Floatover platform lowers costs: A floating platform, matched to a base offshore, eliminates lifting risk

摘要

Oil and gas producers face higher risk as they venture into deeper water to find bigger prospects that require larger, more expensive floating platforms to produce. It's an arena where weight savings is crucial and delays are increasingly expensive. BP is launching the world's largest floating platform over Thunder Horse field in Mississippi Canyon 778 and 822 in the Gulf of Mexico. The platform over BP's Atlantis, in Green Canyon 743, will be the second largest, The company already launched the world's two largest spar platforms for Holstein field in Green Canyon 645 and Mad Dog in Green Canyon 782. BP completed final assembly for Thunder Horse, including the mounting of the platform on the base, at the Kiewit Shipyard in Ingleside, Texas, the only shipyard available with a 90-ft (27-m) hole at quay-side that would allow a float-out of the fully assembled platform. A full assembly at quay-side eliminates the expense of bringing a heavy-lift vessel to the deepwater field site, the time-delay risk of weather challenges, and the monetary and time risk of the lifting vessel dropping a module into water so deep it can't be recovered.