STIMULATION VESSEL SLATED FOR N. SEA WORK

The largest and most technically advanced well stimulation vessel seen in the North Sea will be introduced by Western Petroleum Services International (WPSI) in spring 1992. The $43-million vessel, under construction in Singapore by Singmarine Dockyard & Engineering Pte. Ltd., a unit of Keppel Corp., will be the fourth stimulation ship working off Northwest Europe.

Oct. 29, 1990

2 min read

The largest and most technically advanced well stimulation vessel seen in the North Sea will be introduced by Western Petroleum Services International (WPSI) in spring 1992.

The $43-million vessel, under construction in Singapore by Singmarine Dockyard & Engineering Pte. Ltd., a unit of Keppel Corp., will be the fourth stimulation ship working off Northwest Europe.

Western, which has named the vessel Western Renaissance, said the market for well stimulation work in the North Sea, particularly in the southern basin, is set to increase. Wells are becoming technically more complex and the growing number of horizontal wells would also bring a greater requirement for well stimulation.

Studies have shown that the size of individual jobs also is increasing. The Western Renaissance, based in Aberdeen, will carry 3 million lb of proppant, allowing the vessel to undertake the larger jobs and run back-to-back operations without resupply.

Edward E. Will, president of WPSI, said the vessel (see photo of model) will be equipped with eight, 2,000-hp engines, 60% more than its largest competitor, allowing for extended pumping operations at elevated pressures and injection rates. Other vessel specifications are given in the accompanying table.

The vessel, he added, would also have fully redundant dynamic positioning to keep it on station in almost any weather, and would be equipped with advanced and proven monitoring and control technology.

Fully integrated communication between programmable logic controllers and multiprocessing microcomputers would allow high-speed data processing.

Redundant fiber optic data links allow for high-speed data communication. This provides the customer with the ultimate in real time control, monitoring, and data interpretation.

The investment in the North Sea is one part of Western's expansion into the international market for well stimulation.

A joint venture was recently signed with PT Reffino, part of the Indonesian Darmadi group, and it is also negotiating a joint venture in the Soviet Union where there is almost no well stimulation technology to current western standards.