Systems Decide Deepwater Hardware

摘要

Savvy operators sift complicated options in choosing deepwater production facilities. Deepwater producers fight a constant battle to find the most efficient deepwater production system in an atmosphere where even small mistakes can build into major project costs. Basically, platforms themselves don't break the technology barriers. Producers were thinking about piling-supported platforms in 1947 when Kerr-McGee installed the first platform out of sight of land in the Gulf of Mexico. At that time, they also were thinking about floating platforms supported by floating chambers, which was an early version of the semisubmersible, said Ken Arnold, senior executive vice president with Amec Paragon, speaking at the Independent Petroleum Association of America/E&P for Independents Conference in Houston. At that time, they also thought about production platforms mounted on ships, early versions of towers and sunken barges - spars came along later. Offshore platforms have become more efficient since those early concepts, and technology in the systems supported by the platform has gotten lighter and better. Now an operator in deep water has to pay as much attention to the weight of equipment on the platform, the volume of production, currents, weather conditions, and local infrastructure and markets as to the platform itself.