Feature 1 | GULF OF MEXICO
The frontier: ultra-deepwater Gulf of
Mexico
Th e Perdido regional host facility will consist of a spar fl oating production
platform with drilling intervention capability. Shell and its joint venture
partners will develop Gulf of Mexico fi elds via this Perdido host.
he concept for the regional reduced cost and lower risk. It is Shell’s and operations in this challenging frontier
development includes a common most ambitious deepwater off shore oil and area, resulting in a lower environmental
Tprocessing hub that incorporates gas development to date, and will be the impact than would otherwise be achieved.
drilling capability and functionality to world’s deepest spar production facility. Th ree fi elds - Great White, Silvertip,
gather, process and export production. Th is Additionally, the regional concept will and Tobago - will be developed via the
concept will provide regional synergies, reduce the number and size of the facilities Perdido spar, which is jointly owned by
Shell (35%), Chevron (37.5%) and BP
(27.5%).
Construction of major components
began in 2006, with the fi rst cutting of steel
in Pori, Finland for the hull, and in 2007
for the topsides in Ingleside, Texas. By the
turn of the decade, Perdido will have the
capacity to produce 130,000boepd.
In May 2008 the hull sailed from
Finland. Now situated at the Kiewit
Offshore Services fabrication yard in
Ingleside, Shell will work with Technip
and Kiewit to perform final outfitting
of the hull in preparation for offshore
installation. In August 2008 the hull
was towed off shore to the Perdido work
site, Alaminos Canyon Block 857, in the
Gulf of Mexico. Th en Heerema Marine
Contractors, using several vessels,
upended the hull and attached the nine
mooring lines to the seafl oor.
Kiewit also holds the contract to
construct and fabricate the Perdido
topsides facility. It includes the production
equipment, drilling rig and the living
quarters. Topsides construction began
in March 2007 and continues today. Th e
topsides will be mated with the hull in a
single lift in early 2009.
The unit
Th e Perdido spar will fl oat on the surface
in nearly 2438m of water and is capable of
producing as much as 130,000boepd. Th e
spar will be secured in place by nine chain
and polyester rope mooring lines.
The Shell-operated Perdido Regional Development Spar has arrived in the ultra On the seafl oor, 22 wells, each extending
deepwaters of the Gulf of Mexico and is currently being secured to the seafl oor in about more than 4267m from the surface and
2438m of water. into the mud and rock beneath the vast
12 Offshore Marine Technology 4th Quarter 2008
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