This project investigated the accuracy of non-invasive deepwater subsea inspections performed by common ROV-supported inspection tools and provided a comprehensive assessment of the knowledge gained from recent work on subrope behavior.
The objectives were:
A number of cold region offshore developments have been carried out or are planned worldwide, including Sakhalin Island (Russia), Kashagan (Caspian), Shtokman (Barents Sea) as well as in the Beaufort Sea (Northstar, PanArctic Drake). An understanding of these analogue projects, as well as those already operational or planned for the United States (e.g., Northstar and Oooguruk), will provide insight and guidance into potential exploration and development technologies that might be applied to cold regions of the Outer Continental Shelf.
This project is a material testing program to enable operators to safely produce oil and gas from high-pressure high-temperature (HPHT) and sour HPHT reservoirs. Completion of the testing program will support more widespread development of HPHT and sour HPHT reserves by providing designers with some of the material property data necessary to perform design verification analyses in accordance with American Petroleum Institute Recommended Practice 6HP (API RP 6HP).
The objective of this continued research is to further validate that an IICP insulation system incorporating a low thermal conductivity, high strength wire screen mesh between a pipe and an interior liner can be an effective passive thermal insulation solution for deepwater flow lines and risers. Phase II will confirm the low thermal conductance values measured with coupons in Phase I are also attainable for pipes and demonstrate IICP performance under steady and transient flow conditions. Results will be used to interest industry and contractors in this technology.
This research was designed to advance safety and wet welding technology, materials, and procedures used for underwater fabrication and repair of subsurface facilities and pipelines.
This project developed a general guideline for the design of load carrying structures and components fabricated from fiber-reinforced plastics and sandwich structures. The guidelines are based on a probabilistic foundation using limit state formulations. The format will accommodate new technical results from research or future developments.
This project's objective was to organize and conduct a Underwater Welding Seminar with representatives of MMS, PEMEX, IMP, and other interested parties. The seminar considered the different aspects of underwater wet welding of offshore oil and gas platforms typical of those located in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). The seminar identified technical and non-technical barriers that hinder the use of the technology for fabrication and maintenance of platforms and pipeline in the GOM. The seminar identified future research areas.
To conduct an in-house workshop for the MMS to review the state of the art of composite applications for the offshore oil and gas industry.
The workshop is designed to define the state of the art of corrosion protection of marine structures and pipelines, to define the state of the art of testing for corrosion damage, to identify the technical and non-technical barriers which hinders a fuller utilization of advanced methods for mitigating corrosion on marine structures and pipelines, and to identify research and development projects that would advanced corrosion mitigation technologies. Marine structure is defined as offshore structures, harbor structures and ship structures.
This is a Joint Industry Project (JIP), to: study the axial load-deformation response of patch-corroded steel tubular members and to evaluate the effects of member diameter-to- thickness ratio, corrosion profile, and load history has on member behavior;
develop, evaluate, and calibrate analytical models and computational methods based on the experimental results for prediction (change to) predicting the response of corroded steel tubular members;
determine the low-cycle and high-cycle fatigue resistance of machined and naturally corroded tubular members;
