Project Description
Peak gas production of the three fields will be approximately 500 MMSCFD. A gathering system consisting of dual 12-inch flowlines will transport the gas from the three fields approximately 48 miles to the Virgo Platform operated by Elf, which is located in the Viosca Knoll area. The deepest water depth portion of the Canyon Express flowline system occurs at Camden Hills in a water depth of approximately 7250 ft. Water depth at the Virgo Platform is approximately 1130 ft.

Flow Assurance Issues
Apart from the record water depth, one of the major challenges for this development was the Flow Assurance and Operability of the production gathering system. The Canyon Express system must be able to produce the three fields under different operating regimes and varying production rates from multiple zone completions without any field taking on the performance risk of another field. Accurate flow allocation is therefore essential, which resulted in the use of subsea flow meters at each of the subsea gas production wells.

Flowline Routing
One of the unique features of this development is that multiple well manifolds and infield flowlines have been eliminated through the use of in-line tie-in sleds installed within the flowlines. These in-line sleds have been designed to accommodate individual subsea wells. As a result, flowline routing is dictated in large part by the location of the wells. The flowline is routed in close proximity to each of the existing and future well locations so that the wells can be connected to the flowline in-line sleds using conventional inverted 'U' shaped jumpers.

Scope of Services
As part of the FEED, INTEC scope included preliminary engineering of the complete subsea production system and preparation of specifications and bid packages for all equipment and services. This included subsea trees, chokes, subsea connectors, subsea valves, intervention/workover control system, subsea test tree, subsea multi-phase flowmeters, intelligent well completion equipment, production control system, line pipe, coatings, supply and installation of umbilicals and installation of flowlines and steel catenary risers at the Virgo Platform.

Project Team
Project sanction was obtained in August 2000, and equipment and installation contracts have been awarded. The INTEC team led by John Stearns will provide technical and management support to the project for the next 18 months through commissioning and first gas, which is scheduled for first quarter 2002. John and his team, including Paul Martyniak (controls and umbilicals), Bennie Coates (subsea trees and equipment), Tom McKay (subsea trees and equipment), Andre Nogueira (flowlines), Ravi Gudimetla (flow assurance), Ebere Chimezie (subsea interface control), Kelly Ponder (document control) and Connie Green (project secretary) are looking forward to the ever-new challenges of this trend setting project.

n 30 November 1999, the Burullus Gas Company (Burullus) awarded a contract to the Bechtel INTEC Consortium, designated the Deepwater Managing Contractor (DMC), to manage the Scarab/Saffron Development Project. First gas production of 440 MMSCFD is scheduled for 1 January 2003 with full production of 600 MMSCFD scheduled for 1 April 2003. The water depth in the development area ranges from 250 m to 850 m, and the area is located approximately 90 km offshore Alexandria, Egypt in the Eastern Mediterranean. The development will consist of eight subsea wells that will produce high methane content gas via a dual export pipeline system to a new onshore gas processing plant. Following treatment, the gas will be exported via a new pipeline to a tie-in to the Egyptian National Transmission System.

Project Status
The project was kicked off in INTEC's Houston office immediately following signature of the contract. The 8th floor of the INTEC offices became the project office where Burullus, Bechtel and INTEC personnel work together to progress the work as efficiently as possible in a team-like atmosphere. The number of project personnel vary, but Burullus personnel have numbered as many as 18, Bechtel as many as 12 and INTEC has averaged approximately 30 people during the nine months to date. Following an initial three month period during which the DMC verified the Burullus Field Development Plan, INTEC and Bechtel have focused their primary attention on preparation and issuance of Invitation to Tenders (ITTs), and evaluation of bids for the major EPC or EPIC contracts. ITT's were issued and several contracts will be awarded from the Houston office, but the four installation bids will be evaluated and awarded from London when the project management team relocates to the Bechtel London offices in mid-October.

Project Team
The INTEC team is managed by Bill Philliber, Offshore Project Manager; Joe Padilla, Engineering and Installation Manager; Malcolm Blackmore, Pipeline Manager; and Tom Choate, Systems/Interface Manager. Other INTEC team members who will be relocating to London include Wojtek Weckiewicz, Robert Carmichael, Frank Nunan, Mike Avedian, John Ray, Paul Shaw, Ernie Matchett and John Collins. The INTEC team has responsibility for management of detail design, manufacturing, testing, installation and pre-commissioning of the major contracts, which have a total value in excess of $300 million. The INTEC team will be in London for 16 to 18 months prior to relocation to Egypt for management of installation and pre-commissioning of the subsea facilities.

ears ago it was not uncommon to see contracts with a clause that essentially prohibited us from using what we developed on a Client's project in our future business. I used to argue that it would require us to wipe our brains clean after the project, to comply with the letter of the agreement. Usually it ended up being clarified as applying only to documents specifically prepared for that project, or we just gave up realizing that enforcement would be impractical, as one cannot prevent a professional engineer from improving him or herself through learning. Of course I also tried the argument that we would not be considered for the job if we hadn't already gained experience from previous work for other Clients, but found that logic doesn't always prevail when discussing legal issues.

There are still some in the energy industry who believe that engineers and consultants couldn't possibly know anything if they hadn't been taught by their Clients. They apparently don't realize that the power of creativity is not in information, but the ability to devise and apply a process to effectively use this information in varying circumstances. Just translate this situation to the medical or legal profession, and the suggestion that a doctor shouldn't use what he learned on your case in treating his next patient is not only silly, it would be downright unprofessional.

I would argue that any attempts to constrain the use of information that is in itself not confidential, is counterproductive. To think that there is advantage in restricting information and knowledge flow will be as effective as trying to control the Internet. The aim in our industry should be the opposite, namely to open up access to knowledge and information since power is not in the information itself, but in the ability to use it effectively in constantly improving design and management processes. To do differently would mean that some of our Clients would get second rate treatment and not get the full benefit of our knowledge and capability. This is a notion that would violate our business ethics as well as good business sense. If we are successful it is because we offer a problem solving capability, rather than sell ready-made solutions copied from past experience.

W. J. Timmermans
President

Gustavo Cavallo, General Manager of INTEC Engineering in Buenos Aires, Argentina, as pictured below, was invited to present a paper on natural gas basics, conditioning, treatment and transmission systems. This paper is available on the INTEC Engineering website at http://www.intec-hou.com/news/technical/. Other seminar participants were CEOs and technical staff of companies and institutions involved in the development of the gas industry, together with college professors and public officials of the hydrocarbon and energy sectors.

5th Annual Deepwater Technology and Development Conference
INTEC Engineering, Inc. participated in the 5th Annual Deepwater Technologies and Development Conference conducted by the Strategic Research Institute, held in Houston, Texas on September 13-15, 2000. Basim Mekha, Senior Project Engineer, conducted a presentation entitled New Frontiers in the Design of Steel Catenary Risers for Floating Production Systems. INTEC was also an exhibitor at the conference.

n view of INTEC's continuing advances in developing technologies, and to ensure long term promotion of technical quality throughout the company, a new position of Corporate Technology Manager has been developed. Dr. Andrew Palmer, founder of A. C. PALMER & Associates and presently Professor of Petroleum Engineering with Cambridge University, U.K., has accepted the position of INTEC Corporate Technology Manager effective 1 June 2000. Dr. Palmer begins this new assignment on a part-time consultancy basis until completion of ongoing commitments on or about 1 June 2001.

Dr. Palmer has broad experience in strategic planning and implementation of technical programs, and is a leading authority on offshore development engineering. In this capacity, Dr. Palmer will be responsible for INTEC's corporate technology with a mission to maintain our vantage position in deepwater, Arctic and other frontier technologies. The INTEC management team is extremely pleased with the addition of Andrew Palmer as Corporate Technology Manager. This underscores our commitment to excellence in technology advancement and quality to better serve our clients.

ulio Moreno graduated from the engineering school of the University of Buenos Aires in the early seventies. His first assignment was technical auditor with the formerly state-owned and now privatized gas firm, Gas del Estado. He then became involved in project and construction supervision of gas pipeline projects, compressor plants, pressure reduction stations, residential natural gas distribution networks, cathodic protection, and industrial safety and hygiene. While on assignment for Gas del Estado in 1977/1978, together with Gustavo Cavallo who is now the General Manager of INTEC's Argentina office, Julio met Nestor Goytia, who is now INTEC's Director of Latin American Business. Nestor was part of a consulting engineerng team during the Magellan Strait Gas Pipeline Marine Crossing Project. In 1981, Julio again worked with Nestor and Gustavo in the shore stabilization design of the pipeline shore crossing approach at Cabo Vírgenes, in the Magellan Strait area.

Nearly 10 years later, in 1987, Intec participated in the Mesopotamian Gas Pipeline Project and the Parana River Gas Pipeline Crossing Project as consultant for the detailed engineering. Julio participated in these projects as Gas del Estado´s Head of Works Inspection. In the private sector, Julio has taken part in diverse projects with international companies such as Bechtel, Techint SA, Arcan Chile SA and Nova Gas International. With the two latter firms, he was part of the project and construction management team for serveral gas pipeline projects that crossed the Andean Mountains between Argentina and Chile. It was during these assignments that Intec established an engineerig office in Buenos Aires at the end of 1998 and Julio joined the INTEC team.