Deepwater mooring specialist, First Subsea has been awarded a contract by LLOG Exploration to supply the subsea mooring connectors for the Delta House semi-submersible floating production system (FPS) in the Gulf of Mexico. The FPS will be located in Mississippi Canyon 254 in 4,500ft (1,373 m) water, and accommodate production from a number of nearby fields, including LLOG’s previously announced discoveries in Mississippi Canyon 300 and Mississippi Canyon 431.
First Subsea is supplying 14 Ballgrab Type III, ball and taper, subsea mooring connectors (SMCs) with a corroded 1,733mT (16,992kN) MBL, which will be attached to polyester mooring lines. The SMCs’ mandrels will be manufactured and tested in compliance with DNV-0S-E302.
“We were looking for a subsea mooring connector that has been well proven in the Gulf of Mexico,” said Craig Mullett, Offshore Construction Manager, LLOG Exploration. “First Subsea’s Ballgrab connector has a solid reputation for ease of installation and reliability that made it the natural choice for the Delta House FPS mooring.”
The Delta House project will include an oil export line, a gas export line and a number of subsea systems. The export lines will connect the FPS to existing downstream pipeline infrastructure. The Delta House will have a production handling capacity of 100,000 bopd, 240 mmcfd, and 40,000 bwpd.
Press Release, July 03, 2013; Image: First Subsea