Caribbean Platform Contract Goes to Aquaterra
RIGZONE, TUESDAY 19TH MAY, 2020, WRITTEN BY MATTHEW V. VEAZEY
DeNovo Energy has awarded Aquaterra Energy the front end engineering and design (FEED) contract for a “Sea Swift” platform that will be installed in the Zandolie field off the west coast of Trinidad and Tobago, Aquaterra reported Monday.
The contract represents a second DeNovo win for Aquaterra, which in 2018 designed, built and installed a Sea Swift conductor supported platform (CSP) for the Trinidad and Tobago-based firm’s Iguana field development. The Iguana CSP has since produced an average of 80 million standard cubic feet of natural gas, with 100-percent uptime to date in 2020, Aquaterra noted in a written statement emailed to Rigzone.
“Similar to the Iguana platform, we will seek to provide a design and development solution that will enable DeNovo Energy to maximize fabrication opportunities in-country,” Aquaterra Technical Director Stewart Maxwell commented regarding the Zandolie contract. “We’re thrilled to be partnering with DeNovo on this FEED for a second Sea Swift CSP solution.”
Aquaterra stated that its latest DeNovo contract calls for applying modifications to the existing Iguana platform, conducting a review of pipeline infrastructure and designing a new single-well CSP in a 60-foot (20-meter) water depth destined for Zandolie. The company added the new CSP, which will be “tighter and smaller” than the Iguana structure, will be engineered for drilling and installation with a jack-up rig. It pointed out the measures will consequently lower project costs.
According to Aquaterra, Sea Swift is a minimum-facility offshore platform whose “innovative structure configurations” reduce the platform’s overall footprint but maintain a high standard of integrity. The firm stated the CSP keeps initial expenditures low by applying a simplified design that curbs steel requirements and emphasizesusing available infrastructure and fabrication facilities.
“It’s extremely encouraging to still see new projects such as this moving ahead in the current, low oil price climate,” Maxwell stated. “If an operator is considering a new platform installation, now is the time to progress. Even with this market uncertainty, overall project costs have been reduced, which should be a factor in any decision.”
Aquaterra noted that it expects to complete its Zandolie CSP project for DeNovo during the third quarter of this year.