Gulf of Mexico Blocks MC 776, 777, 778, 820 & 821
Landmark: World’s First Major High-Pressure/ High-Temperature Subsea Project
Project Overview
- Contract Award: 2001 (Ph I)
- 2005E (Ph II)
- Sales: Houston, Texas
- Fabrication: Houston, Texas
- Service Base: Houston, Texas
- Host Type: FPS-Semi
- Contract Type: Frame Agreement
Project Characteristics
- No. Trees: 19 (Ph I)
- 7 (Ph II)
- Water Depth: 1,920 m (6,300 ft)
- Tree Type: Vertical
- Tree Pressure: 15,000 psi
- Tree Bore Size: 5"x2"
- Hydrocarbon: Oil
Project Ownership
Scope of Work
Subsea: Ph I
- Nineteen (19) vertical 5"x2" 15,000 psi subsea trees
- Tree-mounted controls
- Two (2) 4-slot and two (2) 10-slot manifolds
- Four (4) sets of manifold-mounted controls
- One (1) subsea distribution system
- Production control systems
- Forty (40) flowline and intrafield jumpers
- Thirty (30) PLETS and sleds
- Workover riser systems
- System integration testing, offshore installation support and technical assistance
Comments
The Thunder Horse development is located some 150 km (90 miles) southeast of New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico and is operated by BP. For the base case, a total of twenty-six (26) trees are planned over an eight-year period. Development drilling commenced in 2002, and a total of nine (9) wells are planned to be completed for first oil by mid-2005. The production facility is a semisubmersible Process Drilling and Quarters (PDQ) vessel, taut-wire moored in 1,920 m (6,300 ft) of water. The vessel has a processing capacity of 250,000 bopd of oil and 200 mmcf/d of natural gas. Oil and gas export is by pipeline.
The subsea production system, provided by FMC Technologies, is designed for 180° C (350° F) and 15,000 psi and operated via an electro-hydraulic (EH) controls system. The 5"x2" conventional subsea trees and manifolds have HH trim and will be installed in water depths of 1,713 to 1,920 m (5,700 to 6,300 ft). Round-trip pigging capability is incorporated into the manifold architecture. The EH control system includes a subsea distribution system and will incorporate fiber optics for downhole monitoring on later completions.