Deepstar's Program Related to FPSO's
Authors: Verret Allen J. , Hays Paul  R. 
Published: October 2008

Since Deep Star's inception in 1992, the Program has progressed from a $500,000 paper study of the feasibility of extended reach subsea tiebacks to focus on developing generic deepwater technology. DeepStar Phase IV began in 1998 and now has a budget of approximately $13MM for its' work studies. As with Phase III, Phase IV emphasizes testing with a goal of expediting the deployment of technology. DeepStar Committees focus on Regulatory, Flow Assurance, Subsea Equipment, Vessels, Mooring, Risers, Drilling & Completions, Reservoir Engineering, and MetOcean (Gulf of Mexico Inflow Measurement) issues. The continued cooperative research efforts between DeepStar, Industry, and Government Agencies reap many benefits.

Illustrative examples of DeepStar technology include: novel pigging and instrumentation, flow assurance instrumentation, prediction of hydrate plug movement, subsea intervention, dynamic steel tube umbilicals, composite drilling risers, and methods to alleviate shallow water flows. Nearing completion of Phase IV on December 31, 1999, DeepStar has initiated work on a field-scale hydrate and paraffin flow assurance test facility at a DOE site in Casper, Wyoming. Deepstar has deployed an electrically heated pipeline system in an ocean environment, polyester mooring in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM) and kicked off a project to measure the inflow through the Yucatan (GOM) Straight.

Introduction

DeepStar's Regulatory Subcommittee was formed in Phase II of the DeepStar Program in 1992. As an integral part of the network of interlocking subcommittees, the committee has remained an active part of the DeepStar Program. The Regulatory Subcommittee has retained its original organizational structure and objectives and maintained a consistent group of operator and regulator representatives since Phase II. The Chairman and Co-Chairman and the regulator representatives for the Committee have served since its inception and provide the group consistency in carrying out teamwork. Table I identifies the committee make-up during the various phases of the DeepStar Program and Figure I depicts the reporting relationship of the committees in Phase IV. More detailed information on the Deepstar Program can be accessed in OTC Paper 7264 "The Deepstar Project."

The objective of the committee has always centered on the exchange of technical information between the working technical groups in DeepStar and the regulatory representatives of the Mineral Management Service (MMS) and the United States Coast Guard (USCG). The objective being the full review of the relevant issues involved in the deployment of new tools or processes in the development of fields in the Gulf of Mexico. In the majority of cases, the review process is triggered by work carried out in the technical groups and presented to the Regulatory Group to expose the issues to the Regulatory Committee in a technical session prior to a request for permit. An exception to the normal process was the work carried out on the Deepwater Operations Plan, which was brought up in the Regulatory Committee and worked through several technical groups in the program. Figure II denotes the typical cycle of the jointly developed DWOP.

The key elements of the work processes are the high level of technical review that is provided for the group. Discussions are then held with operator personnel, regulatory representatives and by contractors that normally attend the meetings.