GE Oil & Gas’ Drilling & Production business has received a contract of approximately $45 million to supply and service the industry’s largest tension leg platform (TLP) marine riser Tensioner Systems to Chevron for deployment in its Big Foot oil and gas field in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico.
A TLP is a vertically moored floating structure suited for use in a wide range of water depths. GE is making key design modifications to develop ‘push-up’ style marine riser Tensioner equipment to enable the Chevron Big Foot oil and gas field TLP to deal with the challenging wave and current movement conditions of deepwater applications. To date, TLPs have been successfully deployed in water depths approaching 5,000 feet. The GE-Chevron Big Foot unit will be the first to operate in depths of 5,200 feet.
Manuel Terranova, senior vice president—global regions and sales, Drilling & Production, GE Oil & Gas said: “For this deepwater application, we are utilizing innovative technology to deliver customized ‘push-up’ style TLP Tensioners that offer Chevron an efficient and reliable solution for their challenging deepwater requirements. We are pleased to be supporting this important Chevron project which will contribute to the stability of future U.S. energy supply.”
The Big Foot TLP will be Chevron’s sixth operated facility in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico and will be located approximately 225 miles south of New Orleans. The TLP will include an on-board drilling rig and will have a production capacity of 75,000 barrels of oil and 25 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. Installation of the TLP is scheduled to begin in November 2012 and first oil is expected in 2014.
[mappress] Source: GE, July 7, 2011; Image: Statoil