Page 33: of Maritime Reporter Magazine (August 1996)

Vast opportunities for Gulf Coast by reducing the number of dry holes, thus helping oil and gas companies to understand the reservoir better and increase pro- duction over the life of the field; horizontal/multi-lateral wells, which allow to cost-effectively drain leftover pockets of oil/gas in a proven field and drain new reser- voirs more efficiently; and subsea completion systems, which reduce the cost of deepwater finds. In addition, special seismic technolo- gies such as ocean-bottom cables have made the reshooting of con- gested production areas efficient, while also creating long-offset data. Processing methods such as pre-stack depth migration allow for identification of prospective structures below subsalt, and 4-D, or time-lapsed reshooting of a pro- duction reservoir, will allow the monitoring of a field and optimize production.

With all the new developments occurring in the offshore market, much activity has been generated for all sectors of the industry. "They're all busy: from drilling companies to pipe suppliers; from platform operators to marine transportation companies; from boat companies to shipyards," said

Mr. Charbonnet. "Drilling rigs are working at record day rates.

Oil companies are contracting rigs for multi-year contracts. Older rigs are being retrofitted to increase drilling capabilities.

Supply boats are being built new, as well as being refurbished and lengthened to meet the demand for deeper water drilling. New plat- forms are being fabricated and installed, and most of the ship and fabrication yards are full."

Another indication of increased activity is the liftboat industry.

Power Offshore Services has start- ed construction on the "next gener- ation" liftboat, the Power 250. The company is currently building the first of three planned vessels of this class at its newly expanded shipyard, Semco, located in

Lafitte, La. This vessel will report- edly be one of the largest liftboats in the world. With 250-ft. (76.2-m) legs, the Power 250 will reportedly be able to operate in 190-ft. (57.9- m) water depths. Living quarters will accommodate 66 persons, and an open deck area of 10,000-sq.-ft. will provide a deck load of 750,000 lbs. Two SeaTrax leg-mounted cranes will also be installed, each with a lifting capacity of 175 tons. "As platforms are installed in deeper water depths, those opera- tors will need equipment available to them to service those structures.

Several other liftboat operators are also apparently convinced, as there are presently four other large class liftboats under construction, and four more have been approved for a loan guarantee program by

MarAd," said Mr. Charbonnet.

Western Geophysical, the seismic division of Western Atlas, is plan- ning what is predicted to be the largest deepwater 3-D seismic sur- vey ever conducted in the Gulf of

Mexico. Dubbed Ultra Survey, the project will cover approximately

August, 1996 1,000 offshore blocks in deepwater areas of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico

Outer Continental Shelf. Several multi-streamer, high-capacity ves- sels will acquire 3-D seismic data encompassing approximately 9,000-sq.-mi. off the coast of

Louisiana.

In all, 93 energy companies bid more than $700 million for licenses on 924 offshore blocks. The major- ity of those bids relate to blocks in the deepwater areas, almost 200 of which are located in the Green

Canyon, Walker Ridge, Atwater

Valley and Mississippi Canyon regions — the prime areas to be covered by Ultra Survey. The sur- vey is expected to be completed in less than three years, with initial results delivered to customers before the end of this year.

Spars International, a joint ven- ture between J. Ray McDermott and Aker Oil and Gas Technology, has been awarded a contract val- ued at $300 million by Chevron for the fabrication and installation of

Circle 345 on Reader Service Card the Genesis SPAR platform, a deepwater development in the

Gulf. The hull is being built in

Finland by Aker-Rauma Inc., and the deck at McDermott's Morgan

City, La., facility. McDermott will install the Genesis SPAR — a steel cylinder measuring 705 ft. (214.8 m) in length and 122 ft. (37.1 m) in diameter — in 2,600 ft. (792.4 m) of water in Green Canyon 205, locat- ed approximately 150 miles south- (Continued on page 36)

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