bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Application of Titanium and FRP in Deep Water
Authors: Tørstad Elisabeth H. , Echtermeyer Andreas 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
The offshore industry is moving into new and technically challenging applications due to:The extension of exploration into very deep water.The discovery of high-pressure, high temperature wells.The possibility of wells becoming sour in the long term. Materials with lower weight, better corrosion resistance, and lower stiffness than steel can have considerable advantages for these new applications. Titanium and fiber reinforced plastics are materials that can meet these challenges and interest in the two materials has increased considerably over the last years.
The most prominent application at the moment is risers, because of the great advantage of weight reduction. One titanium riser has already been installed in 1995 and further applications are considered in the North Sea. Composite risers have been tested extensively in various research programs and the first prototypes should be installed very soon. DNV has been deeply involved in the qualification programs and selection of the materials for these risers.
Extensive test experience and theoretical knowledge of titanium exists today. Test-programs have included mechanical and fracture mechanical testing as well as fatigue testing and corrosion testing. Both base materials and weldments (TIG and EB) have been tested in realistic environments at elevated temperatures. The materials microstructural features have also been documented and compared to other properties.
Composite materials are also well understood, but the documentation of especially long-term performance has only been achieved recently in some cases. An FRP design guideline is currently being developed in a JIP. This work should provide a widely accepted basis for the safe use of FRP in many applications.
It is believed that exploration of deep-water fields with more aggressive and sour well fluids keeping high temperature and pressure will further emphasize the need for materials with outstanding properties.

Introduction
DNV has worked with the materials in question in a number of projects.
The main interest in titanium for deep water applications was initiated when Conoco considered it a possibility for the drilling riser on the Heidrun field. DNV performed a series of qualification projects in the years 1992 – 1994 concerning fatigue life and fracture toughness of titanium Grade 23. Finally, titanium was chosen for the entire Heidrun drilling riser except for the top section. The riser is rated to 300 bar, and the gas and oil extracted are expected to become sour in the long term.
Figure 1.-The Heidrun platform (Available in full paper)
Spacer Design and Fabrication for Sakhalin II Project
Authors: Bruce J.C. , McCaslin B.T. , Hollowell J.A. 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
Sakhalin Energy Investment Company has refurbished and redeployed the Molikpaq, an arctic offshore drilling caisson originally designed for use in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. The original structure has been deepened by adding a new pontoon base, named the "Spacer", and converted into a drilling and production unit. It is now placed 16 km off the coast of Sakhalin Island as the first production unit in the Russian subarctic. This paper describes the design of the 15,000 tonne Spacer unit, its fabrication in Russia and the mating of the Spacer to the 35,000 tonne modified Molikpaq structure at a Korean shipyard. The paper also describes the interrelationships among the participants involved in this fast track project; the challenges of designing for a new frontier area with severe wave, seismic and ice loadings; and the challenges for the Russians and the Owners of building a new type of structure in a yard designed for building submarines.

Project Overview
The Piltun-Astokhskoye (PA) Field, located in the Russian Far East in the Sea of Okhotsk, was discovered by Sakhalinmorneftegas (SMNG) in 1985. Subsequently, SMNG drilled 13 additional parametric wells on the structure. Members of the consortium now called Sakhalin Energy Investment Company Ltd. (Sakhalin Energy) were awarded the rights to further explore the PA Field in March 1992.
In 1995, the Upstream Operator, Marathon Upstream Sakhalin Services Ltd., with the aid of several engineering contractors, evaluated the use of the "Molikpaq" (or platform PA-A) as a way to bring early production to the PA Field. The Molikpaq, a massive, octagonal, Mobile Arctic Drilling caisson, was constructed in the early 1980s for Gulf Canada Resources Inc. and used as a drilling platform at several locations in the Canadian Beaufort Sea (ref: 1, 2). Although the Molikpaq was constructed specifically as a mobile offshore drilling unit, the engineering studies indicated that it could be modified to support additional wells and process facilities and become a full production platform operating safely in the challenging wave, ice, and seismic conditions characteristic of the Sakhalin region.
Figure 1: Modified Molikpaq Platform at the PA Field (Available in full paper)
The Sea of Okhotsk presents enormous challenges for offshore production. Ice-covered for half the year, it generates severe waves during the open-water season and is one of the world's most seismically active regions. The challenge was to develop a platform that could accommodate the environmental forces and yet be brought on stream on a fast track basis.
To accommodate the 30 m water depths and harsh wave climate, the Molikpaq had to be deepened. After assessing a number of alternatives, the solution chosen was to design a pontoon-type steel base, ultimately named the "Spacer", which added 15 m to the platform depth.
Britannia Export Pipelines: Pushing The Boundaries
Authors: Baker Dave 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
This paper will outline the significant design improvements and cost savings made possible by a successful alliance of owner, pipeline designer and pipelay contractor on a major export pipeline development in the UK Sector of the North Sea. It will describe the areas where the majority of the cost savings were made and how the internal workings of the alliance, within an integrated team environment, used their combined resources to achieve a superior result. Technology advances discussed include Limit State Design methodologies, the use of high strength linepipe steel, non-standard pipeline size, simplified crossing design and trenching versus wall thickness versus concrete weight coating.

Introduction
In December 1994 the British government granted approval of the Britannia Development Plan following the formation earlier that year of a new company, Britannia Operator Limited (BOL), established between Conoco and Chevron.
The creation of BOL, a limited company with no employees and shareholdings and accounts available for public scrutiny, was seen as the best way to form an operating entity that will look and function as a single operator company. This approach brings clear accountability and decision making within an integrated management structure that simplifies the agreement reaching process between Chevron and Conoco which, between them, hold nearly 73% shareholding in the field.
This unique partnership between two operators and the philosophy developed by the original management team in April 1993, has been continued throughout the project by the formation of a number of alliance based contracts, as well as the more traditional form of reimbursable/lump sum contract.
One such alliance contract is that responsible for the export pipelines scope of work and it is this element of the Britannia Project that is the principal focus of this paper.

The Britannia Export Pipelines
The Britannia Field is a gas condensate reservoir located 130miles (210km) north east of Aberdeen in Scotland in 450feet (135m) of water and some 30miles (45km) north of BP's Forties Field. Dry, dewpoint controlled gas is exported in dense phase mode through a 27-inch nominal diameter trunkline, 116 miles (186kms) long to an extension of the Mobil SAGE Terminal at St. Fergus. At the terminal the gas is processed for delivery into the British Gas National Transmission System. The condensate is transported through a 14-inch interfield pipeline 27 miles (44kms) long to the BP Forties Unity Platform. (The pipeline schematic is shown in Figure 1 with the Pipeline Parameters summarised in Table 1).
Table 1 Pipeline Parameters (Available in full paper)
Managing Patent Quality: Examples/Advice for Offshore/Marine Technology
Authors: Groover Robert 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
With patents, as with blowout preventers, failure in the field is an expensive way to obtain the necessary feedback for quality control. However, where quality and reliability issues are concerned, engineering and corporate managers typically understand better how to communicate with engineers that with lawyers. This talk presents some tools for managers to communicate with their patent lawyers regarding patent quality.
A valuable invention does not necessarily lead to a valuable patent: a patent which is known to be invalid, or which will never be infringed, is worthless. The value of any number of patents does not indicate the value of your portfolio. However, correction for invalidity and noninfringement is not easy, because these are legal conclusions on which good lawyers can argue both ways. This talk presents a more usable analysis, based on forecasting costs and risks.

Introduction
All patents are not created equal. Any experienced patent attorney has had the sad experience of reviewing a patent which was filed on the right invention on the right time, but which can't be asserted against the people who are now using that invention. Such experiences are often very damaging to the company, but are hard to learn from: the relevant mistakes are typically far in the past by the time the loss is discovered.
Optimal management of patent activity can be critical to preserving a company's strategic position. However, the trade-off between the short-term constraints of finite cash flows and the long-term strategic goals of the company is difficult to manage. This talk will attempt to provide some theoretical foundations which will help non-attorney managers to optimize their patent programs. In particular, this talk addresses the difficult problems of managing patent quality. (Of course this talk presents only general points, and does not state or imply any advice as to anyone's particular situation.)
Distinctive aspects of patents, as a management problem, include: long time horizons; rapidly changing legal climate; and returns which are very heavily concentrated on a small percentage of patents. This article presents an approach to patent management, and particularly to patent quality management, within the conceptual framework of risk management - both offensive and defensive. Specifically, this article uses a "gray-scale" analysis of vulnerability to argument, which can be useful in communicating with your lawyers. Note that the long time scales and highly skewed distribution of patent value mean that patent quality management must be treated as an "open-loop" problem. With patent management, as with disaster management, learning from one's own mistakes is too slow and too expensive a learning process.
This paper will first review some of the ways patents can impact your business, some basics of the patenting process, and some features of the distribution of returns on patenting; all of these preliminaries will serve to provide context and motivation for the quality guidelines which follow.
The Disposal of Oil Produced During Offshore Well Tests on Wildcats Without Facilities
Authors: Glotin Bernard 
Published: October 2008

1. Abstract
Weather conditions, difficulties in programming tests and problems of storage security on the drilling barge often make it impossible to carry out offshore well tests if there are no means of disposing of the oil.
FLOPETROL has made a study of the destruction of the oil produced during initial tests by means of specially designed burners.
Particular characteristics of this oil are the unsteady rate of production and heavy pollution by water, mud and solid particles (sand and Capsule gun debris).
The burning device produced as a result of FLOPETROL's research enables the polluted oil to be burned and is designed in such a way that the platform is completely protected from the heat given out on combustion.

2. Introduction
Well tests both on and offshore are carried out on more or less the same principle. Offshore, however, tests should be completed as quickly as possible for the obvious reasons of cost.
At the present time there is no particular difficulty in carrying out tests on wells producing dry gas, even on a drilling platform. In the North Sea it is common to obtain gas flow rates of 30 MMSCFD and, for security reasons, to burn off the gas without any ill effects on the equipment.
The case of oil wells or wells producing an effluent rich in condensate is not the same and disposing of the effluent creates a real problem.
For drill stem tests of short duration it is possible to stock the small quantities of effluent produced on the platform and afterwards to arrange for the transport of the full tanks to land by a supply boat.
If the tests are to last for some length of time and the flow rate is high, it is not possible to stock the oil on the platform due to lack of space, maximum loading restrictions and for reasons of safety.
Various solutions can be considered to solve this problem but none is particularly satisfactory.
One solution is to transport the oil to land by means of a tanker. The boat must be positioned near the well and loaded by gravity, the oil having first been passed through a low pressure separator. A flexible hose is required and the boat must have an excellent anchoring system.
This method is often employed for large quantities of oil, in the Middle East for example. But the system is not sufficiently adaptable - a boat of the required capacity must be chartered in time and there is always the possibility of the boat's arrival being delayed by bad weather. It is also necessary to be in an area where there are adequate unloading facilities on land and that there should be no customs or administrative problems. These difficulties often render this operation very costly.
Another solution is simply to dispose of the oil directly into the sea. All countries forbid this practise but, for very small quantities several companies resort to this method in cases of absolute necessity. This procedure can be dangerous.
Morpeth Export System
Authors: Kennefick Jonathan , Lang Peter , Hervey Donald 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
British-Borneo Exploration Inc.'s Morpeth export system introduces two industry firsts -- the use of a diverless piggableb tie-in sled installed in a stacked orientation through a stinger and the installation of the first dynamic steel catenary riser (SCR) employing Slay techniques. Careful design and installation planning resulted in successful on-bottom positioning of the sleds within 5° of vertical without any rectification. The pipeline and SCR Slay work was performed from a conventional, moored barge in water depths ranging from 360 to 1650 feet along the 19.5-mile route.

Introduction
The Morpeth field is located in Ewing Banks Block 965. The field layout is illustrated in Figure 1. Oil and gas from the field are produced from three subsea wells in 1750 feet of water via flexible catenary risers to the Atlantia-designed SeaStar® mini-TLP located in EW 921 in 1650 feet of water. Product is then exported through a 12" and 8" gas steel catenary riser and pipeline system to a conventional platform in GI 115 in 360 feet of water. The subsea facilities are operated remotely from the TLP.
The installation of the export system was performed with J. Ray McDermott's combination lay/crane barge DB28 in two phases to maintain the 21-month fast-track schedule. The bulk of the pipeline was laid in the first phase in the Slay configuration, terminating at the piggable tie-in sled location. The sled, the remaining 2 miles of each pipeline, and the SCRs were laid in the second phase in the S-lay and the J-lay configurations, completing the export system installation.
Figure 1 Morpeth Field Layout (Available in full paper)
Cantarell Oilfield Optimization and Surface Infrastructure Enhancement.
Authors: Aguilar A. Aguirre , Crookshanks M. 
Published: October 2008

Abstract:
PEMEX owns the Cantarell Offshore Oilfield, one of the biggest oil reservoirs in the world. It's located in Campeche Bay, in the Gulf of Mexico.
The purpose of this paper is to explain the optimization and surface infrastructure enhancement program, tht is one of the programs involve in the project This program includes using the EPC model and worldwide known engineering, certification and construction companies are participating to increase the reliability of the facilities, in order to obtain a world class quality.
The optimization and surface infrastructure enhancement program, includes the elimination of the existing bottle necks (Debotlle-necking). As well it, includes the expansion and modernization of the actual infrastructure, decreasing the gas flare and obtaining the maximum, flexibility and reliability increasing the capability of oil and gas management.
These works involve a great deal of efforts including very large scope jobs on the oil facilities complex currently in operation. At the same time includes a nitrogen plant facility which will produce 1,200 million cubic feet of gas per day. Also included is 23 new platforms; nine drilling platforms (eight octapodes and one tetrapode), two oil production platforms, four compression platforms, one process platform, six offshore living platforms and the construction of fifty five pipelines, that means a total of 357 kilometers of lines. And finally, the construction of an offshore floating storage and offloading system (FSO).

Introduction
The Cantarell offshore oilfield is the more important in México as for the volume of reservoir because is considerated the sixth in worldwide position as its aportation to National production. It's located to 80 kilometers from shoreline of Campeche State and has a extension of 161 square kilometers. The Cantarell oilfield is integrated by several oilfields named AKAL, NOHOCH, CHAC and KUTZ or bloks limited by a faults which to make an anticline with NW-SE orientation. It's located between depth water from 33 meters in the south to 55 meters in the north of the oilfield, the marine soil is composed by soft lime clay and high soft lime clay.
The quality of the Cantarell's crude oil is from 19° to 22° API.
The Cantarell oilfield has been working from the 1979 year and currently has three complex in operation, 38 peripheral platforms and 1960 kilometers of pipelines, with a total production of 1,400 MBD in crude oil and 760 MMCFSD in gas.
The Cantarell Project is the biggest ambitious project stablished by PEMEX, the above made to development previous studies or analysis to assure the feasibility of the proyect.
Nigeria Deepwater Geophysics for Exploration and Development
Authors: Ghosh Deva 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
SNEPCO on behalf of a consortium including ELF, AGIP, ESSO acquired a large 3D survey of 3500 sq.km in water depths ranging up to 1500m, in OPL 212 and 219 in deep offshore Nigeria. The early application of state of the art 3D technology has given SNEPCO and its partners sufficient lead-time to drill the first discovery well in less than two years in this frontier.

Geophysical Issues.
Innovative ideas have been implemented in acquisition and processing yielding high technical standards in a cost effective manner without jeopardizing either quality or turnaround. This includes 3D DMO for imaging and infilling, wavefield reconstruction for multiple elimination and constrained phase/true amplitude preservation.
Long 6km cable in AvO played a strong role not only in hydrocarbon porefill prediction but also in ranking and classifying leads and prospects. The 3D prestack migrated data allowed for accurate AvO prediction & resulted in the discovery well, Bonga. This was further followed up by static and dynamic modeling and inversion studies.

Appraisal & Development.
Geophysics has played a very strong role in the appraisal campaign, which included the drilling of three wells in the Bonga field. Our finds were in line with prediction from AvO/Inversion studies made in terms of depths, thickness of reservoir and fluid content. 4D seismic is planned for fluid monitoring.
SNEPCO is making an extensive campaign exploring and developing acreages offshore Nigeria by utilizing its worldwide experience.

Introduction
Sedimentary basins in deep waters from 500m to 2000m and beyond are currently the subject of intensive exploration for hydrocarbon potential as evidenced by big finds along the West Coast of Africa.
SNEPCO on behalf of a consortium including ELF, AGIP, ESSO acquired a large 3D survey of 3500 sq.km in water depths ranging up to 1500m, in OPL 212 and 219 in deep offshore Nigeria. The early application of state of the art 3D technology has played a major role in enhancing SNEPCO and partners' position in this frontier area giving sufficient lead time to drill the first well in less than two years.
The new acreage provided a challenge to Geophysicists in acquiring/processing and evaluating seismic data in a relative short time frame. Innovative ideas have been implemented in acquisition and processing yielding high technical standards in a cost-effective manner without jeopardizing either quality or turnaround.
Quad 204 - Using Competitive Advantage to Deliver Value
Authors: McHugh Pat 
Published: October 2008

Abstract
This paper presents a general description of the UK Atlantic Margin and an overview of the first two developments in the area, BP Amoco's Foinaven and Schiehallion fields.
BP Amoco operates the Foinaven Development on behalf of BP Amoco and Shell Exploration & Production, and operates the Schiehallion Development on behalf of BP Amoco, Shell Exploration & Production, Amerada Hess, Statoil, OMV and Murphy.
It discusses the knowledge and insights we have gained from the experience of bringing these two fields into production and assesses the real value of the innovation in the application of technology and new relationships within the industry which has been central to both Foinaven and Schiehallion. It also introduces the papers which follow in this section:
Development Drilling Innovations for the Foinaven and Schiehallion fields, in the UK Atlantic Margin
Walder DR, Mountford CF, Howes D, Parr RS
Lessons Learned from the Schiehallion FPSO's Design and Construction
Green J.M.
Successful Delivery of Deep water Subsea Developments in the UK Atlantic Margin
Smith T, Pettigrew G, Worsley M, Walls B, Clark E, Brookes D
Deep water FPSO and Subsea Facilities - installation, hook-up and commissioning in Schiehallion, on the UK Atlantic Margin
Dick M (SSOL), Sen P (Fuel), Metcalf P (KOG)
Operating on the Frontier - over two years of FPSO operating experience in the harsh UK Atlantic Margin region
Krafft H (Golar Nor), Thomson L (BP)
Three years ago, BP Amoco presented a similar series of papers to the Offshore Technology Conference, describing the status of our Atlantic Margin activities - progress with the Foinaven project, our plans for Schiehallion, our hopes for further activity and developments in the area and above all how we saw the technological, commercial and environmental challenges which lay ahead.
Three years on, we now have two successful operations in the Atlantic Margin with 18 months experience of production from the Foinaven field and 10 months of Schiehallion production. We are achieving stable production of 85,000 bpd from Foinaven which came on stream in November 1997 and over 100,000 bpd from Schiehallion which began producing last July.
Both fields use similar floating production systems - moored FPSOs equipped with internal turrets and swivel stacks as the most cost effective way of exploiting the relatively shallow reservoirs.