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EnergyCurrent.com: Shell to begin water injection at Ursa/Princess in 2008

Filed from Houston
12/20/2007 6:12:07 PM GMT
 
USA/GULF OF MEXICO:  Shell personnel have commenced the Ursa/Princess facilities commissioning process to prepare for the initiation of water injection, projected sometime next year.  The Ursa/Princess waterflood project, located in the Mars-Ursa Basin of the U.S. Gulf of Mexico, will improve reservoir performance at the deepwater Ursa and Princess fields.

The waterflood topsides injection system will inject filtered and treated water via two separate flowlines to three subsea sites.  One will go to an existing well site northwest of Ursa, one to an existing well site southeast of Ursa and one to a new well site northeast of Ursa.  Producing wells will include three Princess subsea wells and as many as six Ursa tension leg platform (TLP) wells.

J. Ray McDermott’s Amelia, La., fabrication yard cut first steel on the modules in October 2006.  The modules were completed and ready for offshore installation one year later.  From Oct. 11-13, 2007, the waterflood topsides were loaded onto barges.  The module material barges sailed out on Oct. 30 and traveled over 100 miles (161 km) to the Ursa TLP.

McDermott constructed the water filtration, water injection and sulfate removal topside modules and associated interconnecting structures.  The 1,737 tons (1,576 tonnes) of modules and equipment were installed on the top level of Ursa from Nov. 2-4.

The 427-ton (387-tonne) water filtration module is used to clean and deoxygenate seawater for preparation for injection into the waterflood reservoir.  The 635-ton (576-tonne) sulfate reduction unit is used to treat the clean, deoxygenated seawater further by removing sulfate to prevent the formation of scaling and corrosion in the wells.

The 675-ton (612-tonne) water injection module has two high pressure injection pumps, driven by 15,000 hp turbines to pump the treated seawater at 7,500 psi down the subsea flowlines and wells into the waterflood reservoir.  The waterflood facilities will be used to deliver peak seawater injection rates of 165,000 b/d. 

Grand Isle Shipyard of Galliano, La., handled the offshore hook-up.

Ursa lies in 3,800 feet (1,158 m) of water and encompasses Mississippi Canyon Blocks 808, 809, 810, 852, 853 and 854.  Princess lies in approximately 3,650 feet (1,113 m) of water on Mississippi Canyon Blocks 765 and 766.

Shell operates the project with 45.39 percent interest.  BP Exploration & Production Inc. holds 22.69 percent interest in the project; ExxonMobil Corp. and ConocoPhillips Co. each have 15.96 percent interest.

http://www.energycurrent.com/index.php?id=2&storyid=7665

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