Chevron lets contracts for Jack, St. Malo fields

April 26, 2011
Chevron USA Inc. let contracts for work on Jack and St. Malo fields.

By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Apr. 26
-- Chevron USA Inc. let contracts for work on Jack and St. Malo fields.

First, Chevron let a contract to KBR for the detailed design engineering of the Jack and St. Malo floating production unit (FPU) that will produce oil from the Lower Tertiary trend in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.

Jack and St. Malo are in 7,000 ft of water within 25 miles of each other and about 280 miles south of New Orleans.

KBR will provide design and engineering support through fabrication for the deep-draft semisubmersible including hull, deck box, accommodations, appurtenances, equipment foundations, mooring system design, and anchor suction piles. KBR said the FPU will have a design that minimizes vessel motion and allows acceptable fatigue lives of the moorings, risers, and umbilicals.

KBR subsidiaries Granherne and GVA consultants will collaborate on the execution of this phase of the project.

Separately, Chevron let a contract to a subsidiary of McDermott International Inc. for the fabrication of 21 rigid jumpers and for subsea installation work on the Jack and St. Malo fields.

McDermott expects to start work on the jumpers in 2012 at its Morgan City, La. fabrication facility and do the installation work in early 2014 using its subsea construction vessel North Ocean 102 and the derrick barge DB16.

The NO102 will install more than 60 miles of umbilicals, including three control and two power umbilicals, and the DP16 will install the jumpers and remaining subsea controls system components, including more than 80 flying leads.

Chevron is the operator of the development and has a 50% interest in Jack (Walker Ridge Blocks 714, 715, 758, 759, and a portion of 802 and 803) and a 51% interest in St. Malo (Walker Ridge Blocks 673, 674, 677, and 678).

Chevron notes that the Lower Tertiary reservoirs at about a 26,500 ft depth in the combined fields may contain more than 500 million barrels of potentially recoverable oil (OGJ Online, Sept. 7, 2010).

Chevron expects production to start in 2014.