Building
the perfect gas platform...right here in T&T
By
Sherwin
Long
Trinidad
Guardian
Port
Spain
Petroleumworld.com
08 27 06
Sean
Kellman does not mince words when he describes the
EOG Resources’ Oilbird platform as being moulded
by local brains.
As
managing director of the Neal & Massy Wood Group
Ltd, the company which supervised the design and
engineering of the Oilbird platform, Kellman takes
pride in the project.
During
an interview last month, at his Maraval Road, Newtown
office, he called for the country to celebrate the
Oilbird, the largest off-shore platform ever built
in T&T.
“We
have to take pride in the project for the high level
of local content,” he said.
“The
integrity and soul of the project, the brains behind
the design and engineering came from right here.”
He
said the Oilbird platform was the first offshore
processing facility fully designed in T&T, with
74 per cent of the project labour coming from these
shores.
Currently,
the Government is promoting a local content policy
and trying to encourage and maximise local participation
in the energy sector.
Kellman
noted that in the past projects such as the Oilbird
would have been farmed out to foreign consultants.
But
he credited EOG Resources for being passionate about
local content and giving local energy professionals
first dibs on building projects.
He
said EOG Resources had even committed to training
Trinidadians for future projects.
In
spite of Kellman’s beaming, he admitted the
project was strenuous.
Large
capital projects such as the EOG Oilbird have a
ten- to 20-year cycle for funding, design and procurement
of materials, he explained.
At
a glance, the Oilbird’s capacity is impressive,
Kellman said.
But,
he added, for the public to grasp its scope they
had to know its capabilities.
He
said the gas processing facility platform was capable
of handling up to nine wells plus three-phase separation
of around 300 million cubic feet of gas and associated
fluids.
The
Oilbird is set to start production in December this
year and will satisfy contract sales commitments
for Atlantic LNG Train IV and Methanol Holdings
Limited’s M5000 plant.
Lisa
Haskell, Neal & Massy Wood Group manager of
projects, also sat in on the interview.
She
came to T&T to supervise the Oilbird project
and the American said EOG Resources was using its
Gulf Coast experience and transferring it to the
local market.
Compared
to other local platforms, for the Oilbird, Haskell
saw advancements in the piping, the jacket and deck
structure of the platform plus the electrical systems.
As
a result of these advancements the Oilbird was completed
one month and a half ahead of schedule.
Kellman
noted that the Neal & Massy Woodgroup was already
doing early support work for EOG’s Toucan
project, a follow up to the Oilbird.
For
Kellman, the work on the Oilbird is a stepping stone.
“Now
that fabrication is completed, we will be able to
capture whatever learnings from this project and
redefine it for the next project.”
He
looked at his laptop computer, pointing to a picture
of the Oilbird platform in its various stages of
development.
“You
never know maybe what we learned (with the Oilbird)
could help us build the perfect platform.”
About
Oilbird
The
Oilbird Platform is a partnership between EOG Resources,
Petrotrin, the National Gas Company and Primera.
According
to a release, excluding the cost of pipelines, the
total cost of the facility was approximately US
$54 million.
It
is a conventional drilling and processing steel
platform and is the first in T&T to include
a fully independent process facility.
Apart
from the Neal & Massy Wood Group Ltd, local
companies OPE Trinidad Ltd and Insertech were responsible
for offshore pipeline engineering and electrical
systems.
Trinidad Guardian
Thursday
17th August 2006
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©2005-2006 Trinidad Publishing. All Rights
Reserved.
