Practical Considerations in the Design and Planning of Offshore Production Installations
Authors: Campbell John M. , Patton Charles C. 
Published: December 2007

Campbell, John M., John M. Campbell and Co., and Patton, Charles C., Patton, Charles C., PetroTech Ltd., Members SPE-AIME PetroTech Ltd., Members SPE-AIME Copyright 1974, American Institute of Mining, Metallurgical, and Petroleum Engineers, Inc.

This paper was prepared for the SPE-European Spring Meeting 1974 of the Society of Petroleum Engineers of AIME, held in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, May 29–30, 1974. Permission to copy is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words. Illustrations may not be copied. The abstract should contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper is presented. Publication elsewhere after publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF publication in the JOURNAL OF PETROLEUM TECHNOLOGY or the SOCIETY OF PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor PETROLEUM ENGINEERS JOURNAL is usually granted upon request to the Editor of the appropriate journal provided agreement to give proper credit is made.

Discussion of this paper is invited. Three copies of any discussion should be sent to the Netherland Section of the Society of Petroleum Engineers, P. O. Box 228, The Hague, the Netherlands. Such discussion may be presented at the above meeting and, with the paper, may be considered for publication in one of the two SPE magazines.

Once completed, an offshore production facility is composed primarily of equipment components that are reasonably standard for onshore operations. Many operators are thus tempted to utilize an onshore-type flow sheet with primary emphasis on selection of components to minimize size and weight requirements. There are some special considerations, however, that require additional careful thought. The primary purpose of this paper is to review some of these purpose of this paper is to review some of these considerations based upon our recent involvement in large offshore installations.

Introduction

Most of the producing experience to date has been onshore or in rather shallow offshore waters like those off the coast of Louisiana or in Lake Maracaibo. When planning and designing a production installation in an area like the northern sector of the North Sea (where deep water and bad weather abound), there are special decisions to be made. The very severity of the environment makes this fairly obvious. In reality, each offshore installation will be different to some degree and each requires a few special decisions regardless of location.

We begin with this point because people are prone to use their past experience as a "hitching prone to use their past experience as a "hitching post" instead of a guidepost. Too often, those post" instead of a guidepost. Too often, those with experience tend to simply take a familiar onshore system and reproduce it offshore, with only the minimum modifications required by space and weight limitations. This is logical—to a point. The use of proven components and equipment makes sense, provided they are used imaginatively.

The other boundary of our problem is dictated by the amount and location of current activity. A large amount of engineering work is being performed by people with little experience in the petroleum industry. It is not as easy as it appears to translate experience with power plants, chemical plants, and the like to plants, chemical plants, and the like to offshore production. A design may be good from a technological viewpoint and yet may be an operational nightmare. However, designs by inexperienced persons (petroleum production-wise) often contain imaginative features production-wise) often contain imaginative features with real merit. Likewise, some equipment suppliers with no traditional petroleum history have much to offer.

Our problem is to blend experience with imagination in a very careful manner. This is no easy task and requires judgment based on both experience and an understanding of prevailing (and potentially new) technology.