Upgrade speeds Soroosh early production
  from: Asian Oil & Gas
  by: Rajiy Lekhy
  Monday, November 25, 2002

The recent establishment of early production facilities in the Soroosh field offshore Iran required one of the biggest single offshore oil and gas conversion projects seen in this region for several years. Rajiy Lekhy, Expro’s Soroosh project technical manager, explains what the job entailed.

Expro Swire Production Limited (ESPL), the company formed by the Expro Group and Swire Pacific Offshore, was contracted by Shell Exploration BV on behalf of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) for the supply and operation of an early production facility ahead of permanent facilities in the Soroosh field, offshore Iran.

Shell was selected by NIOC to develop the Soroosh and Nowrooz oil fields, lying in waters of around 30-45m, and located 120km offshore Iran in the Persian Gulf. When completed, Shell anticipates that the two developments will produce oil at a combined peak rate of 190,000 b/d, with the Nowrooz field producing via facilities to be installed at the Soroosh field location.

The plans call for a phased development, and in June 2000 ESPL was contracted by Shell Exploration BV on behalf of the NIOC for the supply, installation and operation of a mobile offshore production unit (MOPU) alongside a new wellhead production jacket in the Soroosh field. The facility was required for two years prior to the installation of the permanent field infrastructure and had to provide the capacity to produce up to a maximum of 100,000b/d.

Jackup conversion
To execute the project, ESPL acquired the ex-Mansal Muna MOPU, which was renamed ESP 1, and mobilised it to Dubai for conversion. During this conversion, ESPL re-classed the vessel under DNV and also carried out a wide range of modifications and upgrades. These included the zero-houring of all machinery, undertaking specific modifications required for the Soroosh location and refurbishing of the vessel’s accommodation module.

Notable among these upgrades was a water injection facility capable of 50,000b/d, and the fabrication and installation of a power generation module for the electric submersible pumps (ESPs), as well as process upgrades to handle the Soroosh well fluids.

As with such projects, there were several additions to ESPL’s original workscope. These required ESPL to make a number of important changes in terms of design and engineering while the original workscope was in progress.

One such change was a revised ESP design which meant that ESPL was required to design and install a 500t power generation module complete with eight 1MW Aggreko diesel generators and its associated 11kV high voltage switchgear.

A second change was to provide an interim production solution to tie the initial early wells directly back to the ESP 1 to accommodate the schedule for the deployment of the permanent wellhead structure. This solution recently won a silver medal at Shell’s global ‘Realising the Limit’ workshop in Canada as a ‘top trick’.

Conversion of the MOPU took 35 weeks. Today, ESP 1 has an oil production capacity of up to 100,000b/d and water injection capability to 50,000b/d.

Operations
As an integral part of its business, ESPL operates the ESP 1 for the client at the Soroosh location. After a rigorous 28-day production test, the production phase began on 1 January 2002 and averaged 58,000b/d over the first quarter.

ESPL general manager David Fellowes comments: ‘The Soroosh project represents a key milestone for Expro Swire in the provision of fast-track marine-based production facilities. The ability to single source turnkey projects of this nature provides our clients with the ability to develop even marginal fields quickly and economically, and without the significant investment associated with owned and operated field infrastructures. The present climate may now allow other oil companies to consider further such developments.’