Project Profile
Value: US$1,400 million
Location: Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico, south east of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Start-up Year: December 2003
Reserves: 300 million barrels of oil
Water Depth: 5,800ft to 7,600ft
The Na Kika project involves the production of hydrocarbons from five small- to medium-sized discoveries in the Mississippi Canyon area of the Gulf of Mexico, around 144 miles south east of New Orleans, Louisiana, USA. The project is a subsea development of the fields which are from 5,800ft to 7,600ft below sea level, tied back to a centrally located, permanently moored floating development and production host facility situated on Mississippi Canyon Block 474. The fields being developed are Kepler, Ariel, Fourier, and Herschel in which Shell and BP each have a 50% share, and East Anstey in which BP has a 62.5% interest, and Shell a 37.5% interest. Production began in December 2003. The project is a complex one involving Shell\'s first semi-submersible host permanently moored in 6,350ft of water and its deepest permanently moored semi-submersible development and production system. The semi-submersible is based on four square steel columns, 56ft wide and 142ft high, connected by four rectangular steel pontoons, 41ft wide and 35ft high.
The project aims to recover up to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent. The Kepler, Ariel, and Herschel fields are mainly oil, while the Fourier and East Anstey fields are mainly gas. The project is expected to cost in the region of US$1.4bn, excluding lease costs. Approximately 50% of the costs are associated with the fabrication and installation of the host facility and pipeline, 25% of the costs are associated with the fabrication and installation of the sub-sea components, and 25% are associated with the drilling and completion of the wells. The installation of the subsea systems begun in the first quarter of 2002. There will be complete separation, dehydration and treatment facilities designed to process 325 million cubic feet of gas and 100,000 barrels of oil per day. The hydrocarbons are shipped and exported via an 18-inch diameter oil pipeline and a 20-inch diameter natural gas pipeline. BP and Shell commissioned the 75-mile Na Kika segment of the Okeanos Gas Gathering System from Na Kika to Main Pass 260. From this point gas from Na Kika is transported to onshore markets via the BP / Shell Destin pipeline system.
PROJECT CONTRACTS:
Design, engineering and project management for the Na Kika project is being provided by Shell\'s Deepwater Services, with support from various design consultants. ABB Lumus Global provided assistance on the hull design and DCA provided assistance on the topsides design. The contract for the fabrication, integration and transportation of the host facility was awarded to Hyundai Heavy Industries of Ulsan, South Korea, and mooring system and host installation was contracted to Heerema. Pipeline installation was contracted to Allseas. The umbilical installation contract was awarded to Subsea 7 in December 2002 for the loadout, transportation, and installation of all subsea distribution hardware required for the Na Kika development to complete the linkage of the subsea control systems to the main umbilicals. Subsea 7 also installed all the main steel tube umbilicals associated with the field.
Line pipes were the responsibility of Sumitomo, Tamaris, and Corinth. The export pipeline installation was the remit of Allseas. Mooring chain contract was awarded to Vicinay of Spain. The platform required a dedicated PAGA System to be installed on the platform. GAI-Tronics proposed its Elemec plus microprocessor controlled Public Address General Alarm (PAGA) system for this project. The pipe joining and coating contract was awarded to Bradero of Mobile, Alabama. Flowline and riser installation was the responsibility of Technip Offshore Contractors Inc. Trees and well jumpers were supplied and installed by FMC.
Suction piles were the responsibility of McDermott. The project has some of the deepest water depth for development wells in the world, the first deepwater sub-sea well completion with three commingled reservoirs and the first deepwater sub-sea well completions with SMART well technology. Fantoft Process Technologies of Houston, Texas installed D-SPICE and OLGA dynamic simulators for monitoring performance of wells, subsea equipment, flowlines, topside, improvement and verification of processes and control design as well as validation of control systems.
Operators:
Kepler, Ariel, Fourier, and Herschel fields
Shell: 50% interest
BP: 50% interest
East Anstey field
Shell: 62.5% interest
BP: 37.5% interest
Contracts:
Shell: Design, engineering and project management for the project
ABB Lumus Global: Provided assistance on the hull design
DCA: Provided assistance on the topsides design
Hyundai Heavy Industries: Contract for the fabrication, integration and transportation of the host facility
Heerema: Mooring system and host installation
Allseas: Pipeline installation
Subsea 7: Contract for the loadout, transportation, and installation of all subsea distribution hardware
Joint venture to develop the line pipes:
Sumitomo
Tamaris
Corinth
Allseas: Export pipeline installation
Vicinay: Mooring chain contract
GAI-Tronics: Dedicated PAGA System on the platform
Bradero of Mobile: Pipe joining and coating contract
Technip Offshore Contractors Inc. Trees: Flowline and riser installation
FMC: Well jumpers
McDermott: Suction piles
Fantoft Process Technologies: Installed D-SPICE and OLGA dynamic simulators for monitoring performance of wells, subsea equipment, flowlines, topside, improvement and verification of processes and control design as well as validation of control systems