Having completed its mammoth journey that began last year, the Olympus production platform, Royal Dutch Shell's latest offshore production platform, has finally been secured in place at its new home in the Gulf of Mexico.
The hull of the behemoth platform was constructed in South Korea, and last year began a two month trip to a construction dock in Ingleside, Texas, travelling more than 18,000 miles, and arriving in late January 2013.
At the dock in Texas the Olympus platform awaited the assembly of its topside before being cleared for final deployment to its ultimate destination at Shell's Mars deepwater field in the Gulf of Mexico.
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The Olympus production platform sets sail on its final trip to the Gulf of Mexico. (Fuel Fix)
Olympus arrived at the Mars B field on the 20th July after finishing its final 425-mile legs from Texas, and was fully anchored in place in 3,000 feet of water last week. The plan is that the platform will be able to produce and process 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day once operating at full capacity.
The Olympus platform is anchored at the Mars B Field. (Fuel Fix)
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The tension leg platform designed by Shell will offer a huge deck, large enough to process the crude on site, with production coming from a six well subsea development. Shell expects this project to extend the life span of the Mars field to at least 2050.
Shell operates the Mars development, and owns 71.5% of the field, with BP controlling the remaining 28.5%.
Shell's next plan is to deploy a floating production platform to work in its Stones field, also in the Gulf of Mexico. The Floating Production Storage and Offloading vessel would be leased from SBM Offshore, and become the deepest offshore field worked by such a platform, sitting in around 9,500 feet of water.
By. Joao Peixe of Oilprice.com
Joao is a writer for Oilprice.com More