects
for them and management of the original
GC-24 Project.”
Critical to the expansion, this project will
enhance the existing GC-24 facility, increasing
capacity by 50 000 bpd from the current level
of 165 000 bpd and optimise existing facilities
to cater for the expected high level of water
in the mix of crude oil and gas.
Shell buys award-winning
subsea pump upgrade
Sulzer and FMC Technologies have been
awarded a subsea multiphase boosting
pump contract to upgrade one of the
pumping modules in Shell’s Parque das
Conchas, a deepwater oilfield off the coast
of Brazil. The pump modifications suit the
specifics of the oilfield with a high shut-in
pressure of 517 bar (7500 psi), meeting
Shell’s maintenance and service needs
with high reliability and short turnaround
intervention.
A key part of the success of the project
has been the collaboration between Shell,
FMC Technologies, and Sulzer. The pump
will be manufactured from a global supply
chain.
The first subsea pump for Shell
from FMC Technologies and Sulzer will
be launched in the field in 2017. It will
demonstrate the pump’s capability to
maintain yield levels and achieve excellent
reliability targets in the harsh deep-sea
environments.
Bibby O shore awarded
North Sea contract
Bibby Offshore has announced
a substantial contract win with
Apache North Sea Ltd to provide subsea
construction, ROV and diving services at
the largest oilfield in the North Sea.
The contract, due to begin this
month, will utilise Bibby Offshore’s multi
role diving support vessel the Bibby
Topaz, equipped with an inspection class
ROV.
The project, which involves well
tie-ins and spool change-out at the Aviat
and Bacchus locations, along with the
associated pre-commissioning works, will
be conducted to tie back the subsea wells
to the Forties Oil Field, 110 miles east of
Aberdeen.
Fraser Moonie, chief operating
officer at Bibby Offshore said, “We are
delighted to have secured another North
Sea contract and to be working wit the
Apache North Sea team again, further
strengthening our relationship.”
