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Brown & Root Energy Services Issues Letter Of Intent For Malampaya Topsides Transportation And Installation Subcontact
Dallas, Texas - Brown & Root Energy Services (BRES), a business unit of Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL), announced today that a letter of intent has been issued to Heerema Marine Contractors Nederland B.V. (Heerema) for the transportation and installation of the Malampaya Topside Facility. The Malampaya development is a landmark deep-water project, being managed by Shell Philippines Exploration B.V., to supply natural gas to power plants within the Republic of the Philippines commencing on October 1st 2001. Brown & Root Energy Services signed contracts with Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. (SPEX) for the design, procurement, fabrication, installation and commissioning of the Malampaya Platform in August 1998.
The floatover method of installation was selected for the Malampaya topside because of its primary advantage of allowing a complete integrated deck to be installed as one unit. This allows freedom of equipment layout within the deck compared to modular designs and also the completion of testing and pre-commissioning onshore.
The result is a significant reduction to the platform's overall cost through a shorter offshore commissioning phase without the need to use heavy lift floating crane vessels. BRES developed the floatover technique in the late 1970s and since then has become the industry leader for the design of topsides for floatover installation. In 1997, BRES completed the industry's most recent installation, the 6,500 tonne Mobil - Wandoo B topside offshore Australia. Wandoo B followed the successful installation of the Shell MLNG DUA M1 and M3 production decks in 1995. The M1 and M3 topsides weighed 6,500 and 7,500 tonnes respectively and were designed specifically for floatover installation by BRES. The Malampaya platform floatover design incorporates the extensive experience BRES has in this proven method of installation.
The transportation and installation of the 10,000 tonne dryweight topside facility is scheduled to take place in early 2001 with completion by April 1, 2001. Depending on which yard is selected for the fabrication of the Malampaya deck the transportation may involve a journey of up to 1,600 nautical miles. Heerema will use its barge H-114 as the transportation barge for the execution of this work. This barge is 160 meters long, 42 meters wide and has a maximum displacement of 60,000 tonnes.
The topsides facility will be placed on a 19 meter high transportation frame weighing 900 tonnes for its journey to the offshore site. This frame together with the existing height of the barge will allow the legs of the topside facility to clear the top of the four CGS shafts immediately prior to mating the two structures.
Some details of each phase of the transportation and installation of the Malampaya deck are set out below.
Mobilization of Transportation/Installation Spread
Heerema will receive the topside facility from the fabrication yard and after seafastening the topside to the barge will commence the towing operations. The destination will be the site of the pre-installed Concrete Gravity Sub-structure (CGS) 50 kilometers west of Palawan Island in the Philippines. The tow will be performed by two tugs, both rated at 9,000 brake horsepower. A construction support vessel will then join the barge and tugs at the offshore site to prepare for the installation phase.
Barge Approach & Docking
The barge will be brought between the shafts of the CGS at between three and five meters a minute. The CGS has been designed to allow four meters clearance between the barge sides and the CGS shafts. Eight mooring lines will be attached to the barge as the barge progresses through the CGS. These will be used to hold the barge steady in its final lowering position.
Deck Mating
At this stage the deck legs will be aligned with the cone shaped receptors on the CGS shafts and ballasting operations will commence. The weight of the deck will be progressively transferred to four leg mating units by lowering the barge away from the deck. To reduce the initial impact between the deck and the CGS, elastomeric pads will be included in the leg mating units. Ballasting of the barge will continue with the use of 36 pumps combining to produce a peak seawater transfer rate of 30,000 tonnes per hour. When the deck weight transfer has been completed the barge will be towed from between the shafts of the CGS.
Topside Completion
When the transportation barge, together with the transportation frame, are clear from the CGS the final mating operation will commence. Sand jacks located on the CGS shafts will be activated to lower the deck and allow the deck legs to come into contact with steel caps on the CGS shafts. The contact points will then be welded together to form the one permanent structure of the Malampaya Platform. Before departing from the platform, the construction support vessel will perform post installation surveys including the deployment of a Remotely Operated Vehicle for underwater surveys.
Safety
Since 1995 Heerema has been certified with the International Maritime Organizations International Safety Management (ISM) 9001 Certificate. BRES and Heerema are convinced that the implementation of ISM throughout the offshore construction industry will result in a higher level of safety.
Next Steps
The next major milestone in the realization of the Malampaya Platform is the award of the topsides and living quarters fabrication sub-contracts. Tender documents are currently being reviewed by BRES and SPEX; it is anticipated that awards will be made in late February 1999.
Detailed engineering and procurement activities continue in Houston. The construction of the CGS will commence, on schedule, in March 1999.
Brown & Root Energy Services supplies engineering, construction, operations and maintenance services to the upstream oil and gas industry worldwide. Its primary role is the engineering, project management, construction and operation of the facilities that are utilized for the production and transportation of oil and gas. Brown & Root Energy Services is a business unit of Halliburton Company, headquartered in Dallas, Texas.
Halliburton Company is the world's leading diversified energy services, engineering, energy equipment, maintenance and construction companies. Founded in 1919, Halliburton provides a broad range of energy services and products, industrial and marine engineering and construction services. In 1997, Halliburton's consolidated revenues were $16.3 billion and it conducted business with a workforce of approximately 100,000 in more than 120 countries.
Contact
Wendy Hall-Nantz
wendy.hall@halliburton.com
Halliburton Company
Americas
(p) 713.676.5227
Bill Clewes
Halliburton Company
Europe/Africa
(p) 44.181.544.6678
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