OTC 13998

The Blake Development Project proves the flexibility of FPSOs in the successful
completion of a schedule driven modification to a producing FPSO
Mireille Soeters / Keith Reynolds / Harry van Elk / Bluewater Energy Services B.V.

Copyright 2002, Offshore Technology Conference

loading Facility) is located in the North Sea 100km North East
This paper was prepared for presentation at the 2002 Offshore Technology Conference held in of Aberdeen in the Moray Firth.
Houston, Texas U.S.A., 6–9 May 2002.

This paper was selected for presentation by the OTC Program Committee following review of
information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of the paper, as
The Bleo Holm FPSO is owned and operated by
presented, have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to Bluewater and leased to Talisman Energy and partners Nippon
correction by the author(s). The material, as presented, does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Offshore Technology Conference or its officers. Electronic reproduction, Oil, Intrepid and Kerr McGee, for production of the Ross &
distribution, or storage of any part of this paper for commercial purposes without the written
consent of the Offshore Technology Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print
Parry fields. The field is located in license blocks 13/28a and
is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may not be copied. The 13/29a and has estimated recoverable reserves of 50 to 70
abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of where and by whom the paper was
presented. million barrels of oil. From sub-sea well completions and
flexible risers, well fluids are delivered to the Bleo Holm
where, after separation into oil, gas and water, oil is stored in
Abstract
the cargo tanks. The resultant gas is compressed for gas lift
and export and the cleaned water is routed overboard. First oil
The Bleo Holm is an FPSO owned and operated by Bluewater,
from the Ross & Parry Fields was achieved 19th April 1999.
leased by Talisman for operation of the Ross & Parry Fields
located in the North Sea. After discovery of the nearby Blake
The Blake field, in license blocks 13/24 and 13/29,
Field and evaluation of several development concepts a
laying approximately 10 km North from the Bleo Holm
tieback of the Blake field to the Bleo Holm FPSO
location, was discovered in mid 1997. The Blake field,
was selected.
operated by BG Group, is owned by BG Group and partners
Paladin and Talisman Energy. The recoverable reserves of the
In order to be able to produce the Blake field through
Blake Field were estimated to be approximately 80 million
the Bleo Holm, extensive modifications to the Bleo Holm
barrels of oil.
facility were required that would only be possible to
implement during a shutdown period. Without production
Initially a dedicated production facility for the Blake
during the shutdown period the owners of the Ross & Parry
Field Development was considered and, following technical,
Fields would be subject to a loss of oil revenue. Minimisation
economic and safety evaluations of the various solutions an
of the shutdown period was therefore absolutely essential and
FPSO concept was selected as the most favourable.
was reflected in the execution schedule that became the
As a result of the fall in oil price in 1998 a stand-
project driver.
alone development was no longer considered economically
viable and the concept of a subsea tie-back to a host facility
This paper describes the development of the project
was generated. The following facilities were identified as
during all its phases (concept, engineering, construction and
having the potential:
commissioning) and highlights how the construction schedule,
being the main driver, influenced decisions taken during the • Bleo Holm FPSO
course of the project. • Captain A Facilities
• Claymore
The paper also discusses the flexibility of the FPSO
concept and the benefits the Blake Field Tie-in to the Bleo Review of these facilities concluded that the Captain
Holm provided to the field owners and to Bluewater. A facilities could not offer any processing capacity in the near
future and that a subsea tie-back to the Claymore (75km from
the Blake Field) was technically not feasible. This left the
Introduction
Bleo Holm FPSO, as the only potential suitable host facility
for the Blake Field Development. Of considerable benefit to
The Bleo Holm FPSO (Floating Production Storage and Off-
this solution is the fact that Talisman Energy, besides being
2 M. SOETERS, K. REYNOLDS, H. VAN ELK
the company leasing the Bleo Holm FPSO, is also a co-owner
in the Blake Field.
There was also considerable economic advantage in
the subsea tie-back of the Blake Field to the Bleo Holm FPSO
as a significant lower capital investment would be required as
use would be made of the existing infrastructure for the
production of well fluids and gas export.
In addition to the benefit of a decreased capital
investment, operational expenditure with two field operators
sharing the cost, would also be considerably reduced resulting
in lower operational costs per produced barrel of oil equivalent
thereby increasing the Net Present Value per barrel of oil.
Lowering the operating costs of each barrel produced
also extends the production life of the field, improving field
profitability as the increase in field life delays the economic
cut-off and increases the recoverable reserves. In the case of
the Ross & Parry and Blake fields, this increased the revenue
forecast for the field operators and its partners.
An increase in field life naturally leads to an
extension of the FPSO lease contract duration, which is of
considerable benefit to Bluewater resulting in a genuine ‘win-
win’ situation for all.
In addition to the economic advantages the subsea
tie-back of the Blake Field into the Bleo Holm FPSO allowed
earlier Blake first oil production than a comparable stand-
alone development could offer.
Evaluations to assess the impact the Blake Field well
fluids would have on the Bleo Holm showed that extensive
modifications to the crude separation, water injection and
compression systems were required besides minor
modification to most of the utility systems. The magnitude of
the modifications proved impossible to accomplish offshore
and therefore a shutdown of production followed by
disconnection of the FPSO, a tow to a suitable shore side
facility were the modifications could be performed would
be required.
Without oil production income for the Ross & Parry
field owners during the shutdown period it became of
paramount importance to ensure that the shut down period
was, to the fullest extent possible, minimised. This
requirement initiated aggressive goal setting and the
instigation of a schedule that became the principal driver for
the Project.
Principal Players. BG Group is the operator of the
Blake Field and responsible for the well drilling and subsea
development. To complete the work BG International awarded
a drilling contract to Santa Fe and a subsea contract to
Coflexip Stena Offshore Limited. The Subsea contract
OTC 13998
consisted of the installation of the subsea manifold,
installation of flexibles between the wells and the subsea
manifold, and installation of the flowlines from the subsea
manifold to the FPSO. The subsea contractor was also
responsible for disconnection of the FPSO, the tow to the
construction facility and, following modification, the tow out
and the reconnection of the FPSO to the moorings and risers.
Talisman Energy is the operator of the Ross & Parry
Fields and, under a contract with BG Group, responsible for
the required FPSO modifications. Talisman awarded two
major contracts; a basic engineering contract to Fluor Daniel
and the detailed engineering, construction and installation
contract to Aker McNulty (now called CSO McNulty). A
team of Talisman and Bluewater personnel managed the
modification of the Bleo Holm FPSO under the direction of a
Talisman Project Manager.
At all times Bluewater remained as duty holder of
the installation responsible for compliance with the
verification requirements and with the Health and Safety
Executive in the UK. Bluewater’s extensive experience in
production shutdown, degassing, and disconnection and re-
connection activities would also prove essential in maintaining
the offshore work schedule at the beginning and end of the
shutdown period. Bluewater also provided knowledgeable and
experienced project and operational personnel. Taking
advantage of the time ‘at shore’ Bluewater operational
personnel made effective use of the period to implement a
number of modifications and carry out essential maintenance
difficult to complete in the offshore environment.
The Blake project was also able to benefit from
experience gathered during the completion of the Bleo Holm
as the majority of the Talisman, Bluewater and Fluor Daniel
personnel had been involved in the initial Bleo Holm project.
Health Safety and Environment
Despite the need for an aggressive schedule it was equally
important to all participants that high levels of safety and the
environment awareness were maintained and not denigrated
by the project or contractual considerations. In order to
encourage safety awareness and schedule compliance the
principal participants were offered a bonus, in the form of an
Early Oil Incentive scheme, by the Ross and Blake field
owners. The bonus was based on a portion of the revenue of
each barrel of oil produced before the contractual agreed date
of 1st August 2001 with the total amount earned shared
equally among the principal project participants. However, in
order to be able to qualify for the total amount of money, the
participants had to demonstrate through their actions and
record, their commitment to health, safety and environment.
In addition a Safety Forum, consisting of safety
representatives from each participating company was formed
 THE BLAKE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF FPSOs IN THE SUCCESSFUL
OTC 13998 COMPLETION OF A SCHEDULE DRIVEN MODIFICATION TO A PRODUCING FPSO
and met at frequent and regular intervals. The Safety Forum’s
principal duties were to monitor and audit participants’ safety
and environmental awareness, to co-ordinate safety incentives
among project members, to align Permit to Work systems and
responsibilities and to provide the impetus for improved action
and awareness.
The project is very proud to state that ultimately, as
no serious safety or environmental incidents occurred during
the project, the full bonus was awarded to each of the
involved companies.
Schedule
In August 1999 the concept for the modification was complete
and an estimate and schedule prepared against a contracted
Blake first oil date of 1 August 2001. As was to be expected
the need to minimise the shutdown period placed considerable
pressure on the modification schedule.
In addition to the modification, a number of
operations relating to production shutdown and vessel
disconnect were required in the shut down period attracting
varying degrees of risk. These risk centered on disconnect and
tow, and were mainly weather dependent although the actual
timing of the shut down period reduced such risk to a
minimum. In comparison however the historic record of yard
work indicated levels of risk many factors higher for the ‘at-
shore’ activities. In the past, schedules have frequently been
compromised during such activities, leading to sail-away
postponement, increase in offshore work scope, and a
consequential delayed to the all important First Oil milestone.
Often this is compounded by equipment problems during start-
up and early production. In particular, gas compression has
been the Achilles Heel on many projects with three to four
month delays being the norm. This was, with the rigorous
enforcement of flaring consent in the North Sea, of particular
concern to all participants in the project.
A review of the scope of work indicated that a period
of six to eight weeks was viable for, a then estimated 100,000
direct man-hours. Within the following few weeks, in typical
oil industry manner, eight weeks were forgotten and six weeks
became the confirmed at shore schedule duration. This six-
week window would be maintained although the original man-
hour estimate was more than doubled. Meanwhile in order to
drive ‘float’ into the schedule, a project target first oil date of
1st July 2001 and a three-month shutdown from the end of
March to the end of June 2001, was set. Definition of the
basis of design only commenced early in November 1999
resulting in a total completion schedule of less than 20 months
including the now ‘cast in concrete’ six weeks at shore
modification window. With such an aggressive goal, the
Project schedule was now the confirmed Project driver and no
quarter was to be given.
3
Critical to the schedule was the long lead items
identified as the water injection pumps and gas compressors.
Luckily the down turn in the market at the time enabled 12 to
13 month delivery times to be obtained. Nevertheless this
equipment remained on the critical path until technical concept
reviews alleviated the criticality.
As the detailed schedule was developed, it was
apparent that early award of the Fabrication and Hook-up
contract was essential if the goal of having all modules,
pipework and structures complete and available at the quay
side at vessel arrival was to be achieved. In order to facilitate
this requirement, detail design was to be included within the
scope of the fabrication contractor.
Not surprisingly, at the time, the industry at large
generally considered our aims, unachievable. There were,
after all, considerable amounts of demolition and construction
activities to complete in a very short time frame. With the
Nitrogen Helium leak testing of the process system dependent
on completion of these activities, the construction program
was effectively condensed to four weeks. This obviously
generated some concern, particularly for the contractor but as
detailed preparation continued on work packs for the ‘at shore’
activities, the contractor gained confidence in his own ability
to meet the schedule. It was this increase in confidence that
laid the foundation for the project success albeit that the
schedule required working 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Organization and Management
Talisman, with financial responsibility for the Project,
managed the project. Bluewater however, as the vessel owner
and operator of the FPSO, had with their knowledge and
expertise an important part to play. Talisman developed a
project organisation with a Bluewater site manager,
responsible to the Talisman Project manager, for the
engineering contract and subsequently the fabrication and
hook-up contract. He was supported in the completion of
these contracts by a team of Bluewater engineers and
construction and commissioning supervisors.
With such an aggressive program it was important to
make full use of the experience and expertise available and to
recognise the ‘Lessons Learnt’ from previous projects. The
offshore industry has often made much of lessons learnt that
are all to frequently ignored on subsequent projects. One
considerable advantage for the Blake Project was that virtually
all of the team members fielded Bluewater was fresh from the
completion of the Bleo Holm and they had indeed
earnt lessons.
It was considered essential that early integration into
the Project of construction and commissioning personnel,
together with operations personnel, to ensure that the needs of
these groups were duly considered in all phases of the project
4 M. SOETERS, K. REYNOLDS, H. VAN ELK OTC 13998

execution and a closer working relationship within the project Technical Considerations
management team was fostered. To this end the Production
Superintendent from Bleo Holm was seconded as For the tie-in of the Blake Field a significant increase in the
Commissioning Manager supported by a team of Bluewater Bleo Holm production throughput, water injection flow rate
commissioning engineers. This had the added advantage that and gas compression flow rate capability was required. The
with the Operations Group thus represented; the delays table below provides a comparison of the original and new
normally experienced at the critical hand-over phase were design flow rates.
virtually eliminated. Involvement of the commissioning group
early in design also ensured that the requirement for factory Original Revised Blake Combined Ultimate
acceptance testing, a most important issue in the successful Bleo Ross & Design Flow
Holm Parry Flow rates Rates Post
completion of the project, thoroughly considered. Debottle-
Subsequently, this team, supported by a number of Fluor necking
Daniel key personnel, was transferred to site. With the Maximum 50,000 26,000 100,000 126,000 140,000
liquids (bpd)
fabricator responsible for the completion of detailed Maximum oil 40,000 22,000 44,000 66,000 100,000
engineering, this provided the essential continuity. These (bpd)
engineers were initially incorporated into the Contractors Maximum 40,000 23,000 95,000 125,000 137,000
produced water
engineering team and latterly formed the backbone of the (bpd)
commissioning team. Maximum 66,000 40,000 105,000 140,000 140,000
water injection
The installation of new Integrated Control System (bpd)
Maximum gas 50 n/a n/a 64 64
and extensive modification to the existing Distributed Control compression
System were identified early in the engineering as high risk to MP (mmscfd)
the schedule. The Project team therefore appointed a Maximum gas 38 23 38 58 58
compression
representative to be located at the vendors facilities to co- HP (mmscfd)
ordinate day to day activities.
With the existing Ross & Parry fields already in
The Fabrication and Hook-up contractor’s initial decline the revised Ross & Parry flow rates were accepted as
organisation was based along traditional site management the basis for inclusion in the combined flow rates.
lines with a single project team for both the fabrication and the
‘at shore’ activities. It was apparent to the Project team that De-bottlenecking. Late in the project, when the additional
the goals would only be achieved by treating the ‘at shore’ modules were already in the outfitting phase, Blake wells’
activities independent from the fabrication activities. More tests indicated a much higher reservoir potential and this,
dedication in the preparation of schedule activities was linked to revised Ross reservoir predications and the
required if we were to gain confidence in the ability to possibility of more production wells, resulted in increased
complete in six weeks and, by November, the Contractor production rates requiring further de-bottlenecking. The
instigated a dedicated Hook-up team. results of the study concluded that an additional module was
required to accommodate the following:
From the beginning, the decision was made that if we
were to succeed the Project management team needed to • Provision of a future additional test hydro cyclone to
actively manage all phases of the project and to be responsible handle the increased 15,000bpd produced water of Ross
for its own destiny. A hands-off approach would have been & Parry.
fruitless. All too often a ‘them and us’ situation exists between • Additional produced oil pumps and coolers to handle
the corresponding management and contractor site teams and the first 6 to 9 months of dry Blake oil resulting in a
management becomes a battlefield with casualties on both total design flow rate of 100,000 bpd oil.
sides. A more proactive and non-aggressive approach is
• An additional produced water outlet nozzle on the test
required to allow confidences to build and acceptance to take
separator and larger nozzles on the second stage
place. In order to do this however the Project Management had
separator to accommodate the higher liquid flow up to
to demonstrate a high level of trust and commitment in the
100,000 bpd of oil for the second stage separator and
relevant contractors. This was of particular importance during
the 40,000 bpd liquids for the Ross (ex. test) separator.
the fabrication and hook-up activities and was ultimately
demonstrated during the six week schedule. During this
As the debottlenecking requirements were not
intensive period with all parties working seven days a week,
available until much later in the Project it was not considered
all problems were discussed and solutions agreed without the
during the design engineering and only the values given in
need for aggressive confrontation. This can only be achieved
‘Combined Design Flow Rates’ of the above table were
with mutual respect.
 THE BLAKE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF FPSOs IN THE SUCCESSFUL
OTC 13998 COMPLETION OF A SCHEDULE DRIVEN MODIFICATION TO A PRODUCING FPSO
applicable during the technical development of the
modifications as discussed below.
Gas Compression. The increased gas flow rate, but more
importantly the variation in molecular weight of the produced
gas, made the existing gas compressors’ configuration,
consisting of a two stage MP compressor and a single stage
HP compressor, both electrically driven fixed speed units,
unsuitable for the Blake Development Project. As a full range
in molecular weight had to be covered, Blake gas at 18
kg/kmol to Ross gas at 26 kg/kmol, a flexible gas compressor
solution was required.
Initially, following studies completed in the concept
phase, it was considered to re-wheel the existing compressor
and run ‘Blake only’ gas at a lower discharge pressure. During
the basic design phase it became clear that this was not viable
and an additional compressor package, downstream of the HP
gas compressor, was considered to increase discharge pressure
when compressing the lower molecular weight gas. Ultimately
however it was proved that the gas flow rate for the existing
compressors was too large and the existing gas compression
system could not be re-used.
An alternative solution had to be found that gave the
required flexibility in molecular weight, with minimal increase
in power consumption whilst recognising the restricted space
available for new compressors. The result was a new two-
stage MP compressor and a single stage HP compressor each
with electrical drives and mechanical variable speed
couplings. An electronic variable speed was considered but
rejected due to the size of the switchgear and the impact on the
layout and consequent impact on the construction schedule.
Although the gas flow rate had increased significantly the
changed gas composition resulted in less condensation in the
discharge coolers and both the existing coolers and scrubbers
remained unchanged.
Originally the fuel gas was supplied from the
condensate from the MP2 discharge with back up from the HP
compressor discharge. With the lighter Blake composition,
less hydrocarbon condensate and therefore fuel gas, was
available. To save compression power, it was decided to
supply the back-up fuel gas, now the main source of fuel gas,
from the MP2 compressor discharge.
The increased gas flow rate had an impact on the
performance of the glycol contactor located between the
second stage of the MP compressor and third stage of the HP
compressor. The structured packing of the glycol contactor
and the gas/liquid separation device on the vapour outlet were
replaced and, with the resultant increase in gas flow and
consequent increase in the glycol reboiler duty, use of the
installed spare heating element was required.
5
Initially it was intended to install the two
compressors onto the Bleo Holm in separate lifts. However,
scheduling of the associated activities for the six-week at
shore schedule resulted in a negative float of twelve days.
Having involved engineering, construction and
commissioning, a new concept was designed using a single
pancake deck containing both compressors and the interface
piperack section. To meet height restrictions, an eight point
lift had to be accepted to avoid large section supporting steel.
This re-design permitted both compressors to be installed with
the piping connected and electrically complete prior to the
arrival of the Bleo Holm. The corresponding revised detailed
construction plan removed the compressor activities from the
schedule critical path.
Water Injection. Initial studies had indicated that Blake and
Ross water injection requirements could be met by the
provision of two new turbine driven water injection pumps
and by running one of the two existing electrical driven water
injection pumps. Due to the criticality of the power balance,
mainly as a result of the increased power consumption of the
gas compressors, both existing electrical water injection
pumps became redundant and the full water injection capacity
would be achieved by larger gas turbine driven water injection
pump sets. Upgrade of the power generation capacity by
installing a third gas turbine driven power generator was
rejected on the basis of unacceptable increase in cost and at
shore construction schedule.
A duplicate of the existing filtration and de-aeration
facilities was specified and capacity increased from 70,000
bpd to 140,000 bpd. A new water injection module was
designed, constructed and to be located adjacent to the existing
facilities, which accommodated the new water injection pumps
and booster pumps, filters, deareator and associated
service pumps.
Initially, during the engineering phase, the gas
turbine driven pumps were located on the lower level of the
water injection module. Later, realising the criticality of the
gas turbine driven water injection pumps on the build method
and construction schedule of the water injection module, the
module was redesigned with the gas turbine driven pumps on
the top level of the water injection module. This minimised the
effect of a potential late delivery.
The water injection module was designed with a local
containerised control room as part of the module. This
facilitated maximum on shore commissioning and, with free-
standing panels that could be installed later in this local
control room, ensured that full factory acceptance testing
could be completed with all proprietary and specified
equipment in place. Interfaces with the distributed control
system were proven by duplicated laptop software.
6 M. SOETERS, K. REYNOLDS, H. VAN ELK
The final Water Injection system configuration uses
the existing filtration and de-aeration system to feed one of the
gas turbine driven pumps while the other is fed from the new
filtration and de-aeration system installed within the new
Water Injection module. As a consequence of the high
elevation of the gas turbine driven water injection pumps, the
existing booster pumps had to be replaced.
Crude Separation. As the Blake field has partners different to
the Ross & Parry fields there is a requirement to allocate the
production to each. At first, a dedicated Blake separation train
was considered although for reasons of the high cost involved,
the limited space available and a longer construction schedule,
it was decided to treat both production streams in the existing
crude separation equipment. The existing production separator
was dedicated to the Blake well fluids with the existing test
separator handling the Ross well fluids. Ross and Blake were
combined upstream of the inter-stage heaters for further
treatment, stabilisation and dehydration. To maximise system
capacity, the desalter was used for dehydration only.
As the combined liquid and gas loading of the test,
production and second stage separator increased significantly,
modifications to nozzles and internals were required. The
increased flow rates, together with pressure drop and velocity
constrains, resulted in an increased diameter of production and
test header piping, the replacement of relief valves, and the
addition of a second production heater.
For allocation purposes both separators were
provided with oil, water and gas metering. As a consequence
of the changes the test separator was no longer available for
testing. Test by difference was accepted for the Ross field,
while the Blake field chose to install two sub-sea multiphase
flow meters for well testing.
With the installation of allocation metering on the
separators, all recycled product from the process plant that
normally flowed back into the production separator were re-
routed and the cross connects between both systems
physically removed.
Produced Water. During the concept phase it was envisaged
that the increased produced water flow rates from the test and
production separator could be treated by the existing test and
production hydro cyclones, with the provision of an additional
production hydro cyclone. The produced water from the
second stage separator, originally pumped back to the
production separator, would be treated by pumping its
produced water to a dedicated hydro cyclone. With total
produced water flow rate more than doubled, an additional
produced water degasser was required. Although all
additional equipment was planned to be located within the
existing crude separation and produced water facilities, the
impact of this on the construction schedule was extensive. To
minimise the construction risk it was decided to install all
OTC 13998
additional produced water equipment in a new module located
adjacent to the existing crude separation. This new module, in
addition to the new produced water equipment, also contained
the new equipment for the closed cooling system required to
overcome operational problems experienced with direct
seawater cooling of the gas coolers during the production of
the Ross & Parry Field.
Other Systems. The original utility systems of the Bleo Holm
were, to a large extent, sufficient for the increased production
flow rates although some modifications were required, mainly
tie-in for the additional equipment. Whilst some utilities
upgrade would have been advisable, it was decided to take the
risk of lower uptime in order to mitigate the high cost and the
adverse affect on the construction schedule.
By re-using the seawater used for cooling the closed
cooling medium and by dumping the hot produced water
overboard without cooling, the existing seawater lift capacity
was sufficient to supply the additional cooling and
injection requirements.
The introduction of the new Compressor
configuration, Water Injection Module and other changes
within the topsides facility required considerable modification
to the existing Integrated Control System (ICS)(Consisting of
the Emergency shutdown (ESD), Fire & Gas (F&G) and the
Distributed Control System (DCS). Seamless integration of the
systems would be required as a pre-requisite for the onsite
commissioning activities. Early discussions with the system
supplier defined the requirements for System Integration
Tests. All ICS sub-systems were fully tested independently
and then as an individual unit to verify that all system
permissives, displays and controls were as required. The ICS
supervisory control and data acquisition requirements were
fully tested and simulated during the factory acceptance at the
various main equipment suppliers.
Due to the increase topsides loading, the existing
transformers were upgraded by the introduction of forced
cooling and a new auto-start transformer was installed for the
new MP compressor. . The existing auto start transformer, for
the existing MP Compressor, was reused for the new
HP compressor.
Turret and Swivel. During the engineering phase, Bluewater
had been responsible for the engineering of the turret and
swivel and for accommodating the requirements of two
independent fields together with the topsides subsea
equipment for Blake. Installation of new subsea control
Electrical Power Unit (EPU) and Hydraulic Power Unit (HPU)
with associated modification to the existing ESD logic was
required. The chemical injection system required extensive
modification together with modifications to the squeeze line.
The swivel also required dismantling to replace all swivel
 THE BLAKE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF FPSOs IN THE SUCCESSFUL
OTC 13998 COMPLETION OF A SCHEDULE DRIVEN MODIFICATION TO A PRODUCING FPSO
stack seals, and for conversion of the future gas import to an
additional seawater injection swivel path.
Preparation and Fabrication
As engineering required a rapid start with no time for a formal
feed study, Fluor Daniel was the natural candidate with their
previous experience from the Bleo Holm Project. A fully
reimbursable engineering contract commenced in November
1999 although this was, until January 2000 pending BG
International official project sanction, limited to definition of
the engineering scope, basis of design, and long lead
equipment engineering.
In order to place a fabrication contract deadlines were
set for basic engineering deliverables to be available for the
issue of an Invitation To Tender (ITT) by the end of April.
The scope of work in this ITT included the completion of
detailed design, fabrication, installation of the topsides
modules, hook-up of the modules and mechanical completion.
Talisman/Bluewater would complete the commissioning.
Following tender evaluations and clarification
meetings, where experience and technical ability featured
highly, a contract was awarded in early July to the successful
bidder, Aker McNulty.
Within the first weeks following award of this
contract, and transfer of remaining basic engineering
documents from Fluor Daniel, a number of concerns were
identified. Primary among these was the information arising
from the existing 3-D design model that formed the basis of
the layout information. Scopus Engineering Ltd was
employed to perform a detailed survey using infrared laser and
CAD techniques offering high levels of accuracy. Initially the
scope was limited to critical structural interfaces but was later
expanded to include all pipe routing for all new build and
modification works. Whilst this was a costly offshore exercise
it proved invaluable in the fabrication and ‘at shore’
construction activities where, through the results of the survey,
all structural interfaces matched, and pipe spools were
installed without any clash or the need to include a cutting
allowance. In the perfect science of hindsight, a full
dimensional survey should have been commissioned during
basic engineering. Nevertheless it was highly successful and
should be considered a must for any future retro-fit projects.
With the desire for early award of the Fabrication and
Hook-up contract, it had been decided that Fluor Daniel would
be responsible for the procurement but only as far as
evaluation and supplier recommendation. The required
purchase order would then be placed and expedited by the
Fabrication and Hook-up contractor for and on behalf of
Talisman. As the basic engineering was based on generic
information, as opposed to actual selected supplier equipment
footprints, this had a considerable impact on module layout
7
and increased engineering hours. This affected in particular
the Water Injection Module and the Produced Water Module.
Despite the redesign, the fabrication schedule was, in
general, maintained and the Water Injection module, Produced
Water Module and compressor pancake deck were structurally
complete and painted by the end of January, and outfitting was
in progress.
January also saw the beginning of the Work Pack
preparation that would provide the information for the detailed
‘at shore’ program. In addition to the resource and material
requirements, each work pack contained detail work
instructions, applicable drawings, activity risk assessment and
the safety and environmental safeguarding requirements
necessary to perform the activities in a safe manner. The
detailed work packs had an important effect on the Permit to
Work approach that was implemented. As the vessel was an
operating facility, it was important to recognise the associated
hazards, however, taking into account the well developed
work packs, the permit to work system could be relaxed.
Dividing the facility into physically defined areas (with
primary mechanical isolations being applied outside these
boundaries), permit coordination for these areas could be well
managed with assured safety for the associated work activities.
Prior to vessel arrival, all loose material: nuts, bolts,
gaskets, etc, would be bagged and identified by work pack and
stored ready for retrieval at the appropriate time. In parallel
with the preparation activities, an offshore program to
familiarise the contractor’s engineers and trade supervisors
with the Bleo Holm was instigated. In addition to obtaining an
appreciation of the their future working environment the time
offshore was also utilised for constructability reviews and the
colour coding of the existing equipment and pipework for
demolition, and the identification of all future tie-in and cut
lines. This offshore familiarisation greatly improved the
confidence of the supervision in their ability to complete the
six-week ‘at shore’ schedule, which consequently raised the
moral of all involved.
The compressors were delivered on schedule and the
water injection pumps also arrived in time after having had to
be airfreighted to site due to problems encountered in the
factory acceptance tests. Without the extensive testing regime,
these problems would only have manifested themselves during
the start-up activities with consequential delay to the first oil
date. With the re-design of the Water Injection module, the
pumps were easily incorporated and the module completed
on time.
All structural prefabrication, erection and outfitting
were completed on site adjacent to the quay. Piping spools of
all material classes were fabricated at the contractor’s facility
approximately half a mile from the yard and transported to site
for painting and erection. The module weights, weights for
8 M. SOETERS, K. REYNOLDS, H. VAN ELK
demolished equipment and quantities of materials is clearly
identified in the table in the attachments.
Piping spools were fabricated from October to the
end of March with out-fitting requirements taking the priority
over spools required for the ‘at shore’ phase. All ‘at shore’
spools were completed and issued through the offshore survey
and clash check regime and, following fabrication, each spool
was dimensionally checked. Where possible, spools were pre-
assembled and, where practicable, valves and fittings attached.
By the time of the vessel arrival, all spools were complete and
arranged in orderly manner on the quay-side in areas
designated to each of the FPSO deck work areas.
All three modules were mechanically complete and,
utilising temporary power, commissioned as far as practicable,
prior to vessel arrival. In close cooperation with the project
team, a number of hurdles had been overcome, solutions
agreed, and changes implemented. The contractor’s flexible
approach and his previous FPSO experience were of
considerable advantage in this respect.
As the electrical and instrument design and the six-
week schedule preparation continued, it was apparent that the
significant amount of cable to be pulled was becoming another
critical path activity. In discussion and agreement with
offshore operations, a scope of work avoiding ‘hot work’ was
developed for the installation of primary routing cable tray and
cables. Once again a critical activity had been alleviated.
With the vessel coming to shore, it is natural to
expect Operations to take the opportunity to complete essential
maintenance and to carry out some desired operational
modifications. During the Blake design and fabrication phase,
the Bluewater Operations group prepared, utilising their own
engineering contractor, a scope of work. In agreement with
Operations all the operations work scope would be completed
by the Fabrication and Hook-up Contractor under the direct
control of the Blake Project Management Team, although an
operations coordinator was assigned to the site team to
facilitate this. All operation activities were compiled in work
packs in a similar manner to the project construction activities
and all activities included in one common schedule. Once
again the close relationship built up between operations and
project enabled almost seamless integration of activities
and personnel.
Following the vessel production shutdown, the
offshore operational personnel installed all positive
mechanical and electrical isolations in accordance with project
requirements and all vessels were opened and inspected with
no surprises!
At shore. The vessel arrived on Friday 13th April 2001 and,
following mooring and installation of the gangway, demolition
work commenced immediately.
OTC 13998
It is of particular interest to note that, under the rules
and regulations prevalent in the European Community, there is
no longer any value to be assigned to scrap. Any scrap
material such as pipe for example in contact with any suspect
substance including paint, oily water, exhaust deposit, diesel
deposit, product, etc, is waste material and must be treated
accordingly. It has no scrap value and is expensive to remove.
It is also relevant to note that, in the course of the removal of
the demolished material, the contractor’s Waste Removal
Company was inspected three times by the local
environmental agency.
Following completion of the demolition activities and
twelve days into the ‘at shore’ program installation of the
major lifts was completed over a three-day period using the
shear-leg barge Asian Hercules. Here, once again, the value
of the detailed offshore survey ensured accurate installation
and perfectly aligned structural and piping interfaces.
Following module installation the hook-up interface activities
commenced in parallel with the modification program which
centered principally in the areas of the Turret, the Crude
Separation Unit (CSU), the existing Water Injection area and
the Instrument/Electrical rooms in the Utilities Service Block
(USB). Following the completion of the turret and swivel
workscope the sub-sea installation contractor was free to
complete commissioning activities. Like the operation
activities, these too had been defined and detailed in work
packs and included in the common schedule.
In addition to the ongoing piping hook-up and
modifications, changes to the internals of hydro cyclones,
glycol contactor, coolers and separators were required. This
latter activity, which included modification to nozzle
configuration, had been the subject of much debate during the
engineering and scheduling phases of the project with
concerns on time required. Ultimately, the three separators
were modified, nozzles installed heat-treated and re-coated
and strength tested within the first three weeks.
Following completion of the pipework, hydro-testing
Nitrogen and Helium testing of the piping systems and vessels
commenced. Only existing pipework to the physical isolation
was included in the test regime. There is always risk of
excessive leaks through flange connections and, in order to
negate this, the contractor was instructed to place the task of
flange management and hydraulic torquing with the Nitrogen
and Helium Testing Contractor.
In order to minimise impact on other activities, the
Nitrogen/Helium testing was completed at nights with
preparation being completed during the day. Leak testing
commenced only eleven days prior to the completion of the
six-week schedule and was completed in eight days on
schedule This was done despite some initial delays at the
 THE BLAKE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF FPSOs IN THE SUCCESSFUL
OTC 13998 COMPLETION OF A SCHEDULE DRIVEN MODIFICATION TO A PRODUCING FPSO
change from nightshift to day shift, principally due to time
taken to de-pressurise systems to safe working level.
In parallel with the construction program operations
maintenance activities were completed. A new black start
instrument air compressor was installed. New bridles and level
transmitters were fitted to all vessels (using infra-red
techniques all new bridles some with eight flange connection
to vessel were fitted and aligned perfectly). Following
experiences of excessive roll, additional structural
reinforcement was required to all module supports and a
number of vessels. In addition, essential work on the main
generation alternator bearings and top end overhaul of the
essential generator negated power availability for the vessel
and commissioning during the six-week schedule. Temporary
shore side generation was installed and connected in the ships
main switchboard.
Finally, during the last week of the six-week
program, and despite the restriction of Nitrogen Helium
testing, the de-bottlenecking module, which had only
fabrication of which had started at the beginning of March
2001, was installed and completed.
Throughout the construction period, which included
both the Easter and spring bank holidays not to mention the
English Football Association Cup Final, the Contractor
managed to maintain the required manning levels. This is
despite the fact that from commencement of the six-weeks,
manning levels increased from approximately 200 to in excess
of a 1,000 direct and indirect trades personnel only to be back
to virtually zero by the end of the six week period. An
excellent record benefiting a contractor with the right level
of experience.
Commissioning. Commissioning input commenced during
basic engineering. The Bluewater proprietary mechanical
completion and commissioning data base, which enabled
tracking of the mechanical completion activities in-line with
both area and sub-system requirements, was populated during
this period. Sorting by area enabled a smoother transition in
the change from area completion to the sub-system/system
completion required by commissioning. It is readily accepted
in the industry that commissioning requirements must drive
construction and that construction must drive engineering. All
too often however, the dictates of commissioning fail to
recognise the natural constraints of construction, and place
system completion dates far too early in the schedule. This
leads to inefficient working and increases safety risk which
can only be negated by the introduction of individual ‘Permit
to Work’ for each activity leading to further inefficiency.
Acknowledgement of the build method was a contributing
factor to the scheduled requirement for early contract award
and early purchase of long lead items.
9
As with any FPSO, the commissioning activities
contained two principal milestones; the systems for first oil
and the systems for safety and life at sea required for sail-
away. Overriding all is the requirement to maximise onshore
commissioning to reduce impact on offshore activities, and
this was a further consideration in our approach to extensive
Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) and the consequence of
local control.
We had learnt the importance of meaningful testing
from bitter experience. Testing of individual units was not
acceptable as such requirements had previously lead to an
unscheduled three months delay to gas export. For Blake, a
full string test with all the actual equipment was specified and
the use of ‘donor’ equipment was not permitted. In this
respect there was considerable reluctance from some suppliers,
which was underlined by relatively high premiums quoted to
meet our requirements.
On arrival at the fabrication facility, the
commissioning group was expanded as required to suit the
workload. In addition further Operations personnel were
seconded to the commissioning team to participate in factory
acceptance testing. Prior to the commencement of ‘at shore’
commissioning activities, which included approval of
contractors mechanical completion status, the detailed
commissioning procedures were developed with independent
review by Operations and Engineering.
From Bluewater’s experience on Bleo Holm, we
knew that strict control and scheduling of expensive vendor
site attendance was essential. With the Commissioning group
responsible for acceptance and commissioning of equipment it
was logical to give them the responsibility for co-ordination of
these activities. A vendor schedule was prepared in line with
development of the preparation of the six-week schedule. In
addition a vendor site ‘open day’ was initiated for vendors to
attain some project awareness and, to meet their counterparts
on the project and receive the site safety induction.
Whilst the majority of the commissioning activities
scheduled for module completion were successfully achieved,
mechanical alignment of the compressors in particular, was a
specific problem and became a critical activity for completion
and sail-away. With the minimal tolerances permitted, this
continued to be a problem, which again manifested itself
offshore where the effects of ships motion and weather
became only too apparent. Although not a labour intensive
activity, there is potential schedule risk, which has affected
many projects over the years with no obvious improvement.
In the case of Blake, although required alignments were
ultimately achieved, the scheduled First Oil was seriously at
risk through this problem. Further development work by the
industry is required to balance the technical risks against
schedule risks.
10 M. SOETERS, K. REYNOLDS, H. VAN ELK OTC 13998

Offshore. The Blake offshore commissioning schedule
centered on the systems being available to meet the First Oil
milestone. In addition to the separation and production
systems, these included the produced water handling facility
and the water injection facilities that were required
immediately following First Oil. First Oil was achieved, in
line with the commissioning schedule, on the 25th June 2001,
six days ahead of the Project 1st July 2001 First Oil date and
five weeks earlier than the contract date.
Initially, gas compression suffered delays caused
through a fault in the auto-transformer start system, the only
element of the Gas Compression configuration that had not
been included in the factory acceptance testing! By mid July
2001 however, Gas Compression was available for use and the
gas train ran in recycle mode until beginning of August when
gas export commenced. The delays experienced in achieving
export quality gas were compounded by a period of sporadic
disturbance s within the process facility.
Conclusion
Three months production shutdown and extensive
modifications and additions to the Bleo Holm FPSO were
necessary in order to accommodate the Blake Tie-in. It is
highly probable that similar modifications could be
accommodated on a fixed structure facility, space permitting,
in a time frame similar to the shut down period, but at what
cost? Barge transportation of the modules and an expensive
heavy lift crane barge would have been required.
Accommodation would need to be provided for up to 500
additional personnel with the associated cost of hiring bridge
linked semi-submersible accommodation barge, helicopter
services, catering and the like. This, together with the
increased safety risks, weather down time, limited cranage,
reliance on supply vessels for material and equipment
provision and the considerable increases in labour cost and the
associated lower productivity achieved offshore, would have
had considerable impact on the viability of the Project as
a whole.
approach and mutual respect. However, in this regard, the
contractor’s input is essential and the importance of selection
of an experienced and flexible contractor must not
be underestimated.
Having all the module and prefabrication work scope
complete at the quay side ready for vessel arrival was a key
element in the success of the six week schedule. The
achievement of the commissioning program and the relative
success of gas compression are testament to the value of
extensive Factory Acceptance Testing.
Nevertheless, there were areas for improvement
particularly with regard to the impact of the procurement
process on engineering layout and the requirement for true ‘as
built’ information. For Blake, the decision to perform detailed
surveys must, in hindsight, be the single most important
decision made although much abortive engineering could
have been negated had the decision been made during
basic engineering.
Last, but by no means least, is the project safety and
environmental record. The project, in addition to the
fabrication and intensive six-week construction activities and
associated offshore survey activities, involved de-
commissioning of the vessel, vessel tow, return to the field,
reconnection, commissioning and start-up. Throughout
all these operations no serious safety or environmental
incidents occurred.
The successful conclusion of Blake is an achievement
that all participants are proud of and achieving the six week
“at shore” schedule against so much industry doubt only
increases the value of the achievement.

The Blake project success is directly linked to the

inherent mobility of the Bleo Holm FPSO that facilitated the
more efficient aspects of ‘at shore’ modification whilst
maintaining minimal impact on production revenues.

With any project where schedule is the driver, costs

will rise. With Talisman as the project manager, with a focus
on oil revenues as opposed to a contractor focused on a
margin, the increased cost are placed in the right perspective
and allows the schedule to maintain priority.

To be successful with a project of this type requires

total commitment from all parties with a willingness to work
together to achieve the goals. In the case of Blake this existed
but was also supported by a non-confrontational management
 THE BLAKE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF FPSOs IN THE SUCCESSFUL
OTC 13998 COMPLETION OF A SCHEDULE DRIVEN MODIFICATION TO A PRODUCING FPSO 11

FACTS AND FIGURES

Module and Material Weights
DEMOLISHED WEIGHTS ADDED WEIGHTS MODULE WEIGHTS
(KG) (Excluding Modules – KG) (KG)
Electrical 8,880 Electrical 53,642 Water Injection 518,672
Mechanical 97,965 Mechanical 58,887 Produced Water 179,450
Piping 106,961 Piping 280,648 Gas Compression 207,000
Structural 79,581 Structural 99,934 Debottlenecking 85,000

Instruments 6,400 Instruments 32,973 TOTAL 905,207

TOTAL 299,787 TOTAL 526,084 TOTAL ADDED

1,431,290
WEIGHT (KG)

MANHOURS FOR 6 WEEK SCHEDULE ACTIVITIES

DIRECT TRADES INDIRECT TRADES TOTAL MANHOURS
PLANNED ACTUAL Riggers + Crane Drivers 41,680 Supervision 47,148
Structural 37,643 50,400 Labourers + Cleaners 54,097 Others 4,843
Mechanical 7,945 7,259 Plant Maintenance 6,295 Direct. 199,072
Piping 46,398 61,394 Scaffolders 23,191 Indirect 131,860
Electrical +
49,484 61,351 Storemen 6,597 Commissioning 33,870
Instruments
Painting +
16,053 17,713
Insulation
TOTAL 157,523 199,072 TOTAL 131,860 TOTAL 416,793

FACTS

➔ WORPACKS FOR 6 WEEK SCHEDULE

DISCIPLINE Number Off
Structural 200 ➔ ELECTRICAL & INSTRUMENT DESTRUCT
Mechanical 20 - 11700M of Cable
Piping 904 - 1200m of Cable Tray etc.
Electrical 400 - 1200m of Cable Tray etc
Instrumentation 200 - 650m of Instrument Tubing
Insulation + Painting 100 - 100 devices
MC & Commissioning 200
Bluewater Operations Scope 50
Third Party & Vendors 100

TOTAL 2174 ➔ ELECTRICAL & INSTRUMENT CONSTRUCT

-31550m of power cable
➔ PIPING SCOPE -15826m of Instrument cable
- 525 Destruct ISO’s -800m of Fire & Gas Cable
- 481 Construct ISO’s - 1800m of Cable Rack & Tray
- 1393 spools - 3500m of Unistrut
- 944 Pipe Support - 2000m of Instrument Tubing
- 336 Testpacks - 120 devices
- 11 N2 leak tests
12 M. SOETERS, K. REYNOLDS, H. VAN ELK OTC 13998
 OTC 13998

Location Map of the Ross, Parry & Blake Fields

12 13 14 15

E
17 18 3
19 N 20
Moray Ross T E
LI
b 1 b
Firth P
BG PI
2 S
XIV a A
a G
BG S
G
Talisma III A
IX L
F

Scotland Aberdeen BLAKE

31
13/24b-3
2a
3

4
1
Edinburg 22 23 24 25
a Talisma Amerada BG
VI b XII 5 XIV
ROSS 6,6a
7 FPSO “BLEO E
PARR 3
2 N
I
3 L
5,6a
4
HOLM” Talisma E
1,2 P
VI 1 PI
4,4a S
A
G
8
a Talisma a G
G
VI RI
F
COMPLETION OF A SCHEDULE DRIVEN MODIFICATION TO A PRODUCING FPSO

2
27 b 1 28 c 29 b 30
THE BLAKE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF FPSOs IN THE SUCCESSFUL
13
14 M. SOETERS, K. REYNOLDS, H. VAN ELK OTC 13998

Overview of Field Developments

 OTC 13998

Project Schedule

Q1/00 Q2/00 Q3/00 Q4/00 Q1/01 Q2/01 Q3/01

Development Approval

Basic Engineering

Detailed Engineering

Module Fabrication

Stop Production Ross

Disconnect & Tow to Yard

“At Shore” Modifications

Tow & Reconnect

COMPLETION OF A SCHEDULE DRIVEN MODIFICATION TO A PRODUCING FPSO

Offshore Commissioning

Start Production Ross & Blake

THE BLAKE DEVELOPMENT PROJECT PROVES THE FLEXIBILITY OF FPSOs IN THE SUCCESSFUL
15