Page 16: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (April 1994)

Auger

Shell Sets Record With Gulf Of Mexico Tension Leg Platform . SITE OF

TENSION LEG PLATFORM (2860 FEET OF WATER)

Pictured: McDermott's Derrick Barges 16 and 28 were moored adjacent to the hull and provided crane and rigging support and quartering for mating operations. McDermott's Derrick Barge 50 was used to install the preset portion of the lateral mooring system. was spent for fabrica- tion and installation of the hull, deck, facilities, drilling rig and pipe- lines; with the remain- ing 35 percent going for drilling and completion of the wells. • Construction &

Fabrication: The Au- ger superstructure was designed and engi- neered by Shell Oil

Company, and in total, more than 740 compa- nies in 30 states and 33 companies in 11 coun- tries were involved in the construction of the

TLP. The steel weight of the TLP is 39,000 tons, and it is designed to withstand hurricane- force waves of 71 feet (21.6 m) and winds of 140 mph. The hull, which weighs approxi- mately 20,000 tons, is comprised of four circu- lar steel columns, 74 feet (22.5 m) in diameter and 159 feet (48.5 m) high, and four rectan- gular steel pontoons, 35 feet (10.7 m) wide and 28 feet (8.5 m) high, which connect the bottoms of the four columns. The deck design is an open truss box steel girder, and weighs approximately 10,500 tons. • Tendons: Various components of the tendons were manufactured by

Oil States Industries in Arlington,

Texas; ABBVetco in Houston; and

Hunting Oilfield Services in Aber- deen, Scotland. The tendon sec- tions were assembled by Aker-Gulf

Marine at Ingleside, Texas. There are 12 tendons, three per corner, each with a diameter of 26 inches and a wall thickness of 1.3 inches.

Each tendon is approximately 2,760 feet (852.2 m) long, and the total weight for the 12 tendons is 5,800 tons. • Foundation Fabrication: The foundations were fabricated by Aker-

Gulf Marine, and installed on loca- tion by Herremac. There are four foundations, one per corner, con- sisting of templates held in place with piles. The piles are connected to the templates by means of Hydro-

Lok connectors. The templates are steel truss frames, 60 feet (18.3 m) by 60 feet by 30 feet (9.2 m) high.

There are four piles per template, each 72 inches (183 cm) in diameter and 427 feet (130.1 m) tall. The four templates weigh 2,440 tons, total; the piles weigh 3,250 tons, total.

Late last year, follow-ing four years of construction, Shell 011 Company's record- setting "Auger" tension leg platform (TLP) was towed out to its new home, some 255 miles southeast of Houston,

Texas, in the deep water

Gulf of Mexico. Installed in 2,860 feet (871.7 m) of water, the Auger TLP reportedly set a world water-depth record for a drilling and production platform, and surpassed the existing Gulf of

Mexico record by more than 1,000 feet (304.8 m). "It (Auger) opens a new chapter in industry's efforts to tap the tremendous poten- tial of this deep water frontier," said Jack E.

Little, Shell's executive vice president of Explo- ration and Production.

At the installation site, 12 tendons made of steel pipe, each more than half a mile long, attach to the corners of the floating plat- form and anchor to footings on the sea floor. The entire Auger project will cost approximately $1.2 billion.

Production, which at press time was just about to begin, is expected to reach a peak daily rate of46,000 barrels of oil and 125 million cubic feet of gas in the year 2001. Total recovery from the Auger field is estimated at 220 million barrels of oil and gas equivalent. Auger's deck was built by McDermott Inc. in Morgan City, La., and the hull was built by Belleli S.p.A. in

Taranto, Italy. The deck and hull were connected at sea last October, and from there the structure was towed for its final hook up. The deck section measures 290 feet (88.4 m) by 330 feet (100.5 m). Shell also announced plans to build its second

TLP to develop its Mars field in the

Gulf of Mexico. The Mars TLP will be installed by 1996 in 2,933 feet (893.9 m) of water, surpassing

Auger's water depth record.

AUGER TLP SPECIFICS

The Auger Prospect encompasses four OCS leases in the Garden

Banks Area—blocks 426, 427, 470 and 471—located about 255 miles southeast of Houston and 214 miles southwest of New Orleans. The decision on development.

Shell Offshore Inc. made public its decision to develop Auger in De- cember, 1989. The Auger TLP is the first in the Gulf of Mexico to support both a drilling rig and complete pro- duction facilities. Of the total $1.2 billion project cost, about 65 percent

SHELL OFFSHORE INC. "AUGER"

GARDEN BANKS 426 FIELD leases were acquired for $11.3 mil- lion, and are 100 percent owned by

Shell Offshore Inc.

The discovery well was drilled on block 426 in 1987; one other well and three sidetracks were drilled on the four blocks and 3D seismic informa- tion was used prior to making the 18 Circle 282 on Reader Service Card Maritime Reporter/Engineering News