VIDEO: Gudrun Load Out, Sail Away and Offshore Installation

July 29, 2013

The following video shows the load out, sail away and offshore installation of the Statoil-operated Gudrun platform deck.

The facility sailed away from the yard in Haugesund on July 17, and approximately 24 hours later, the deck had been lifted into place on the steel jacket in the North Sea.

Ståle Nordal, Statoil Project Manager, Gudrun facilities, couldn’t hide his delight with the project during the sail away ceremony: “If possible, my smile would be even wider, it feels very good.

The field development is on track to cost around NOK 2 billion less than the original investment framework of NOK 21 billion. First oil is expected to flow in the first quarter 2014.

Trond Ove Lerøy, Construction Manager at Statoil, said: “It’s beautiful. She’s going to stay in the ocean for 20 years. It’s a goof feeling and something we’ve looked forward to.”

Companies working with the “Tough Lady”

The decking contract (engineering work, construction and procurement) was awarded to Aibel.

The engineering work was carried out in Norway and Singapore. Two of the deck modules were constructed at Aibel’s shipyard in Thailand and one at the shipyard in Haugesund, with supplies from Poland.

The deck was also connected in Haugesund. The helicopter deck came from China and the living quarters were supplied by Apply Leirvik.

The steel undercarriage, which has already been ready at sea for nearly two years, was supplied by Kværner Verdal. Transport and installation were performed by the Italian company Saipem.

Trond Steinar Nilsen, Mechanic, Gudrun facilites, said: “She has been a tough lady, and a challenge to work with, this is a great moment for us.”

Facts

Licensees: Statoil, operator (75 per cent) and GDF SUEZ E&P Norge (Norway) (25 per cent)
Gudrun is an oil and gas field situated in the middle of the Norwegian part of the North Sea (license area PL025). The field is situated approximately 55 kilometres north of the Sleipner installations.
Gudrun was discovered in 1975.
The extractable reserve is 126.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (around 2/3 oil, 1/3 gas and NGL)
Gudrun has a process facility for partial stabilisation of oil and gas. Transport of oil and gas to the Sleipner A platform Oil is transported to Kårstø while the gas is transported to the European markets via gas pipes connected to Sleipner.
The reservoir is situated at a depth of 4,200-4,700 metres and dates back to the Jurassic period. The pressure in the reservoir reaches as much as 860 bar, with a temperature of up to 150 degrees Celsius.
The platform is equipped with 16 well slots and a total of 7 production wells will be drilled. Available slots may be used for further wells to further increase production from Gudrun or wells from other fields.
At the end of June, 15.5 million working hours had been spent on the Gudrun project.
The platform deck weighs 10,600 tonnes and the steel jacket, which has been in the sea for nearly two years, weighs around 7,000 tonnes.
110 kilometres of pipelines (two pipelines of 55 kilometres each) have been laid in the sea bed between Gudrun and Sleipner, as well as 55 kilometres of power cable.
430,000 metres of cabling has been installed and 2,855 valves have been fitted in the deck, which is equipped with living quarters containing 42 cabins.

[mappress]

Offshore Energy Today Staff, July 29, 2013