Tension leg platform (TLP) design drivers for West Africa are both similar and different to those areas where TLPs have been a platform choice for many years. The differences include requirements such as platform drilling, inshore topsides integration, soils conditions not normally encountered in other deepwater locations, swell conditions that affect not only in-place performance but also installation, the lack of pipeline to shore infrastructure, and the limited near-shore support facilities. Other platform drivers can be satisfied with equipment and resources generally available in West Africa, such as drilling tenders and mobilized heavy lift equipment. New generation TLPs were installed in the Oveng and Okume/ Ebano fields in Equatorial Guinea for Hess Corp. and its partners. As operator, Hess awarded an engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract to MODEC for the two TLPs for the Oveng and the Okume/Ebano fields in 900 ft (274 m) and 1,650 ft (503 m) water depth, respectively. This was a fasttrack project and the TLPs were constructed ready-for-sailaway in just over 16 months from contract award. The operating strategy was to use a semisubmersible drilling tender coupled to the TLP during drilling and completion activities with the second TLP in a stand-alone operating condition. With similar payload, operating, and functional requirements, along with the same required delivery date, this strategy made it attractive to design nearly identical platforms.
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