The goal of this project, in Phase I, was to construct regional models for the sedimentary thermal history and hydrocarbon maturation in the Deepwater of the Gulf of Mexico.
The overall objective of this project is to determine the properties that affect cement's capability to produce a fluid-tight seal in an annulus. The project primarily focuses on deepwater applications, but general (shallow) applications were also examined. The research focuses on the measurement and correlation of cement's mechanical properties to the cement's performance. Also, research was conducted to determine which laboratory methods should be used to establish the cement's key properties.
The performance of the floating production system depends on more directly on the performance of the system of mooring lines and anchors rather than on the performance of a single line or anchor. To assess and study the component and system reliabilities for the mooring system, a 'theme' Spar and its mooring system is used for the reliability analysis. The results of this project may be used for the evaluation and possible improvement of the design codes for FPS mooring lines and anchors.
A 1 day forum on Risk Assessment for Submarine Slope Stability with special emphasis on deepwater was organized and conducted with participation from government, academia and industry. In addition, extensive research and compilation of data from literature was conducted to develop a database on submarine slope failures. Because the information required to perform a complete risk assessment was limited, the objective was to develop a database to provide information that can be used to supplement site-specific data for making risk assessments of sea floor stability.
Project was a comparison of risks for a Spar-based FPSO with other deepwater production systems studied in the Comparative Risk Analysis of Deepwater Production Systems in the Gulf of Mexico. Those systems were a tanker-based FPSO with wet trees, a conventional Spar with dry trees, a TLP with dry trees, and a shallow water jacket serving as a hub and host for deepwater production. The spar-based FPSO configuration studied was a spar with wet-oil storage, dry trees, oil export by shuttle tanker and a gas export by pipeline.
Project assessed data from deepwater floating drilling and production systems that are presently able to calibrate, validate and improve design analysis tools for deepwater structures, moorings and risers; identify needs for additional data and to identify opportunities for initiation of field measurement programs. An International Workshop was held and leading personnel from the industry and academia talked about topics as follows:
Deepwater field studies and measurements-oceanographic findings that impact offshore design,
Full-scale polyester ropes were tested to determine the impact of damage on the strength of polyester rope used as mooring lines for deepwater structures. Polyester ropes from four manufacturers were tested (Bexco, Marlow, Whitehill, and CSL) to determine the impact of damage on the strength of polyester mooring lines.
This 2-day workshop examined the current geohazards technology and identify future challenges that industry needs to address. The workshop provided a better understanding of technologies that have a significant impact on deepwater drilling and the lessons learned with deepwater geohazards occurrences. Additional goals of the workshop were to identify and prioritize areas not currently being addressed and to formulate joint industry projects to address these areas. The workshop was held on April 3-4, 2001 at Del Lago Conference Center in Montgomery, Texas.
Description: This project summarized the current issues for pipeline leak detection, including:
Identifying the state-of-the-art technologies used in pipeline leak detection; Assess the effectiveness of current leak detection technology; Evaluate the effect of multiphase flow conditions on leak detection technologies.
MMS funding was used to complete tasks 1 and 2, and make substantial progress on Task 3. Industry funded the next phase which included a report and a workshop and more work on task 3. Task 4 was abandoned based on input during the project.
Task 1 - Bridging tendencies in ultra-deepwater blowouts
Task 2 - Dynamic kill investigation of ultra-deepwater blowouts and simulator Development
Task 3 - Development of ultra-deepwater blowout control methods
Task 4 - Costs of Intervention (Abandoned)
Task 5 - Final report, progress meetings and workshops
