Santos expedites production with mobile Maleo unit
  from: Asian Oil & Gas
  by: David Morgan
  Thursday, August 24, 2006

A standalone mobile offshore production unit is being prepared for duty on Australian independent Santos' remote Maleo gas development in East Java. David Morgan reports.

Located in some 57m of water about 25km south of Puteran Island at the eastern end of Madura Island, the Maleo development is remote from any existing oil and gas infrastructure and will therefore be operated as a standalone facility.

Santos (Madura Offshore) and Petronas Carigali of Malaysia hold the production sharing contract for the Maleo field. The gas produced will be exported via a new subsea pipeline and tie-in to the existing East Java Gas Pipeline.

For GPS, a leading player in shallow water development solutions, this is the second MOPU project in Southeast Asia, following on from the contract award by Petrofac earlier this year for its Cendor oil development in Malaysia.

Clint Elgar, president of GPS, commented: 'We have been pursuing a number of projects that will use MOPU facilities. The selection of a MOPU facility for Santos at the Maleo field development project is the perfect choice, as it will enable production to be expedited far more quickly than with a conventional production platform.'

The MOPU solution comprises a jackup drilling rig converted into an oil and gas production platform. It operates as a standalone oil and gas process facility in a number of different applications at the early production or permanent production stages of the upstream oilfield lifecycle. Designed to expedite first oil and gas production, a MOPU facility can be built in less than 12 months, as compared to the three years typically required to build and commission a conventional platform.

'The advantage of MOPU facilities is that they can be configured quickly to suit specific oil or gas production requirements, mobilised to site and put into production on a fast-track basis. The availability of a MOPU can often be the deciding factor that turns a marginal non-economic development into a highly successful producing asset,' explained Elgar. 'This project is a first step for the GPS Group in Indonesia and we hope to build on this success with a number of other prospects that are currently on the horizon.'

GPS' Dubai hub general manager, Keith Walker, added: 'Our track record in the conversion of drilling facilities for production activity has already been proven on the work we carried out on the ESP-1 jackup for duty on the Shell Soroosh field offshore Iran. We are delighted to be able to bring this capability to Indonesia for Santos on this ground-breaking project.'

The jack-up rig has already been acquired and work began recently on upgrading the marine components in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates. Work on the design and engineering of the processing facilities required is well advanced at GPS' Dubai offices.

Established in the Indonesian oil and gas sector for 30 years, PT Radiant Utama Interinsco is part of Radiant Utama Group. The company is 85% owned by Radiant Nusa Investama with Japan's Sojitz Group holding the remaining 15%. RUI subsidiary PT Supraco Indonesia, is an integrated service provider with a range of services including manpower management, logistics & shorebase management, offshore drilling, offshore pedestal crane services and operation support services.

Global Process Systems is an EPC contractor focusing on upstream and midstream oil and gas process equipment. Headquartered in UAE, the company is 70% owned by Al Jaber Establishment of Dubai and has offices in Malaysia and Singapore. An affiliated company, Innovative Technologies, provides a range of electrical and instrumentation and fire and gas detection design, build and installation services. Cladtek, a Jebel Ali Free Zone company in which GPS owns a minority interest, specializes in cladding process equipment and vessels for extended service life. AOG

Click here to register to receive your own copy of Asian Oil & Gas each month.