A drilling template for BP Exploration Inc.'s Pompano field was set to within 0.015 of level in Viosca Knoll Block 989 offshore Louisiana. The 28-slot, 285-ton template was installed in 1,290 ft of water.
The typical tolerance for a template setting is 0.25 of level. This accuracy ensures that the docking piles will function properly when the jacket is installed and prevents problems with misalignment of drilling and tieback equipment.
The Latch-Lok leveling tool, designed by Marine Contractor Services Inc., was run from the surface on cable with supply and return hydraulic hoses to operate the jacking cylinders. The tool is used to level subsea templates or manifolds after the foundation piles have been driven,
TEMPLATE LEVELING
The leveling tool was run in tandem with the HydraLok pile swaging tool, which is used instead of grouting to lock subsea templates to foundation pilings.
The tools were lowered into the piling until the Latch-Lok tool's landing ring rested on the 42-in. OD x 1 1/2-in. thick foundation piling at one corner, with the Hydra-Lok tool suspended inside the piling (Fig. 1). Activated from the surface, the hydraulic cylinders extended the leveling tool's latch frame down until it engaged a groove on the template's pile sleeve.
With the latches gripping the template and the leveling tool reacting against the foundation piling, the latch ring was retracted to lift and level the template corner.
While the Latch-Lok tool held the template in position, the Hydra-Lok tool was actuated to lock the template to the foundation piling.
The last two corners of the template were then raised and locked to the foundation pilings. Leveling, swaging, and inspecting for the three piles took 11 hr, excluding tool deployment.
The leveling tool used on the Pompano field template has a lift capacity of 500 tons and can accommodate piling diameters from 30 in. to 42 in. The template leveling tool was built and tested as part of a joint industry study supported by BP and a few other operators. Six additional tools have been built, two of which are for larger diameter pilings.
POMPANO FIELD
BP plans to predrill 10 wells through the template, starting this month with Diamond M-Odeco Drilling Inc.'s fourth generation semisubmersible, Ocean America. Additional wells will be drilled with a platform rig following further evaluation of the field.
BP plans to set the jacket and topsides in mid-1994. The deck and production facilities will be lifted onto the jacket in one piece with an estimated lift weight of 4,800 tons. Aker Omega Inc. expects to complete the engineering design by May 1993.
The production facilities will be designed to process 40,000 bo/d and 45 MMcfd of gas. First production is expected in the fourth quarter of 1994.
BP discovered the Pompano field in 1985. BP has 75% interest in the field and Kerr-McGee Corp. 25%.
Copyright 1992 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
