Rarely has the opening of a new oilfield been so emphatically celebrated as on 1 May when Petrobras observed its "first oil" from the Tupi Field. It seemed as if half of Brazil's official representatives showed up for the ceremony.
The ship that made the occasion possible was BW Cidade de São Vicente. Project Manager Morten Bråss at BW Offshore refers to the preceding FPSO conversion as amazing. "Inocean was one of our main engineering partners and the company contributed substantially to the success," he says.
In 2008 Petrobras awarded a contract to BW Offshore for delivery of an FPSO to the high-profile Tupi Field, where the ship will operate as a combined long-term well-testing and early production vessel ('TLD' - Tesle de Longa Duracao). The duration of the contract is 10 years with an option for an additional 5.
The ship
To meet Petrobras's demands, BW Offshore opted on a conversion of the FPSO BW Peace, originally a single-hull Suezmax tanker built in 1976. The vessel was converted to an FPSO in 1996 (Wakaropai) and operated for Shell afterwards on the Maui Field offshore New Zealand. The ship was later bought by BWO and re-named BW Peace and finally BW Cidade de São Vicente in honour of the first official Brazilian city.
BW Offshore selected Inocean as one of its engineering partners on the project. Inocean was given responsibility for hydrodynamics, stability, strength and marine systems, among other aspects.
Getting it right on the first try
"We've worked with Inocean on several FPSO projects, and they provide us with the engineering competence and capacity that's lacking on our part," asserts Bråss. In this project it was imperative that our partner in co-operation has done this before and whom we could trust 100%. There was no leeway here for mistakes and delays. Everything had to be made right from the initial attempt."
Against all odds
Morten Bråss likens the project to an adventure story because of these ambitious deadlines and budgets, and the fact that they were met. A substantial amount of the work was carried out in a period when the entire industry was booming and all players had their hands full from the start. Nevertheless, less than a year passed from the time that the conversion commenced until BW Cidade de São Vicente left the Keppel Benoi Yard in Singapore. And when the demanding operation of connecting the anchoring system and the pipeline structure at a depth of 2,200 meters out on the field, everything worked as it should. The ship went directly into stable production, well within Petrobras's deadline.
Liaisons
"As regards Inocean's efforts, I found that the company excelled in the areas of strength and analysis, and they also demonstrate a willingness to serve anywhere, at any time, on short notice," says Bråss. "We can't deny that there were periods in the project that demanded extra efforts from everyone involved. Essentially, everyone had to be alert to seeking and finding solutions. This applies also to the staff Inocean had at Keppel, who in many ways functioned as communicators and liaisons between the project and the yard."
Impressed
"In retrospect, when one sums up the experiences of this sort of project, there are always things that could have been improved.. But once again: The job of converting and starting up BW Cidade de São Vicente in production on the Tupi Field was a success. I'm impressed by the job done internally at BW Offshore and with all the co-operating partners, including Inocean," says Project Manager Morten Bråss.
Tupi
BW Cidade de São Vicente will be connected to two different wells, one at a time, for about six months each. The experiences accrued from this production will be essential for the model that Petrobras selects for the gigantic Tupi Field. Its special geological structure combined with the reservoir's location 5,000 meters under the ocean waves, below a 2 000-meter thick layer of salt, all add up to technological challenges. What's more, the field is far offshore.
Thoroughly analyzed
John Namork (picture), Project Manager for Inocean, points out that the narrow time slot for the project obviously had an impact on the engineering work. "There are loads of players and suppliers involved in such projects, and they have a variety of operations running at the same time. This means that even minor delays in one area can easily have consequences for other parts of the project. Everything is interlinked. At the same time, a high tempo must never diminish the quality of the work at hand. The fact that the vessel was ready for action 12 months after the start of the project shows that this objective was achieved, despite all the challenges posed," says Namork. "This has been a rewarding and fascinating project that we are delighted and proud to have played a role in."
FPSO BW Cidade de São Vicente
Platform oil production capacity: 30,000 bpd;
Gas treatment capacity: 1,000,000 m3/d;
Oil storage capacity: / 600,000 barrels
Displacement fully loaded: / 107,000 t
Length overall: 254 <<(290 m including turret);
Width: 43.5 m;
Hull Depth : 23 m
Lodging: 99 persons.
TUPI EXTENDED WELL TEST
Reservoir depth (from the water line) 5,313m;
Water depth: 2,140m;
Thickness of the salt layer: 2,000 m;
Distance from the coast: 290 km;
API gravity of the oil that will be produced: typically 28º