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Aquaterra installs platform in Angola |
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Written by News Desk
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Wednesday, 19 December 2007 |
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Aquaterra Energy has successfully completed the first phase of installing its pioneering Sea Swift minimum facilities platform for a major West African operator.
It is the first application of the Norwich-based offshore engineering company’s Sea Swift and the team is delighted that the installation off Angola has gone extremely smoothly.
The structure was designed, project managed and installed by Aquaterra Energy personnel and the platform was fabricated locally in the UK.
A second, almost identical, structure has also been fabricated in the UK and will be installed for the same operator offshore Angola during 2008.
The Sea Swift conductor-supported platform uses a field-proven technology for reducing costs in shallow water field developments.
Versatile in its application, Sea Swift combines the advantages of a platform with the rig-run benefit of a subsea development, in a package with lower capital and installation/intervention costs than either. The structure, located in a water depth of 27 metres, was installed using conventional drilling and lifting techniques from a drilling rig.
The platform comprises a subsea ‘mini-jacket’ weighing 45 tonnes and a topsides with a gross weight of approximately 110 tonnes (including all equipment). The structure is supported by 3 No. 30” conductors which are drilled through, and then grouted within, the mini-jacket structure.
The subsea structure and topsides structure were installed early in November; work is currently progressing well with the installation and commissioning of the topsides equipment.
Aquaterra Energy has expanded rapidly in the two years since it was founded to employ 30 full-time staff and achieve sales of $20million.
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