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An oil platform is a large structure with facilities to extract and process petroleum and natural gas that lie in rock formations beneath the seabed. Many oil platforms will also have facilities to accommodate the workers, although it is also common to have a separate accommodation platform bridge linked to the production platform. Most commonly, oil platforms engage in activities on the continental shelf, though they can also be used in lakes, inshore waters, and inland seas. Depending on the circumstances, the platform may be fixed to the ocean floor, consist of an artificial island, or float. In some arrangements the main facility may have storage facilities for the processed oil. Remote subsea wells may also be connected to a platform by flow lines and by umbilical connections. These sub-sea facilities may include one or more subsea wells or manifold centres for multiple wells.
Offshore construction is the installation of structures and facilities in a marine environment, usually for the production and transmission of electricity, oil, gas and other resources. It is also called maritime engineering.
The Brent field was an oil and gas field located in the East Shetland Basin of the North Sea, 186 kilometres (116 mi) north-east of Lerwick in the Shetland Islands, Scotland, at the water depth of 140 metres (460 ft). The field operated by Shell UK Limited was discovered in 1971 and was once one of the most productive parts of the UK's offshore assets but has reached the stage where production is no longer economically viable. Decommissioning of the Brent field is complete with the exception of Brent C, which is producing from another field. The discovery well 211/26-1 was drilled in 1971 by the semi-submersible drilling rig "Staflo". This was a major surprise at the time as the nearest land in Scotland and Norway is composed of granite and other non reservoir metamorphic rocks.
The Corrib gas project is a developed natural gas deposit located in the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 83 kilometres (52 mi) off the northwest coast of County Mayo, Ireland. The project includes a natural gas pipeline and an onshore gas processing plant, which commenced gas production in 2015. During its development, the project attracted considerable opposition.
In the upstream oil industry, a gas–oil separation plant (GOSP) is temporary or permanent facilities that separate wellhead fluids into constituent vapor (gas) and liquid components.
Marine architecture is the design of architectural and engineering structures which support coastal design, near-shore and off-shore or deep-water planning for many projects such as shipyards, ship transport, coastal management or other marine and/or hydroscape activities. These structures include harbors, lighthouses, marinas, oil platforms, offshore drillings, accommodation platforms and offshore wind farms, floating engineering structures and building architectures or civil seascape developments. Floating structures in deep water may use suction caisson for anchoring.
Offshore drilling is a mechanical process where a wellbore is drilled below the seabed. It is typically carried out in order to explore for and subsequently extract petroleum that lies in rock formations beneath the seabed. Most commonly, the term is used to describe drilling activities on the continental shelf, though the term can also be applied to drilling in lakes, inshore waters and inland seas.
Subsea technology involves fully submerged ocean equipment, operations, or applications, especially when some distance offshore, in deep ocean waters, or on the seabed. The term subsea is frequently used in connection with oceanography, marine or ocean engineering, ocean exploration, remotely operated vehicle (ROVs) autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs), submarine communications or power cables, seafloor mineral mining, oil and gas, and offshore wind power.
An oil production plant is a facility which processes production fluids from oil wells in order to separate out key components and prepare them for export. Typical oil well production fluids are a mixture of oil, gas and produced water. An oil production plant is distinct from an oil depot, which does not have processing facilities.
Onshore, when used in relation to hydrocarbons, refers to an oil, natural gas or condensate field that is under the land or to activities or operations carried out in relation to such a field.
The Douglas Complex is a 54-metre (177 ft) high system of three linked platforms in the Irish Sea, 24 kilometres (15 mi) off the North Wales coast. The Douglas oil field was discovered in 1990, and production commenced in 1996. Now operated by Eni, the complex consists of the wellhead platform, which drills into the seabed, a processing platform, which separates oil, gas and water, and thirdly an accommodation platform, which is composed of living quarters for the crew. This accommodation module was formerly the Morecambe Flame jack-up drilling rig.
Deepwater drilling, or deep well drilling, is the process of creating holes in the Earth's crust using a drilling rig for oil extraction under the deep sea. There are approximately 3400 deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico with depths greater than 150 meters.
A fixed platform is a type of offshore platform used for the extraction of petroleum or gas. These platforms are built on concrete and/or steel legs anchored directly onto the seabed, supporting a deck with space for drilling rigs, production facilities and crew quarters. Such platforms are, by virtue of their immobility, designed for very long-term use. Various types of structure are used, steel jacket, concrete caisson, floating steel and even floating concrete. Steel jackets are vertical sections made of tubular steel members, and are usually piled into the seabed. Concrete caisson structures, pioneered by the Condeep concept, often have in-built oil storage in tanks below the sea surface and these tanks were often used as a flotation capability, allowing them to be built close to shore and then floated to their final position where they are sunk to the seabed. Fixed platforms are economically feasible for installation in water depths up to about 500 feet ; for deeper depths a floating production system, or a subsea pipeline to land or to shallower water depths for processing, would usually be considered.
Offshore concrete structures, or concrete offshore structures, are structures built from reinforced concrete for use in the offshore marine environment. They serve the same purpose as their steel counterparts in oil and gas production and storage. The first concrete oil platform was installed in the North Sea in the Ekofisk oil field in 1973 by Phillips Petroleum, and they have become a significant part of the marine construction industry. Since then at least 47 major concrete offshore structures have been built.
The petroleum industry in Western Australia is the largest contributor to the country's petroleum exports. Western Australia's North West Shelf (NWS) is the primary location from which production originates. Oil exports are shipped from Port Hedland.
The oil and gas industry plays a central role in the economy of the United Kingdom. Oil and gas account for more than three-quarters of the UK's total primary energy needs. Oil provides 97 per cent of the fuel for transport, and gas is a key fuel for heating and electricity generation. Transport, heating and electricity each account for about one-third of the UK's primary energy needs. Oil and gas are also major feedstocks for the petrochemicals industries producing pharmaceuticals, plastics, cosmetics and domestic appliances.
Offshore geotechnical engineering is a sub-field of geotechnical engineering. It is concerned with foundation design, construction, maintenance and decommissioning for human-made structures in the sea. Oil platforms, artificial islands and submarine pipelines are examples of such structures. The seabed has to be able to withstand the weight of these structures and the applied loads. Geohazards must also be taken into account. The need for offshore developments stems from a gradual depletion of hydrocarbon reserves onshore or near the coastlines, as new fields are being developed at greater distances offshore and in deeper water, with a corresponding adaptation of the offshore site investigations. Today, there are more than 7,000 offshore platforms operating at a water depth up to and exceeding 2000 m. A typical field development extends over tens of square kilometers, and may comprise several fixed structures, infield flowlines with an export pipeline either to the shoreline or connected to a regional trunkline.
A submarine pipeline is a pipeline that is laid on the seabed or below it inside a trench. In some cases, the pipeline is mostly on-land but in places it crosses water expanses, such as small seas, straits and rivers. Submarine pipelines are used primarily to carry oil or gas, but transportation of water is also important. A distinction is sometimes made between a flowline and a pipeline. The former is an intrafield pipeline, in the sense that it is used to connect subsea wellheads, manifolds and the platform within a particular development field. The latter, sometimes referred to as an export pipeline, is used to bring the resource to shore. Sizeable pipeline construction projects need to take into account many factors, such as the offshore ecology, geohazards and environmental loading – they are often undertaken by multidisciplinary, international teams.
Subsea production systems are typical wells located on the seabed, shallow or deep water. Generally termed as Floating production system, where the petroleum is extracted at the seabed and the same can be tied back to an already existing production platform or an onshore facility. The oil platform well is drilled by a movable rig and the extracted oil or natural gas is transported by submarine pipeline under the sea and then to rise to a processing facility. It is classified into
Ocean development refers to the establishing of human activities at sea and use of the ocean, as well as its governance.
References
- 1 2 "What is upstream oil and gas?". ETK Interactive. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 "Offshore production facilities". American Petroleum Institute. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- 1 2 3 4 The UK Oil and Gas Industry Association Limited (2013). Britain's Offshore Oil and Gas. The UK Oil and Gas Industry Association Limited. ISBN 9780565090272.
- ↑ Morton, Quentin (2016). Beyond Sight of Land Oil: A History of Oil Exploration in the Gulf of Mexico. academia.edu.
- ↑ Ken Arnold and Maurice Stewart (1998). Surface Production Operations, Volume 1: Design of Oil-Handling Systems and Facilities. Oxford: Elsevier Science & Technology. ISBN 9780750678537.
- ↑ Gas Processors Suppliers Association (2004). Engineering Data Book. Tulsa, Oklahoma: Gas Processors Suppliers Association.
- ↑ OSPAR. "Offshore Installations". OSPAR Commission. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
