OTC-30668-MS

The Re-Use of Offshore Wellhead Platform to Facilitate A Marginal Field

Development – Vestigo Experience

Mohd Rashid Jamil, Vestigo Petroleum Sdn Bhd; Munira Mustapha, Petronas, Group Technical Solutions, Project
Delivery & Technology; Muammar Gadafi Othman, Vestigo Petroleum Sdn Bhd

Copyright 2020, Offshore Technology Conference

This paper was prepared for presentation at the Offshore Technology Conference originally scheduled to be held in Houston, TX, USA, 4-7 May 2020. Due to COVID-19
the physical event was not held. The official proceedings were published online on 4 May 2020.

This paper was selected for presentation by an OTC program committee following review of information contained in an abstract submitted by the author(s). Contents of
the paper have not been reviewed by the Offshore Technology Conference and are subject to correction by the author(s). The material does not necessarily reflect any
position of the Offshore Technology Conference, its officers, or members. Electronic reproduction, distribution, or storage of any part of this paper without the written
consent of the Offshore Technology Conference is prohibited. Permission to reproduce in print is restricted to an abstract of not more than 300 words; illustrations may
not be copied. The abstract must contain conspicuous acknowledgment of OTC copyright.

Abstract
This paper presents the successful delivery of Jitang Field Development project, a marginal field located
offshore Peninsular Malaysia. Vestigo Petroleum Sdn Bhd (Vestigo), a wholly owned subsidiary of Petronas
Carigali Sdn Bhd (PCSB) as operator of the field has set-up a new benchmark in Malaysia when Jitang field
commenced production in January 2020:

• The first in Malaysia to leverage on existing surface facilities via re-using/relocating Wellhead
Platform (WHP)
• Commenced production within 13 months from project's Final Investment Decision (FID)

• Utilising suction pile technology and novel transport and installation (T&I) methodology to
relocate the substructure and topsides of the WHP in a single piece from original to new location
Development of Jitang field consists of a WHP, an FPSO and a flowline evacuating full well stream from
four wells. This paper will focus on WHP as the relocation of the WHP is the main feature and key driver
of the project. Technical due diligence effort that was done in mitigating risks are also emphasized.
Vestigo's experience of re-using an existing WHP upon decommissioning the facility and re-installing it at
a new location for re-use; proven that the concept works for effective solution of marginal field development.
Jitang project has demonstrated significant improvement in project delivery schedule and cost saving.

Introduction
Field Overview
Jitang field is under the Petronas’ Irong Cluster Production Sharing Contract (PSC) operated by Vestigo.
The PSC consists of five (5) fields namely Berantai, Irong, Serok, Jitang and Tembikai Non-Associated
Gas (TNAG) resources. Jitang field is located approximately 154 km offshore Terengganu, Malaysia with
water depth of about 71 m.
2 OTC-30668-MS

Ophir field is located approximately 100 km away from Jitang and with water depth of about 73 m.
Location of Jitang and Ophir fields from onshore is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1—Field Location

Resources Assessment Summary

Jitang field was discovered in April 2016 with the drilling of Jitang-1 exploration well. The focus of the
development plan is to produce from a sizeable Group H oil reservoir while the minor gas reservoirs were
not economically viable for development.

Facilities
Development concept selected for Jitang is via a standalone concept, a four-slot Wellhead Platform (WHP)
where hydrocarbon will be flowed full well stream (FWS) to a Floating Production Storage Offloading
(FPSO) via a flexible flowline (Figure 2).

Figure 2—Development Concept

OTC-30668-MS 3

Development Strategy
Planning work to develop Jitang commenced in June 2018; the development was conceptualized on pre-
liminary geophysical and geotechnical (G&G) work. Based on STOIIP and Reserves estimated during pre-
development phase, a positive business case was presented in August 2018 to Host Authorities, Petronas.
Petronas endorsed the preliminary concept and agreed for Vestigo to proceed to mature the static and
dynamics subsurface technical work paving the way to submit a Field Development Plan (FDP) of the field.
Jitang FDP was submitted to Petronas for approval in November 2018.
Final Investment Decision (FID) of Jitang was approved by Vestigo's Board of Directors on 11 December
2019 upon FDP's approval by Petronas. Jitang Development Overall Project Schedule is presented in Figure
3.

Figure 3—Overall Jitang Project Schedule

The project goal was established and made clear to all stakeholders at the very beginning of the project
which is to deliver Vestigo's PSC commitment to Host Authorities and create value for stakeholders.
Objectives and Drivers of Jitang development were established and agreed upon.
Project Objectives:

• First Oil in Q4 2019

• To recover reserves with a CAPEX as per FDP comittment

Key Project Drivers:

• Leverage on existing asset: don't change and only add if it adds value

• Fit for purpose: standardise and replicate

• Quicker and cheaper: less than 9 months ready for rig (RFR) and less than CAPEX of a new built
WHP
• Integrated approach: alignment with stakeholders e.g. subsurface, drilling and operations
4 OTC-30668-MS

Leveraging on Existing Asset

Jitang field development was presented with an opportunity to utilize an existing facility from Ophir, a field
about 100 km (55 nm) away which has ceased production and available for re-use. Both the WHP and FPSO
facilities are to be re-used with minor modifications and additional equipment to suit Jitang site condition
and operational requirements.

Fit for purpose

The basis of design of the WHP is "unmanned-burndown-minimal facilities" to facilitate drilling and
production from four (4) wells. Safety Critical Elements (SCEs) and Production Critical Elements (PCEs)
are remotely monitored and controlled from the FPSO moored approximately 350 m from the WHP. Existing
piping, instrumentation and electrical equipment are re-used with the exception of four (4) new flow lines
to suit new wellheads configuration. Re-using existing facilities means is to work within the technical limits
of the WHP.

Quicker and Cheaper

Vestigo's own benchmarks for new purpose built WHP cost is circa USD24m in line with regional cost
trend as illustrated in Figure 4 and 9 months to deliver. These two (2) hard targets are embedded in the
project strategy and FDP; re-use must be significantly quicker and cheaper. Relocation methodology is key
to optimizing cost.
While pursuing the above commercial and schedule; safety and asset integrity are not to be compromised.

Figure 4—WHP EPCIC Cost vs Weight Regional Trending

Integrated Approach
A dedicated project team lead by Project Manager was formed from pre-development phase. The project
management team (PMT) worked seamlessly with other stakeholders laterally and upwards at the level of
Host Authorities, Regulators, Vestigo Leadership Team and Board. Subsurface, Drilling and Operations
involvement from right from day one, all shared common philosopy and project goal.
OTC-30668-MS 5

Technology
Suction Pile Technology (SPT)
[Ref 2] Leveraging on the suction pile technology which was a design feature of the Ophir WHP, the
candidate WHP for re-use at Jitang. SPT is a type of foundation that makes it possible to extract the pile
from the seabed without any cutting or damage thereby allowing them to be reused at the new location
without any significant subsea work by divers or transfer of the platform to an onshore fabrication facility.
Suction piles as foundation designed and built for Ophir made it possible to relocate and re-use the WHP.
Ophir jacket with suction pile foundation is illustrated in Figure 5 below.

Figure 5—Ophir/Jitang Jacket

The 1100 MT jacket is designed using suction pile technology which enable the platform to be relocated
to another potential marginal field. SPT had proven to be a highly efficient and very swift concept where
jacket offshore installation campaign successfully able to be executed in less than 24 hours as compared to
the conventional jacket installation which require several days of pile driving.
Fabrication costs are reduced significantly since no requirement on the pile sleeves, catchers, centralizers,
mud mats, and leveling padeyes. Substantially, SPT jacket has proven as the most cost effective in
comparison to other re-locatable offshore mobile facilities such as MOPU and MOAB. SPT is also integrated
with scour protection. Hence, offshore campaign for SPT jacket installation provide efficiency in installation
cost, schedule and most important is safety.

WHP Relocation – The First in Malaysia

Overview
Jitang development project is the first of its kind in Malaysia which utilized existing facilities from another
field. The surface facilities of Jitang mirror the Ophir field in-line with Vestigo's philosophy of replicating
for efficient project delivery. The WHP, FPSO and subsea flexible flowline from Ophir were re-relocated
and re-used to facilitate drilling, production, hydrocarbon evacuation, processing, storage and export at new
Jitang field some 55 nm NW of Ophir field.
6 OTC-30668-MS

The uniqueness of the WHP relocation are:

1. "One-Piece" single lift transportation and installation (T&I) operation. Topsides and jacket was
lifted and transported together as one unit
2. The 1400 MT dry weight structure was ‘wet-towed’ to its new location at Jitang with the structure
suspended on Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV) crane hooks, with 32 m of jacket and suction pile (SP)
submerged under water
3. Ability to re-locate and re-use the WHP efficiently due to suction pile foundation technology

Figure 6—One-Piece Lifting

Opportunity was made available for re-using an existing WHP when Ophir field located approximately
55 nm SE of Jitang ceased production in January 2018. Designed for 15 years and only been installed
for some 3 years; designed and installed with suction piles which has the ability for ease of retrieval and
relocatability; Ophir WHP deemed as a perfect candidate to be used as Jitang's WHP.
Re-locating a WHP to another location for re-use to facilitate drilling and production from four (4) wells
as planned for Jitang is however unprecedented in Malaysia. As this would be the first project of its kind,
the PMT was faced with many unknowns.

The first question that needed answer is – can this be done safely?
This section describes the work done to ultimately answer that important question prior and during the
execution phase.
The work involved Risk Assesment, Feasibility Studies, Detailed Engineering and Execution Plan.
Parties involved were the original designers and EPCIC-type Contractor of the WHP in ensuring project
continuity.
OTC-30668-MS 7

In complying with governance and for commercial competitiveness, a contract coded as

Decommissioning, Relocation, Modification and Commissioning (DRMC) was competitively tendered out.
The contract was awarded to a Malaysian company in April 2019.

Ophir WHP

Preliminary (Pre-Feasibility) Risk Assesment

The following major risks were identified during the project early stage:
8 OTC-30668-MS

Table 1—Major Risks

Feasibility Phase (August 2018 – November 2018)

Basic engineering in support of feasibility study was carried out in parallel with preparation of FDP to
adresss risks in this section and engineer the mitigation plan. It was also intended to assess the feasibility
of re-using the WHP to meet with project objectives; of which the key elements are accelerated delivery
and commercial effectiveness.
Outputs of the feasibility study also to be used as basis for FDP and contracting document. The scope
includes basic engineering of the following:
Foundation. Suction pile details are shown in below figure and table:

Figure 7—Suction Pile Configuration

OTC-30668-MS 9

Table 2—Suction Pile Parameter

The available geotechnical data from Jitang-1 exploration well was used as basis; pending the actual soil
data at platform location. The soil profile at Ophir location and preliminary design profile derived for the
Jitang-1 well location is shown below.

Table 3—Ophir Location – General Soil Stratigraphy

Table 4—Jitang Location – General Soil Stratigraphy

Table 5—Ophir Location – Design Soil Parameters for In-place Capacity

10 OTC-30668-MS

Table 6—Jitang Location – Design Soil Parameters for In-place Capacity

Since the water depth (within 71 to 73 m) and soil conditions at Ophir and Jitang-1 well locations are
almost similar, foundations loads derived for the Ophir location are used at this stage. Spudcan interaction
loads as the governing case for the Ophir design, are verified at detailed design stage once the type of drill
rig used and the distance between the spudcans and the suction piles are firmed.
From the available data, it is concluded that relocation of the platform at Jitang field is feasible based
on the following:

• Soil resistence during retrieval/removal (5.1 bar) and re-installation (3.3 bar) operations are well
within the original design max pressure during Ophir (7.1 bar)
• In-place capacity of the suction piles at target penetration of 13.7 m is sufficient to withstand the
foreseen in-place loads (Figure 8)
• Structural verifications also showed that the Von Misses stresses on the suction piles are below
allowable stress limit, both during operation (max UC 0.97) and in-place condition (max UC 0.93)

Figure 8—In-place Capacity Analysis Result

Topsides Systems. Additional production equipment (chemical injection pumps) resulted in additional
solar panels to be install to cater for additional power. Minor piping and structural modifications to cater
for 4th flowline.
Transportation and Installation (T&I) Engineering. Basic engineering analysis was done to determine
static and dynamic loads and allowable seastate acceptable to support the selected HLV operational
OTC-30668-MS 11

envelope. Critical load cases are analysed including lifting during removal, wet-tow to Jitang and re-
installation cases.
The analysis is to ensure the selected T&I methodology is technically feasible. The method chosen to
remove, transport and reinstall the WHP is utilising a sheerleg type Heavy Lift Vessel (HLV), and wet-tow
the platform in one single unit (topsides and jacket together). Details of this methodology is further detailed
out in Execution Section.

Figure 9—Isometric View of WHP Tow Arrangement

Designed weight and center of gravity (CoG) of the structure is gathered from data obtained from as-built
documentation. Dynamics analysis was carried out guided by industry code and standard and best practice.
MOSES Rev 7.06 and SACS Release 11.3 are the main software used for the work.
Two cases were analysed as shown in Table 7 and analyzed structure weight in Table 8.

Table 7—Analysis Cases

Table 8—Structure Weight

12 OTC-30668-MS

Info as illustrated in Table 9 – Table 11 show results are within allowable limits of HLV and structural
capacity of the WHP. Detailed lifting and rigging arrangements and operational procedures are to be
finalized during detailed design stage. The following analyses resulted in Case 1 being opted for execution.

Table 9—Static Hook Loads

Table 10—Dynamic Hook Loads

Table 11—Dynamic and Static Sling Loads on the Lifting Padeyes

Figure 10—Allowable Sea States

OTC-30668-MS 13

Structural Integrity. Relocation and in-service load cases were analysed. Results show the loadings
induced during relocation and in-service are within allowable limits.

Figure 11—Structural Integrity Analysis Result Summary of findings is presented in Table 12.

Table 12—Summary of Findings (Feasibility Phase)

Conclusion of Feasibility Study

Results of feasibility study concluded that the WHP from Ophir fits to be relocated and to be re-used at Jitang
with minor modifications to suit the selected T&I methodology and Jitang field's operational requirements.
14 OTC-30668-MS

• Utilise a sheer-leg crane with sufficient capacity and hook-height to suit "one-piece" lift

• Additional lifting points; 2 nos padeyes and new shackle

• Additional solar panels to provide power for new chemical injection pumps

• Aditional/modify topsides piping to suit new wellheads and flowline

The selected T&I, retrieval, transportation and re-installation methodology is a "one piece" lift where the
jacket and topsides is lifted together as one-piece structure.

Re-location Concept – "One Piece Lift"

The T&I select process was done during feasibility phase. Vesitigo in close consultation with the designer
of the original suction pile, decided on ‘single-piece" as the option that meets the technical and commercial
criteria of the project compared to "two-piece" option.
The relocation is envisaged by removing the platform by pressing out the suction piles using overpressure
within the pile buckets. Subsequently the structure is to be lifted off the seabed using HLV crane until it
reached clearance of targeted +43 m above mudline. The WHP would then to be wet-towed while the unit is
suspended in the HLV's crane hooks. Reinstallation is a reverse process of removal once the WHP reached
at Jitang location.

Figure 12—Transport Condition (One-Piece Lift)

Two-piece which is basically the reverse installation process requires the topsides to be removed and
lifted onto a cargo barge. And the jacket involved the reverse of what was done before; retrieve the suction
pile buckets, up end the substructure and lay it down on a cargo barge.
Summary of comparative analysis of the two options is presented in Table 13 below.
OTC-30668-MS 15

Table 13—Comparative Analysis

The selected option necessated a suitable Heavy Lift Vessel with cranage and equipment that can do the
job safely. Sheer Leg HLV of 5000 MT capacity was assessed and found to be technically and commercially
acceptable.
The relocation operations can be divided into three distinct steps:
STEP 1: Retrieval at Ophir
STEP 2: Transport to Jitang
STEP 3: Re-installation at Jitang
The above steps are described in more details in Execution section of this paper.

Detailed Design and Engineering (April 2019 – July 2019)

DRMC Contractor, upon award started work on detailed design using basic engineering results and
deliverables as basis. The following section described the foundation engineering aspect of the detailed
design scope and result as other area of the work did not have much impact on the execution phase.
16 OTC-30668-MS

Foundation and Geotechnical. Re-interpretation desk study was conducted to appraise the proposed WHP
location based on available past data at the location i.e. Jitang-1 exploration drilling data. This effort also
signifies the fit-for-purpose, instead of performing a new comprehensive geophysical survey. The original
proposed WHP location is located close to shallow gas area, thus the platform location was shifted about
100 m away, which is still well within the well target and trajectory. The final selected location appears to
be free from bathymetric anomalies and significant seabed features that may pose a constraint to facilities
emplacement. And the soil boring campaign was planned and executed according to this final coordinate.
The actual location soil boring data which was obtained in the beginning of detailed engineering stage is
used as design data for the geotechnical and structural verification of the suction piles.
The soil boring and CPT results show that the soil predominantly consists of clay (Table 14) of varying
stiffness along the depth. The first 5.6 m below seabed comprises very soft to soft clay. Below 5.6 m, soft
to firm clay can be found until 16.3 m. After that, stiff to very stiff clay is encountered, which is normally
used as the bearing layer.

Table 14—Jitang Location – General Soil Stratigraphy

Table 15—Jitang Location – Pile-1 Capacity Profile

Table 16—Jitang Location – Pile-B Installation Profile

Requirement for Site Preparation

Based on the actual data, the soil at the Jitang location is found to be softer than the soil at the Ophir
location and the stiff clay layer is located deeper, therefore the in-place capacity requirements at the location
are not satisfied with the current foundation geometry. In order to meet these requirements, minimum site
preparation is required for soft soil on top at all 3 suction pile locations, to make sure the piles will reach
to the stiff clay layer.
OTC-30668-MS 17

This seabed soil preparation is depicted in figure below. Due to the geometry encountered, Pile-1 will be
tested for capacity, as it is the least embedded in the stiff clay, while Pile-B will be tested for installation, as
it is the most embedded in the stiff clay, therefore higher installation pressures are anticipated to penetrate
that layer.

Figure 13—Seabed Soil Preparation

In-place Capacity Analysis

Three main load case conditions are defined as below:

• Operational,

• Survival (Storm)

• Spudcan-foundation-interaction

Foundation loads for upper and lower bound foundation stiffness are provided for all load cases. In order
to determine the load cases that are governing for the foundation design, the loads are multiplied with the
respective required Safety Factors. Since the soil at the platform location is clayey, full end bearing in both
compression and tension is considered.
The selected load cases for the geotechnical verification calculations are presented with the resulting
unity checks (UC). From the analysis it is concluded that the Suction Pile Foundation's (SPF) have enough
capacity to withstand in-place loads in case of installation up to the target embedment of 13.7 m (after site
preparation).
The operational load cases including the spudcan-foundation-interaction are found to be governing over
the survival load cases, Figure 14.
18 OTC-30668-MS

Figure 14—Design Load Cases and Foundation Capacity

Structural Strength during Retrieval/Removal and Re-installation

The following phases are considered:

• Removal from Ophir location

• Re-installation at Jitang location

• Retrieval / removal from Jitang location

The required suction pressures measured during Ophir WHP installation provide valuable information
regarding the site-specific soil resistance, which has been used to make an adequate prediction of the
overpressures required when retrieving the platform. Removal pressures have been calculated considering
full remolding of the soil.
For the removal of the platform at the Ophir location, including topside, an overpressure of maximum
4.4 bar is required to remove the suction piles.
Re-installation of the platform at the Jitang location is feasible, since a maximum installation pressure of
0.8 bar is required to install the suction piles to the target embedment of 13.7 m.
This suction pressure for all cases does not exceed the structural capacity of the suction piles or any other
limitations.
The water depth at the Jitang location is about 73.6 m after soil preparation works. Since the depth is
almost similar to Ophir, no modification on boat landing is required which was one of the findings during
feasibility phase.

Risks and Mitigation – Restricted Operations during Wet-Tow

Risk management is a live process that was practiced through out the project. Other than the standard Formal
Safety Assessments (FSA), HAZOP, HAZID, Safety Case. Specific Risk Assesment workshop was carried
out prior to offshore execution phase.
OTC-30668-MS 19

Risk workshops were held at various ‘hold points’ where all stakeholders were in attendance. This
includes a specific workshop with regard to transport of the structure.
The highest level of risk identified was the ‘one-piece’ wet-tow transport where the structure is suspended
on hooks of the HLV throughout the transit time from Ophir to Jitang. A voyage of 30 hours to cover
a distance of 55nm. As this is categorized as Restricted Operations by applicable codes and industry
guidelines, highest level of technical due diligence is imperative.
Detailed engineering analysis was carried out to understand behavior of dynamics motion of the HLV
and the structure during transit, both operational and survival conditions. Results of these analysis were
used as basis in developing operational procedures and execution plan.
Vestigo as part of assurance commissioned an independent consultantcy company as Independent
Verification Body (IVB) to run independent analysis and recommend additional mitigations as required.
Recommendations resulted from risk assessment workshop facilitated by the nominated IVB is presented
in Table below.
20 OTC-30668-MS

Table 17—Risk Assessment Result

OTC-30668-MS 21

Offshore Execution Phase (August 2019 – September 2019)

Figure 15 illustrated the overall scope of DRMC. Plug and Abandonment (P&A) was done much earlier
prior to the WHP is declared ready for relocation. The scope is devided into two work packages for ease
of cost control administration. It was however awarded to a single contractor and managed under a single
contract.
Package A is defined as decommissioning scope of Ophir WHP; this includes preparatory work of the
WHP to facilitate retrival of the jacket and its SPF out of the seabed and remove to 1 nm from location.
Package B is defined as transport the WHP to Jitang and re-install the platform at Jitang field.
Modification of the WHP including driving a new set of conductors to suit Jitang's duties is also part of
Package B scope of work.

Figure 15—Overall Scope of DRMC

The sequence of relocation and re-installation activities is described in the Table 18 below.
22 OTC-30668-MS

Table 18—Sequence of Activities (Offshore Execution)

OTC-30668-MS 23
24 OTC-30668-MS
OTC-30668-MS 25
26 OTC-30668-MS
OTC-30668-MS 27

Key Success Factors and Challenges

Table 19—Summary of Challenges and Key Success Factors

Achievement – Some Facts and Figures

Jitang upon achieving its First Oil in January 2020 has the following achievements:
28 OTC-30668-MS

1. Delivered approved FDP in three (3) months

2. Delivered First Oil within thirteen (13) months from FID
3. Proven a re-use of WHP via one-piece relocation - First project in Malaysia
4. Installed WHP cost reduction of 40 pc as compared to new built unit.
5. CAPEX savings of 20 pc from FDP.

Moving Forward
Vestigo's experience in successfully relocating a WHP for re-use is a proof that the concept of total facilities
"hummingbird" is an effective solution for multiple fields development. Pre-investment at initial phase
(Field A) of the WHP to facilitate ease of mobility and re-use in combination of an FPSO is a strong
justification if subsequent fields (Field A and B) are identified upfront. Preliminary high level concept as
illustrated in Figure 16 below.

Figure 16—Preliminary Concept for Multiple Fields Development

Reference
1. Vestigo Petroleum Sdn Bhd: Jitang Field Development (Kuala Lumpur, December 2018)
2. Ahmad Adzwan M. Shaipulah et al: Field A A new solution for Marginal Field Development.
Paper OTC-28445 presented at Offshore Technology Conference Asia (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
20-23 March 2018)