Intermoor done with Juniper foundation installation (Trinidad)

InterMoor has completed a mooring and foundation installation campaign for BP’s Juniper gas project offshore Trinidad and Tobago. According to Intermoor, this is the largest foundation installation campaign offshore Trinidad and Tobago to date.

The Juniper platform will take gas from the Corallita and Lantana fields located 50 miles off the south east coast of Trinidad in water-depth of approximately 360 feet. The development will include five subsea wells and will have a production capacity of approximately 590 million standard cubic feet a day (mmscfd). Gas from Juniper will flow to the Mahogany B hub via a new ten kilometer flowline.

InterMoor provided engineering and design services to identify the most reliable and cost-effective mooring solution, and performed configuration studies as part of the mooring analysis. The company designed and fabricated eight piles (4 ft in diameter by 128 ft long) at its facility in Morgan City, La., and provided offshore project management services for the mooring preset campaign. This included installing the driven piles using H-Links and 1,000 ft of ground chain per leg from the Boa Deep C construction vessel.

Intermoor said that transporting the piles offshore using a single boat presented a challenge since Trinidad restricts boat-to-boat transfers. However, InterMoor said was able to complete the installation with the eight piles and additional equipment on the vessel’s deck. The Juniper project was carried out in a water depth of 330 ft, with strong water currents.

The mooring solution engineering began in 2011 with the initial front-end engineering and design (FEED) study, and offshore installation was completed in early November 2014.

Jacob Heikes, project manager at InterMoor, said, “Despite numerous logistical obstacles to overcome as well as the expedited schedule necessary to complete installation engineering and pile, chain and H-Link fabrication, the foundations and pre-set mooring lines were installed successfully and on time.”

Tom Fulton, InterMoor’s global president, added, “This project demonstrates InterMoor’s strategic involvement in the region and highlights our superior capacity in oil and gas industry projects in the Caribbean / South America.”

During the installation campaign, InterMoor’s sister group company MENCK was also involved, providing the hydraulic hammer. InterMoor’s locations in Aberdeen, Stavanger, Morgan City and Houston all contributed to the project.

Juniper will become bpTT’s 14th offshore production facility. Drilling is due to start in 2015 and first gas from the facility is expected in 2017.