FloaTEC TLP Model Testing Underway

At Texas A&M University, model testing of FloaTEC's Extended Tension Leg Platform (ETLP) is underway at the Offshore Technology Research Center (OTRC). The American Petroleum Institute (API) established new guidelines after Hurricane Katrina. The testing at OTRC has been in accordance to these revised environmental regulations which require existing and future installations to withstand hurricane force winds similar to those of Hurricane Katrina.

To prove this, OTRC's testing tank simulates the wave and wind environments found in the Central Gulf of Mexico. Significant changes were made to the design basis requirements so that all new structures (Tension Leg Platforms, Spars and Semi-submersibles) will be designed to meet the requirements for use in the Central Gulf of Mexico. FloaTEC says API's new regulations have enabled new testing procedures to be established and will continue to test all of its future designs in this manner.

FloaTEC’s initial model test was confirmed a success and is considering a second optional test. With the scale model receiving no green water damage, FloaTEC feels its ETLP design is suitable to post-Hurricane Katrina requirements and now looks to secure an order to construct the design to work in the Central Gulf of Mexico. Designed with drilling and production capabilities, the ETLP will be able to be moored in water depths up to 5,500 feet (1,676 m) and drill ultra-deep wells up to 35,000 feet (10,668 m). The production capabilities will be able to yield 120,000 b/d of oil and contain up to 18 slots for drilling and dry tree production.

Since the rig market continues to be tight, FloaTEC President Eric Namtvedt explains the ETLP's dry tree application presents an attractive development alternative. Though tested for the Central Gulf of Mexico, FloaTEC's ETLP design can be used elsewhere and is not designed exclusively for use in the Gulf.

Compared to other floating production solutions, FloaTEC's design is expected to have the ability to fast-track a field's development, as construction time is significantly reduced being that FloaTEC's parent companies, J. Ray McDermott and Keppel Fels, ensure timely, full assembly, with both fabrication and shipyards at its disposal.

Altogether, FloaTEC anticipates its engineering and construction resources can reduce field development cycle time by as much as two years. The platform's drilling unit, topsides and nodes would likely be fabricated at Keppel's facilities, while hull construction, as well as integration work would be undertaken at McDermott's shipyard in Mexico and McDermott's derrick barge DB 50 could be utilized for integration of hull and topsides.

FloaTEC hopes to secure an order within the next 18 to 24 months. Representatives from Chevron, Petrobras and ConocoPhillips attended the model testing. As the news gets extended, independent companies like Triple Diamond Energy Corporation will be looking into this also as possible investment potential.