Page 14: of Marine Technology Magazine (May 2006)

14 MTR May 2006 news

Shell Exploration & Production

Company is ahead of schedule to restart production from its Mars Tension Leg

Platform (TLP), the company reports. To signal resumption, Shell began to notify the appropriate Gulf of Mexico mid-stream transportation, marketing businesses and downstream customers to secure sales for initial, post-Katrina, oil and gas production.

Mars is the largest producing platform in the Gulf of Mexico that was affected by

Hurricane Katrina, representing about five percent of current Gulf of Mexico daily pro- duction. "Reviving this vital energy source for

America prior to the peak summer driving season would not have been possible with- out the tremendous work of the Shell team," said Marvin Odum, Executive Vice

President and head of Shell Exploration &

Production in North and South America. "The Mars platform recovery and deepwater pipeline repairs were among the most tech- nologically complex operations in the world, and our people were up to the task, completing the work safely and ahead of schedule."

Based on progress to date, Shell expects that construction activity necessary for ini- tial production at Mars would be complete by the end of April. A brief re-commission- ing and start-up process will follow, and partial production is expected to resume in the second half of May. Mars production is expected to be restored to pre-Katrina rates by the end of June.

By the end of 2005, Shell had repaired all of its hurricane-damaged facilities except

Cognac and Mars, restoring over 75 percent of its total pre-Katrina production rate.

The Mars TLP and wells survived the extreme Katrina weather conditions, but the platform drilling rig and some major ele- ments of the topsides production equip- ment were heavily damaged. In restoring the

Mars TLP and its Pipelines, Shell accom- plished: • Three months of preparation, planning and work on-site led to the successful lift of the damaged, 1,000-ton, Mars platform rig in two pieces from its awkward toppled position on the platform deck. The dam- aged sections of the rig were transported to shore for repairs. The rig was removed without damaging the important High Pressure Gas treatment vessel that was under the rig, an accom- plishment that helped to shorten the recov- ery time at Mars. Engineers, construction specialists, tech- nicians and other support staff accom- plished an industry-first deepwater pipeline project, successfully repairing the Mars oil and gas export pipelines in 2,700 ft. of water using underwater robotics to execute tasks normally performed by divers in shal- low waters. The oil and natural gas export lines were damaged as a result of a drifting semi-submersible deepwater drilling rig that dragged an anchor across the lines during the storm. The 18-in. oil line and 14-in. gas line have both been repaired, and integrity testing has been successfully completed.

Both lines are commissioned and ready for service once Mars production resumes.

In addition, the Mars flexjoint (the pipeline connection to the TLP) repairs, scheduled prior to the 2005 hurricane sea- son but delayed due to loop currents, were completed during the Mars recovery effort. To accommodate the living quarters and deck area needed to perform the varied work tasks, Prosafe Offshore's Safe

Scandinavia accommodation semi-sub- mersible journeyed from the North Sea to the Gulf of Mexico for the first time. The six-story vessel with lodging for more than 500 people successfully deployed the Shell supplied Deepwater mooring system in record water depth for this vessel.

Mars Production to Resume

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