VIDEO: Chevron installs Wheatstone topsides (Australia)

Chevron has completed one of the largest offshore platform installations in its history, by installing the Wheatstone project topside offshore Australia.

The company has said that this was Chevron’s heaviest topsides float-over and installation onto the steel gravity structure, forming the Wheatstone platform.

In its Wheatstone project update, the company has revealed that hook-up and commissioning activities have begun.

The Wheatstone Platform is the largest offshore gas processing platform ever installed in Australia, with a topsides weight of about 37,000 metric tons.

The project will develop the Wheatstone, Iago, Julimar and Brunello offshore gas fields in Australia. The Wheatstone and nearby Iago natural gas resources are located about 200km (124 miles) north of Onslow off Western Australia’s Pilbara coast. The Julimar and Brunello fields will tie back to the central processing platform.

Wheatstone

In a conference call Friday, May 1, 2015, Chevron’s CFO, Pat Yarrington  said: “We are on schedule for Wheatstone. Obviously, the installation of the topsides on the steel gravity structure was a major milestone. But we’ve got seven of 24 major process modules that have been delivered on-site. The trunk line is installed and hydrotested. The dredging is complete. The piling activities are completed. The roofs are on both of the LNG tanks, so we continue to make good progress both onshore and offshore.” 

The platform is now in place, 225 kilometres, from Ashburton North. The subsea equipment, including wellheads and subsea trees, is being delivered and installed offshore.

Watch the journey of the Wheatstone topsides from fabrication to load-out, the sail-away, the arrival and the float-over onto the steel-gravity structure base.

Offshore Energy Today Staff