 Floating Production Activities 
INTEC continues to have involvement in a significant number of projects that involve conventional FPSOs and FSOs, as well as focusing on the challenges associated with the development of ultra deepwater projects. The following is an update on current INTEC projects involving Floating Production Systems:
MARATHON SAKHALIN; FSO
PREMIER PETROLEUM MYANMAR LIMITED; YETAGUN FIELD FSO
PETROBRAS; UPGRADE OF BGL-1 PIPELAYING VESSEL |
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ENRON INTERNATIONAL; FPSO FOR PETROBRAS
DEEPSTAR PROJECT; FPSO OIL SPILL DATA
PERSONNEL ADDITIONS
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| PIPELINES FROM SOURCE TO USER
In recent times, INTEC has had a number of requests from clients requiring solutions for transporting large quantities of gas and oil from a source far away from the destination. The distances involved range from typically 50 to 150 km in the Gulf of Mexico and 300 to 1000 km in other regions of the world. To address the issues of long-distance pipelines, let us briefly re-visit the work carried out on the 1100 km long Oman to India Pipeline.
In 1993, INTEC was contracted by the Oman Oil Company (OOC) to carry out a feasibility study to investigate installing a pipeline to transport 10 BCM/yr of gas from Oman to India. The major concern of OOC was the
A long-distance pipeline requires a disciplined approach to manage the various discrete engineering tasks and interfaces. Selection of route (surveys), design of the pipe for flow assurance and operability (hydraulics), wall thickness (limit state design), corrosion protection (coatings, anodes), material (mill availability and capability), installation (laybarge availability and capability) and operation (piggability, repairs and maintenance). The Blue Stream project, a 24-inch pipeline of length 390 km across the Black Sea (in 2,100 m water depth) is an example of a project where INTEC provided a system solution, from surveys to sizing, design, tendering for materials and installation, and preparing documentation for permit applications and pipeline operation. On the Malampaya Project, a 24-inch pipeline of 490 km in the Philippines, INTEC provided a complete route selection service, including field supervision with pipeline engineers on board the survey vessels.
The main route selection concerns on the Oman to India pipeline were crossing deep sea mountain ranges (Murray Ridge), areas susceptible to gravity flows (Indus Fan), areas susceptible to seismic activity (Makran Deformation Zone) and areas prone to unacceptably long spans, all of which were features also encountered on the Malampaya pipeline and Black Sea crossing surveys.
Flow assurance and operability of long-distance pipelines is an area where INTEC has also developed a considerable amount of expertise and experience. The ESSO Natuna project, at 860 km from Natuna 'A' to the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA), was an opportunity to demonstrate a balanced solution between internal design pressure, external hydrostatic pressure, internal surface preparation, fluctuations in daily demand and pipe material grade. INTEC also provided limit state design services for pipeline wall thickness selection using the newly available DnV '96 guidelines. These services have been provided on several other long-distance pipelines, including Amoco King export pipelines and two confidential projects currently in progress.
A common thread in all the long-distance pipelines is the availability and capability of pipelay barges to install these pipelines within the schedule. INTEC has recently worked with EMC (Total Yadana), Allseas (Exxon Diana), PeterGaz (Blue Stream), and Heerema (Amoco King), providing design solutions to suit installation by the selected contractor.
What are the main issues on operation, inspection, maintenance and repair of long distance pipelines? INTEC has recently carried out investigations on the feasibility of pigging 1,000 km and longer pipelines. Several companies have investigated this aspect, including Statoil, who has experience in pigging the 814 km long 'Zeepipe' pipeline from Norway to Belgium. Deepwater repair systems have also been actively pursued, with INTEC taking a lead role on several frontier developments. Rehabilitation of corroded pipe, re-evaluation of cathodic protection performance, and operational issues of pipelines are other areas INTEC is addressing.
Pipelines form a major part of INTEC's services to our clients globally. INTEC offices in Houston, Kuala Lumpur and Delft are all equipped with experienced management and engineering personnel, and can support clients in any part of the world. We foresee that, in the first decade of the 21st Century, long-distance offshore pipelines, shallow and deepwater, shall play an ever-increasing part in transporting the world's hydrocarbons. INTEC is prepared to take on a significant role in realizing this pipe dream!
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INTEC'S Employee of the Quarter
Lang Fu first joined INTEC as a Senior Engineer in 1990, but after two years he left for new horizons. One-and-a-half years ago, with more experience under his belt, Lang rejoined INTEC as Senior Project Engineer. Just recently, he was promoted to Project Manager. His co-workers describe him as being knowledgeable, articulate and supportive and our clients have equally high regard for him. Many have benefited from his guidance and appreciate his mentoring approach. Lang has made significant contributions to the Pipeline Discipline Department. Lang received his BS in Naval Architecture and his MS in Civil Engineering from the Dalian Institute of Technology. He is a native of China, specifically Beijing, and has been in the U.S. for the past 10 years. |
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Lang met and married Dan Lin in Houston. Dan Lin is an Environmental Specialist with M. W. Kellogg. They have two daughters, Jackie, age 4, and Christina, just 8 months. Lang, who always has a bright smile on his face, seems to light up even more with the mention of one of his girls.
Unfortunately, Lang has fallen into the same trap so many have in this day and age and that is, too much work to find time for favorite pastimes and hobbies. On that rare occasion, when some spare time comes along, Lang will go wind surfing at Galveston Bay in Texas City. Most times, however, he settles for 30 minutes a day on the exercycle at home. Other times are spent with his children (Jackie has just learned to ride a bicycle) and with Dan Lin, who currently is seriously house hunting.
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As alert readers will remember, about a year ago I reported on the use of Greek mythology in the naming of oil and gas fields. It revealed hidden relationships between many of the oil industry players. At that time I promised to also investigate what the Nordic mythology, most popular in the North Sea, could teach us in this regard. Well, I researched ancient records *) and here it is.
The Nordic mythological world initially appears to be a damp, cold and unpleasant place, but all sorts of things are going on behind the foggy shroud, and it is interesting to interpret the themes the oil companies chose in picking field names. Take the French oil company Elf for example; they predictably named a field for Frigg, the goddess of spring, love and beauty. She was married to Odin, the mightiest of the gods, but yet was known to sometimes cheat on her husband. Now Odin was a most powerful god, and it is not surprising that Esso, part of the largest US oil company, named a field after him. Odin had one eye, since he had pawned the other one to the dwarf Mimir so he could drink from the fountain of wisdom, but yet nothing escaped his gaze. From headquarters he sent out his two ravens Hugin and Munin, who flew over the whole world and reported back on what went on, so he was organized as a true multi-national, and took advantage of communications technology. Odin moved around on Sleipnir, an eight-legged stallion whose hoofbeats could split the earth, an ancient form of seismic research, so Norsk Hydro picked his name for an oil field. Frigg and Odin had several sons, one being Thor who caused thunder, and Balder, a rather tragic individual we'll talk about later. Phillips named a field after Thor who also liked to ride around wielding a hammer on his horse Gullfaks in the company of mounted Valkyries riding cloud horses from their hide-away in Valhal to smite enemies. Statoil claimed Gullfaks, and Amoco chose to name fields after these amazons and their lair. Thor once had his hammer stolen by the giant Thrym, who wanted Thor's mother Frigg (the French lady) in return. Thor then misled the giant by cross-dressing in Frigg's gown, retrieving the hammer, and of course killing the giant. |
Esso used the name of the other son of Odin, Balder, but should perhaps have checked first what befell this poor fellow. He excelled in beauty and friendliness, so one would have expected a French oil company to claim him. He was loved by all, was wise and mild-mannered, and worshipped as the god of light, eloquence and justice; in short, he had everything going for him. His downfall was the villainous Loki, the god of fire and evil, after whom understandably no oil company has named a field. This Loki gave a weapon to Balder's blind brother Hodur (the same as Amoco's Hod) that would kill Balder. Balder had a premonition of his death, so his mother made all creation swear not to harm her son, and make sure that arrows, lances, spears nor stones would injure him. Only a little plant, the mistletoe, didn't swear this oath, so of course Loki made an arrow from its wood, and gave it to the blind Hodur. When one day the gods were drinking beer and horsing around, shooting and stabbing at Balder who could not be hurt, Hodur also shot his arrow, instigated by Loki, and killed his brother. This was a most unfortunate ending for poor Balder, which shows that great pursuits can turn to disaster through lack of planning, oversight and quality control. Balder's death started the Ragnarok, a sort of Armageddon that brought the world of the gods to an end amidst fire and upheaval not unlike what one would expect if the oil price drops below $10/barrel.
On the other hand, there was Njord, a happier fellow after whom Norsk Hydro named a field. Njord is known to have habitually indulged in unrestrained sexual adventure. Nevertheless, he was highly respected and very wealthy, so he could have been a politician. Or possibly he was an independent oilman during an industry boom period, such as the one we thought might be upon us. Let us take the wise Odin as our guide, and promise to behave and show restraint so that the Valhalla of strong oil prices may endure.
*) "van Goden en Helden", by Kleijntjes en Knippenberg
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HAPPY FIFTH BIRTHDAY INTEC SEA |
INTEC SEA, located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, celebrates its five-year anniversary with the successful completion of the offshore terminal project for Malaysia Refinery Corporation. The first tanker offloading occurred on 11 June when the Sylt, a 275,000 dwt tanker, arrived from Dubai to discharge crude oil through a Single Point Mooring (SPM) and 48-inch by 7-km long subsea pipeline to an onshore tank farm.  INTEC SEA was responsible for the engineering design and project management of the terminal including procurement and construction management. The project, which began in January 1996, was completed on time and within budget. Congratulations to the KL project team.
INTEC SEA was established in May 1993, and, during the past five years, has been responsible for many projects ranging from an FPSO offshore New Zealand, an FSO offshore Thailand, and offshore terminals in Taiwan, Indonesia and Malaysia. INTEC SEA has also been responsible for the engineering design of many offshore pipeline projects in Malaysia, including the MLNG Tiga Pipeline System for Petronas Carigali; several projects for Esso Production Malaysia; and for pipeline projects in Myanmar, Taiwan, Thailand and Indonesia. The KL office has also provided services for projects in China, Vietnam, and the Philippines, which has firmly established INTEC's presence throughout Southeast Asia and the Pacific Rim.
In June, Vural Dolen, the INTEC SEA General Manager, will transfer to Houston and Indu Mahendran will transfer from Houston to Kuala Lumpur as the new General Manager. In August, Ken MacKenzie will also transfer to Houston as part of the Houston based Marine Systems Engineering Group. INTEC takes this opportunity to express sincere appreciation and deep gratitude to the clients and staff who have contributed to the successful growth and development of the Kuala Lumpur office and we look forward to the challenges that INTEC SEA will undoubtedly face as it enters the new millenium. Congratulations on the first five years and best wishes for the next five, and beyond! |
INTEC Welcomes the following New Employees to the Houston Office....
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The following employees were recently promoted to new positions. We appreciate their hard work and congratulate them on their success:
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| Avid mountain-bike racer Craig Fitzgerald had a very successful Spring series in the Texas State Championships, and finished fourth best overall in his racing category after consistently placing highly throughout the ten race series. Congratulations Craig! | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| NEW AWARDS THIS PAST QUARTER INCLUDE: | ||
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 For SAGA Petroleum, Pre-development Study for a stand-alone development offshore West Africa
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For Esso Production Malaysia Inc., EPMI; TAPIS-E Project - Post-IFC Engineering Support
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| INTEC Engineering, Inc. Intercontinental Building 15600 JFK Boulevard, 9th Floor Houston, TX 77032, USA tel: (281) 987-0800 Primary Fax: (281) 987-3838 Admin Fax: (281) 987-2002 e-mail: info@intec-hou.com |  | INTEC Engineering (SEA) SDN. BHD. Suite 12.2, 12th Floor Menara Aik Hua Changkat Raja Chulan 50200 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Tel: +60 (3) 202-2488 Fax: +60 (3) 202-3488 e-mail: info@intec-mal.com.my | | INTEC Engineering B.V. Poortweg 14 2612 PA Delft, The Netherlands P.O. Box 3178 2601 DD Delft, The Netherlands tel: +31 (15) 256-5675 FAX: +31 (015) 256-0194 email: info@intec-delft.com | | INTEC Engineering S.R.L. Lavalle #465 Planta Baja 1047, Buenos Aires Argentina tel: +54 (1) 14 327-4120 FAX: +54 (1) 14 327-4121 email: info@intec-hou.com | | INTEC-egis Adelaide House 200, Adelaide Terrace Perth, Western Australia 6000 tel: + 61 (8) 9220 9374 FAX: + 61 (8) 9325 9897 email: info@intec-hou.com |
Dick Marlow and family, as they transfer to Houston upon completion of a project in Europe.
constructability of pipelines in 3,500 m water depths, which was addressed in detail by a technology steering committee led by INTEC. Another major aspect of the project was the length (and related issues) of the pipeline. Let us discuss some of these issues to understand how relevant they are to the current projects in hand.
Rachell Allen - Senior Office Clerk