Offshore Brazil

The discovery of the nation's Tupi oil field in 2006, which Brazil's national petroleum agency (ANP) estimated could hold 8bn barrels of oil, could already have been surpassed by the announcement in October of a new field, dubbed Libra, which could hold up to 15bn barrels of oil.

In the space of a couple of decades these finds and others could catapult Brazil up the league of global oil producers to feature the nation prominently in the top ten.

ANP is erring on the side of caution however with Libra, saying "The volume of recoverable oil belonging to the nation could vary from 3.7bn to 15bn barrels, with the most likely estimate being 7.9bn barrels." The test well has yet to be completed and there is seemingly a lot of wriggle room in the estimates, nonetheless, Brazil's recoverable oil reserves are going to be around the 15bn barrels mark and possibly much, much more.

Deepwater drilling is the name of the game here and that requires the implementation of lessons learned from the Gulf of Mexico spill and also a large amount of local infrastructure and offshore manufacturing capacity.

Boom town

"Nonetheless, Brazil has been in the oil industry's sights for some time."Brazil's newly elected president, Dilma Rousseff, potentially has an oil boom town situation on her hands, which can create problems if it is not managed carefully.

Nonetheless, Brazil has been in the oil industry's sights for some time and companies have already set up shop in offshore manufacturing. More will likely come, especially with Brazilian contracts requiring a major input of local content.

BP has already built a presence in Brazil and expects the trend to follow, according to new BP CEO Robert Dudley. While undoubtedly, manufacturing for offshore projects will still take place away from Brazil in centres such as Houston and Singapore and the shipbuilding yards in China and South Korea, increasingly there is a drive towards a Brazilian home based industry. With big deals such as the $7.1bn alliance between Sinopec and Repsol in October 2010, this is surely a question of when and not if.

Doing business in another country can be fraught with difficulties, however, as a company navigates the learning curves of regulations and the customs and practices of doing business that the locals probably know inside out. There are shortcuts to circumnavigate these areas such as, partnerships, joint ventures or even outright acquisitions, which appear to be occurring already.

"The FPSO was upgraded at Keppel's shipyard in Singapore and completed in Brazil."Wellstream International, for instance, set up shop in 2007 at its Niteroi manufacturing facility in Brazil. The Newcastle-based company is the world's biggest manufacturer of flexible pipes that are used by energy companies in deep water. GE is in the market to acquire Wellstream and reportedly had a bid of around $1.2bn rejected in November 2010.

It is not known if a higher bid will be forthcoming from GE. However, media reports have indicated that other suitors could well be in the frame for Wellstream.

The oil rush

In October 2010, conforming to its turnkey supply contract between SBM and Petrobras Netherlands B.V (Petrobras) for the Jubarte field, offshore Espirito Santo to fulfil the local content to 68 per cent, Keppel Offshore and Marine (Keppel) delivered the P-57 Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel to SBM early and within budget.

The FPSO was upgraded and converted at Keppel's shipyard in Singapore and completed in Brazil at the company's BrasFELS yard in Angra dos Reis; it is set to be deployed in 2010 and will have a production capacity of 180,000 barrels of heavy oil per day (bopd).

Keppel has now converted 12 FPSO's for the Brazilian offshore industry and is also set to move more of its production from Singapore to Brazil. "We have been equipping our yards and training our workers to take on more sophisticated jobs over the years, transferring expertise, technology and systems from our Singapore yards to Brazil in the process," said Choo Chiau Beng, chairman of Keppel and non-resident Ambassador of Singapore to Brazil.

"As a result, our BrasFELS yard is today the most comprehensive offshore and marine facility in Latin America, and has been able to help to meet Brazil's requirements for greater local content," said Choo. "Our operations in the country will soon be augmented by our newest addition, the Keppel Singmarine Brasil shipyard in Santa Catarina, by the first half of 2011."

Digging together

"This arrangement with Brastec offers the perfect opportunity to overcome all these challenges."Joint ventures and partnerships are another way to hit the ground running in Brazil's offshore manufacturing industry. During the last quarter of 2009, Express Engineering, a leading sub-contract manufacturing company in the UK, linked up in a joint venture with offshore engineering manufacturing specialist, Brastec Technologies (Brastec) to form Petrotec Components de Precisão Ltda. (Petrotec). The new venture is already targeting business in oil, gas, aerospace and defence.

"We have been looking to establish a specialist manufacturing capacity in Brazil for some time but the challenges posed by language, culture and distance are considerable," said Express Engineering's managing director, Nigel Davison.

"This arrangement with Brastec offers the perfect opportunity to overcome all these challenges." Maurice Russel is Brastec's director of business development and R&D, "There is a very big market in South America and our clients asked us to look at trying to supply them with more value added components," said Russel.

"Our clients are already working in Europe with Express Engineering and they said why don't good companies that we are already working with on different areas get together and help us?" Brazilian contracts have a heavy percentage of local content requirements to stimulate companies to go to Brazil and it would appear that major energy companies may be encouraging a shift too. "The big problem with international companies," said Russel, "is knowing the country, knowing all the extremely difficult fiscal regulations and culture; being a Brazilian company we can help them with that."

The lessons to be taken on board by companies wishing to establish an offshore manufacturing unit in Brazil seems to be that to get that local content and therefore a chance of a contract then the local knowledge and expertise must be working for you and with you. It is little wonder that there is so much activity in the sector and that should continue in the upward direction until the demand by the major energy companies is met.


http://www.offshore-technology.com

Offshore Drilling

Drilling for natural gas offshore, in some instances hundreds of miles away from the nearest landmass, poses a number of different challenges over drilling onshore. The actual drilling mechanism used to delve into the sea floor is much the same as can be found on an onshore rig. However, with drilling at sea, the sea floor can sometimes be thousands of feet below sea level. Therefore, while with onshore drilling the ground provides a platform from which to drill, at sea an artificial drilling platform must be constructed.

Source: ChevronTexaco Corporation

Drilling offshore dates back as early as 1869, when one of the first patents was granted to T.F. Rowland for his offshore drilling rig design. This rig was designed to operate in very shallow water, but the anchored four legged tower bears much resemblance to modern offshore rigs. It wasn't until after World War II that the first offshore well, completely out of sight from land, was drilled in the Gulf of Mexico in 1947. Since then, offshore production, particularly in the Gulf of Mexico, has been very successful, with the discovery and delivery of a great number of large oil and gas deposits.

The Drilling Template
Since the land that is going to be drilled through cannot provide a base for offshore drilling as it does for onshore drilling, an artificial platform must be created. This artificial platform can take many forms, depending on the characteristics of the well to be drilled, including how far underwater the drilling target is. One of the most important pieces of equipment for offshore drilling is the subsea drilling template. Essentially, this piece of equipment connects the underwater well site to the drilling platform on the surface of the water. This device, resembling a cookie cutter, consists of an open steel box with multiple holes in it, dependent on the number of wells to be drilled. This drilling template is placed over the well site, usually lowered into the exact position required using satellite and GPS technology. A relatively shallow hole is then dug, in which the drilling template is cemented into place. The drilling template, secured to the sea floor and attached to the drilling platform above with cables, allows for accurate drilling to take place, but allows for the movement of the platform above, which will inevitably be affected by shifting wind and water currents.
In addition to the drilling template, a blowout preventer is installed on the sea floor. This system, much the same as that used in onshore drilling, prevents any oil or gas from seeping out into the water. Above the blowout preventer, a specialized system known as a 'marine riser' extends from the sea floor to the drilling platform above. The marine riser is designed to house the drill bit and drillstring, and yet be flexible enough to deal with the movement of the drilling platform. Strategically placed slip and ball joints in the marine riser allow the subsea well to be unaffected by the pitching and rolling of the drilling platform.
Moveable Offshore Drilling Rigs
There are two basic types of offshore drilling rigs: those that can be moved from place to place, allowing for drilling in multiple locations, and those rigs that are permanently placed. Moveable rigs are often used for exploratory purposes because they are much cheaper to use than permanent platforms. Once large deposits of hydrocarbons have been found, a permanent platform is built to allow their extraction. The sections below describe a number of different types of moveable offshore platforms.

A Drilling Barge

Source: California Department of Transportation

Drilling Barges
Drilling barges are used mostly for inland, shallow water drilling. This typically takes place in lakes, swamps, rivers, and canals. Drilling barges are large, floating platforms, which must be towed by tugboat from location to location. Suitable for still, shallow waters, drilling barges are not able to withstand the water movement experienced in large open water situations.
Jack-Up Rigs

A Jack-Up Rig

Source: National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

Jack-up rigs are similar to drilling barges, with one difference. Once a jack-up rig is towed to the drilling site, three or four 'legs' are lowered until they rest on the sea bottom. This allows the working platform to rest above the surface of the water, as opposed to a floating barge. However, jack-up rigs are suitable for shallower waters, as extending these legs down too deeply would be impractical. These rigs are typically safer to operate than drilling barges, as their working platform is elevated above the water level.
Submersible Rigs
Submersible rigs, also suitable for shallow water, are like jack-up rigs in that they come in contact with the ocean or lake floor. These rigs consist of platforms with two hulls positioned on top of one another. The upper hull contains the living quarters for the crew, as well as the actual drilling platform. The lower hull works much like the outer hull in a submarine - when the platform is being moved from one place to another, the lower hull is filled with air - making the entire rig buoyant. When the rig is positioned over the drill site, the air is let out of the lower hull, and the rig submerses to the sea or lake floor. This type of rig has the advantage of mobility in the water, however once again its use is limited to shallow water areas.

A Semisubmersible Rig

Source: Department of the Interior

Semisubmersible Rigs
Semisubmersible rigs are the most common type of offshore drilling rigs, combining the advantages of submersible rigs with the ability to drill in deep water. Semisubmersible rigs work on the same principle as submersible rigs; through the 'inflating' and 'deflating' of its lower hull. The main difference with a semisubmersible rig, however, is that when the air is let out of the lower hull, the rig does not submerge to the sea floor. Instead, the rig is partially submerged, but still floats above the drill site. When drilling, the lower hull, filled with water, provides stability to the rig. Semisubmersible rigs are held in place by huge anchors, each weighing upwards of ten tons. These anchors, combined with the submerged portion of the rig, ensure that the platform is stable and safe enough to be used in turbulent offshore waters. Semisubmersible rigs can be used to drill in much deeper water than the rigs mentioned above.

A Drillship in the Beaufort Sea

Source: Mining and Minerals Service

Drillships
Drillships are exactly as they sound: ships designed to carry out drilling operations. These boats are specially designed to carry drilling platforms out to deep-sea locations. A typical drillship will have, in addition to all of the equipment normally found on a large ocean ship, a drilling platform and derrick located on the middle of its deck. In addition, drillships contain a hole (or 'moonpool'), extending right through the ship down through the hull, which allow for the drill string to extend through the boat, down into the water. Drillships are often used to drill in very deep water, which can often be quite turbulent. Drillships use what is known as 'dynamic positioning' systems. Drillships are equipped with electric motors on the underside of the ships hull, capable of propelling the ship in any direction. These motors are integrated into the ships computer system, which uses satellite positioning technology, in conjunction with sensors located on the drilling template, to ensure that the ship is directly above the drill site at all times.
Offshore Drilling and Production Platforms

An Offshore Platform

Source: Duke Energy Gas Transmission Canada

As mentioned, moveable rigs are commonly used to drill exploratory wells. In some instances, when exploratory wells find commercially viable natural gas or petroleum deposits, it is economical to build a permanent platform from which well completion, extraction, and production can occur. These large, permanent platforms are extremely expensive, however, and generally require large expected hydrocarbon deposits to be economical to construct. Some of the largest offshore platforms are located in the North Sea, where because of almost constant inclement weather, structures able to withstand high winds and large waves are necessary. A typical permanent platform in the North Sea must be able to withstand wind speeds of over 90 knots, and waves over 60 feet high. Correspondingly, these platforms are among the largest structures built by man. There are a number of different types of permanent offshore platforms, each useful for a particular depth range.
This depiction of offshore drilling and completion platforms gives an idea of just how massive these offshore rigs can be. For reference, the fixed platform (the shallowest shown) is usually in no more than 1,500 feet of water - whereas the height of the Hoover Dam, from top to bottom, is less than half that, at just under 730 feet. Because of their size, most permanent offshore rigs are constructed near land, in pieces. As the components of the rig are completed, they are taken out to the drilling location. Sometimes construction or assembly can even take place as the rig is being transported to its intended destination.

Offshore Drilling Platforms

Source: MMS

Fixed Platforms
In certain instances, in shallower water, it is possible to physically attach a platform to the sea floor. This is what is shown above as a fixed platform rig. The 'legs' are constructed with concrete or steel, extending down from the platform, and fixed to the seafloor with piles. With some concrete structures, the weight of the legs and seafloor platform is so great, that they do not have to be physically attached to the seafloor, but instead simply rest on their own mass. There are many possible designs for these fixed, permanent platforms. The main advantages of these types of platforms are their stability, as they are attached to the sea floor there is limited exposure to movement due to wind and water forces. However, these platforms cannot be used in extremely deep water, it simply is not economical to build legs that long.
Compliant Towers
Compliant towers are much like fixed platforms. They consist of a narrow tower, attached to a foundation on the seafloor and extending up to the platform. This tower is flexible, as opposed to the relatively rigid legs of a fixed platform. This flexibility allows it to operate in much deeper water, as it can 'absorb' much of the pressure exerted on it by the wind and sea. Despite its flexibility, the compliant tower system is strong enough to withstand hurricane conditions. To learn more about compliant tower platforms, click here.
Seastar Platforms
Seastar platforms are like miniature tension leg platforms. The platform consists of a floating rig, much like the semisubmersible type discussed above. A lower hull is filled with water when drilling, which increases the stability of the platform against wind and water movement. In addition to this semisubmersible rig, however, Seastar platforms also incorporate the tension leg system employed in larger platforms. Tension legs are long, hollow tendons that extend from the seafloor to the floating platform. These legs are kept under constant tension, and do not allow for any up or down movement of the platform. However, their flexibility does allow for side-to-side motion, which allows the platform to withstand the force of the ocean and wind, without breaking the legs off. Seastar platforms are typically used for smaller deep-water reservoirs, when it is not economical to build a larger platform. They can operate in water depths of up to 3,500 feet. For an example of a Seastar platform in the Gulf of Mexico, click here.

A Floating Production System

Source: Minerals Management Service

Floating Production Systems
Floating production systems are essentially semisubmersible drilling rigs, as discussed above, except that they contain petroleum production equipment, as well as drilling equipment. Ships can also be used as floating production systems. The platforms can be kept in place through large, heavy anchors, or through the dynamic positioning system used by drillships. With a floating production system, once the drilling has been completed, the wellhead is actually attached to the seafloor, instead of up on the platform. The extracted petroleum is transported via risers from this wellhead to the production facilities on the semisubmersible platform. These production systems can operate in water depths of up to 6,000 feet.

A Tension Leg Platform

Source: Minerals Management Service

Tension Leg Platforms
Tension leg platforms are larger versions of the Seastar platform. The long, flexible legs are attached to the seafloor, and run up to the platform itself. As with the Seastar platform, these legs allow for significant side to side movement (up to 20 feet), with little vertical movement. Tension leg platforms can operate as deep as 7,000 feet.
Subsea System
Subsea production systems are wells located on the sea floor, as opposed to at the surface. Like in a floating production system, the petroleum is extracted at the seafloor, and then can be 'tied-back' to an already existing production platform. The well can be drilled by a moveable rig, and instead of building a production platform for that well, the extracted oil and natural gas can be transported by riser or even undersea pipeline to a nearby production platform. This allows one strategically placed production platform to service many wells over a reasonably large area. Subsea systems are typically in use at depths of 7,000 feet or more, and do not have the ability to drill, only to extract and transport.


Source

NaturalGas.org