Girassol: Experiences from Subsea Production Facilities Supplier
Authors: Borhaug Vidar , Sættenes BjØrn , Landsverk Aasmund , Syvertsen Per M. , Olsen Ellen 
Published: October 2008

The paper focuses on the experiences with the subsea production system of the Girassol development project as seen from the supplier's perspective. FMC Kongsberg Subsea was responsible for the subsea production system under an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract awarded by TotalFinaElf E&P Angola.

The paper highlights the following main areas:Technical solutionsProduct qualifications and system testingFamiliarisation of personnel to equipment and proceduresEstablishment and operation of service support base in AngolaSchedule and logistics

The design and construction of the Girassol deepwater subsea system has been based on a meticulous dedication to technical details and associated qualification of new solutions.

The limited number of technical problems encountered to date with the subsea equipment during drilling and completion, marine installation and initial start-up of the field have indicated that the approach chosen was the correct one. For the design and qualification of the Girassol equipment, it became evident that existing industry standards did not include the sufficient verification requirements to ensure that individual components and equipment would cope with operational requirements.

The importance of involving operational personnel in the design and testing of equipment as early as possible in the schedule has been demonstrated.

It should be noted that the remote location of the field suggests that the equipment should be thoroughly tested prior to shipment, as local repairs and retesting would be time consuming, difficult and expensive. Hence, attention to scheduling and logistics is deemed to be as important as technical aspects.

FMC Kongsberg Subsea's policy is to develop close relations with international customers by the establishment of base facilities to serve local industrial development. The base in Luanda is a significant achievement, employing more than 45 Angolan nationals and assisting in the development of a technology transfer process to the national industrial network.

Introduction

FMC Kongsberg Subsea (FKS) was awarded the EPC contract for the Girassol subsea production system (SPS) in July 1998 by operator TotalFinaElf E&P Angola. The contract was won in fierce competition with all major competitors after an extensive design competition to propose a technically sound and cost-effective solution in line with the overall technical specifications. To use the words of the operator and client at the time of contract award;

"Girassol represents one of the most ambitious field developments underway and is a frontier technology project with a high degree of technological innovation in a new geological area with aggressive cost and schedule targets. It represents a first step and the industrial prototype of a series of major developments on the Block 17 offshore Angola"

In hindsight, there is no doubt that this statement was true and maybe should even have been extended to embrace even larger challenges. This paper focus on the experiences and lessons learned from the Girassol subsea development project seen from the supplier perspective.