Case study: successful disconnection of a traditional floating production storage and off-loading unit
Sashi Gajula A C and Bertrand Peuchot BA Eni Australia, 226 Adelaide Tce, Perth, WA 6000, Australia.
B 1120 Hay Street, West Perth, WA 6005, Australia.
C Corresponding author. Email: sashi.gajula@eni.com
The APPEA Journal 58(1) 72-83 https://doi.org/10.1071/AJ17080
Submitted: 27 November 2017 Accepted: 16 February 2018 Published: 28 May 2018
Abstract
Decommissioning a producing asset within a low oil-price market scenario with a possibility of resuming production at a later stage is becoming a frequent task. The main objective of the offshore campaign is to release the floating production storage and off-loading unit (FPSO) at the earliest time by disconnecting all production risers, umbilical and mooring chains, and ensuring integrity of the subsea assets for future use.
The entire project for the disconnection of this FPSO was managed in four phases. The first two phases were related to shutdown of production and FPSO clean-up. The FPSO readiness for disconnection was required before the final two phases: disconnection of risers and mooring lines.
Detailed engineering was carried out in consultation with various stakeholders involved in the project: the regulator, the company, the FPSO owner and the installation contractor. Through feasibility studies, the best option was selected, which included innovative solutions to reduce overall offshore duration and project costs. The project was successfully completed by meeting the key objective of early departure of the FPSO without lost time injury or any significant environmental incidents.
Keywords: gate valve intervention tool, pre-decommissioning.
Sashi Gajula has more than 14 years of professional experience in project management, offshore and onshore fabrication, offshore and onshore construction, and decommissioning projects. He started as a subsea engineer on construction vessels and was then later nominated to Senior/Lead project engineering roles. From 2012, he has been leading decommissioning projects in Eni Australia. Sashi holds a Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering from Osmania University, India, and a Master’s in Business Administration in Engineering Management from the University of Technology, Sydney Australia. He is also a Certified Project Manager from Stanford University. |
Bertrand Peuchot has more than twenty years of professional activities with management experience in pipe lay, fabrication and subsea construction activities. He started as a field engineer on construction vessels and was then nominated Deputy Project Manager with Stolt Offshore. He led the offshore department of a wind energy company named Eole-Res. He spent one year with Total in Gabon to coordinate the development of onshore and shallow water projects covering all disciplines. Bertrand then joined TechnipFMC and ran several major subsea and topside projects like CNOOC Panyu in China as a director of a consortium with COOEC and more recently Shell Prelude. Bertrand holds a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France. |
