Completing the package
The project prepares
for first oil
By August 2014, the project team had completed nearly all of the topsides engineering work, but the work that remained was still daunting. The FPS was still in Kiewit’s yard as
technicians checked the critical systems
required to earn the U.S. Coast Guard’s
approval to take the new vessel out to sea
for the first time. As the FPS was nearing
completion, a small fleet of ships and barges
were busy in the field, installing the rest of the
field’s infrastructure.
Subsea Systems
Three separate subsea systems, each with
the capacity to support eight wells, feed all of
their produced fluids to the Delta House FPS.
Equipment on the seabed is linked by a fiber-
optic communication system, and each well
has its own multiphase meter.
“Both of those are unique for us,” says Bruce
Cooley, who managed the susbsea installations.
“Using fiber-optics instead of copper wire
greatly improves the equipment response time.
Where the old system might take 30 seconds to
transmit some data, the fiber-optic system is
nearly instantaneous.”
The use of multiphase meters gives reservoir
engineers the chance to monitor what each
well is producing. As fluids come from the well,
engineers at LLOG offices can see how much
of it is water, gas and oil. In addition, downhole
pressure and temperature sensors in each well
update their readings every few seconds.
One feature of the Delta House subsea system
is that all of the production lines are looped.
Looped lines give operators the ability, in the Bruce Cooley, vice president facilities.
