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The Orlan platform is an upgraded version The Chayvo OPF will process production from
TEUS G. GIJZEL of the Concrete Island Drilling Structure the Chayvo field offshore (Orlan platform)
graduated in 1974 in civil engineering (CIDS) used in the Canadian Beaufort Sea. and from the Chayvo Onshore Wells and in
from Technical University Delft and worked The facility will provide drilling quarters and addition will store and handle the Odoptu
for 33 years in the dredging, marine production capability for the 20 wells field production later. During Phase I of the
and offshore industry in Europe, Canada, planned for the development of the Chayvo development the Chayvo OPF will produce
and Russia. In 1997 he joined Van Oord Field. Upgrading required the replacement stabilised crude for sale and dry gas for re-
and since then has been Project Manager of the existing drilling rigs, the addition of injection into the Chayvo reservoir. Produced
for Phase I of the Sakhalin-2 project, the a well bay module for 20 wells, production water will be treated for injection in disposal
installation of the platform Molikpaq equipment, pipeline risers, pig receivers / wells at the Chayvo OPF site (Figure 6).
offshore Sakhalin in the Sea of Okhotsk, launchers and refurbishment of quarters as
and Tender Manager for the Sakhalin-1 well as other modifications. Oil properties Flowlines include various onshore and two
project. From 2004 to date he has been are generally favorable with low wax offshore pipelines to transport the full well
working as Area Project Coordinator for content and containing no hydrogen sulfide stream production between the Chayvo Well
the Sakhalin-1 project for Van Oord (Figure 5). Site, the Orlan Platform and the OPF.
Offshore B.V. in Gorinchem with regular
trips to Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk.
Figure 5. The Orlan Plaform is an upgraded version of the Concrete Island Drilling Structure (CIDS) used in the
Canadian Beaufort Sea.
Figure 7. The Oil Export Pipeline lay-down. The overall pipeline will be 226 km of which the Tatar Strait crossing is 20 km. The most demanding factor in the choice of
the installation equipment for operations in
Tatar Strait was the water depth at the very
Flowlines also include the side tap site on the north side of Chikhacheva Bay. shallow tidal flats, where the available water
assembly, pig launchers and receivers, The onshore facilities include a tank farm depth during high water was 2 metres or
valves, instrumentation and similar items to and loading control center, power less for over 6 km on the Russian mainland
operate the flowlines at design conditions. generation facilities, measurement facilities, side. At low tide they were drying out for a
The 36” (914 mm) diameter offshore full permanent housing, fire fighting, and large part. This required a very shallow
well stream flowline is a concrete coated warehouse-workshop facilities. The offshore draught pipe-laying barge and tugs, anchor
(2.5”) pipeline for its offshore part of facilities include a 6 km 48” pipeline to a handling equipment, crew boats, survey
approx. 11 km. The 24” (610 mm) bottom-founded SPM loading system. boats and auxiliary equipment with same.
diameter gas re-injection flowline from
Chayvo OPF to Orlan platform is a thick
walled pipeline and is only epoxy coated.
Figure 10. Prolonged periods of severe weather demanded extra attention to safety with the Figure 12. The pipes were laid from a shallow-draught
boat-to-boat transfer of personnel and materials. lay barge specially outfitted for this project.
8 Terra et Aqua | Number 105 | December 2006
The barge DN17 was in the meantime zero at night and ice building up on the dry
converted to small pull barge with a 150 tidal flats, the decision was taken to abandon
tonne linear winch installed with a 64 mm these final operations for safety reasons and
pull wire (Figure 19). By this time it was mid leave the pipe string on the seabed. The whole
October and well beyond the working equipment spread then demobilised from
window originally foreseen. Subsequently a the site at Tatar Strait. This section of 2 km
tie-in at KP 18.4 had to be made between the was ultimately completed by Russian
already installed pipe and 2.0 km pipe string contractor MRTS during the winter of 2005
at KP 18.473. by working from the land-fast ice.
Personnel accommodation vessels Russian Federation. In the end two suitable around the Orlan platform, which was
The Trinity Supporter was “home” for vessels were found. The other vessel, “Beta”, installed by others mid July 2005 (see
contractor’s personnel and client representa- was used by the pipe lay subcontractor Figures 1 and 2). The pipe pulls of both
tives on site during the project execution. and provided accommodation to all pipe flowlines to shore were carried out by the
The vessel provided accommodation for up laying personnel, which amounted to main contractor. Special dredging tasks
to 125 persons, craneage and sufficient approx. 200 people. were the dredging of the access pit for the
space for stores. The number of beds was During 2006 one smaller accommodation pipe spools and two glory holes for the
increased during preparation for mobilisa- vessel, the Russian ship named Akademik platform’s cathodic protection system
tion to 150. Good communications, which Shokalskiy, was used in conjunction with anodes.
included email and Internet use, were the Jan Steen and Coastal Worker
ensured by a permanent satellite up-link. operations to accommodate another Landfall construction
From the outset the whole construction approx. 20 passengers, including the Since the pipe pulls of the flowlines were
crew was made aware of the remoteness of diving crew, client and Russian authorities scheduled during early July this meant that
the work location. Despite this the morale representatives (Figure 23). cofferdam construction needed to start
on board was good, which was ensured by during the winter season. A 150-m
good western standard catering services, cofferdam with two wing walls was
a well equipped gym and free availability of CHAYVO OFFSHORE PIPELINES constructed amidst snow and ice (Figure 24).
internet on board amongst other amenities
(Figure 23). The Chayvo Offshore Pipelines work involved The commercially most attractive solution
the trenching and backfilling for the 11 km was to import all the equipment and all
Locating a suitable vessel was not easy long flowlines from Chayvo beach to the sheet pile materials on a temporary basis
and became one of the critical activities, Orlan platform, the installation of the into the Russian Federation. It arrived in
because of the process for the flag cofferdam at the landfall, and the installation Korsakov, Sakhalin, onboard a coaster from
dispensation required for entry into the of the multi-layered erosion protection rock Europe.
Figure 24.
The cofferdam at
Chayvo under
construction amidst
snow and ice.
Dredging, Trenching and Rock Placement Works for the Sakhalin-1 Project, Russian Far East 13
Pipeline trench dredging and Figure 25. An aerial overview of the Chayvo pipeline landfall, well site and temporary harbour looking northwards.
backfilling
The Korushio 2 then performed the first Backfilling constituted around 1.0 million m3.
pipe pull of the 36” flowline and laid the Backfilling was required to be done by
pipeline to a position approx. 1200 m pumping back through the suction tube
offshore. It then returned to pull the 24” rather than by large mass disposal through
flowline into the cofferdam structure and the bottom doors to avoid shifting of the
subsequently laid the line all the way to the pipelines. Special operations performed
Orlan Platform. Finally the 36” flowline was were the dredging of the access pit
recovered offshore and also laid towards (pipeline interface) for the two spools to
the platform. In the meantime the the Orlan platform, two anode pits for the
cofferdam could be closed and the laid Orlan platform cathodic protection system Figure 27. The pipe-lay barge Korushio 2 performing the
pipelines could be pressure tested. components and some seabed levelling 36”pipe pull towards the Orlan Plaform.
Also the main contractor could start tie-in prior to the Orlan platform set-down
operations to the valve station of the operations on July 15 2005.
onshore pipeline infrastructure (Figure 27).
This system performed successfully in removing the northeast side of the platform against as over the pipeline corridor close to the
some 20,000 m3 of sand, but became, ingress of large amounts of sand, an artificial platform. A total of approx. 80,000 tonnes
as expected, less effective the deeper the channel was created by placing two rows of rock was placed in 2005, including the
trench became. It was foreseen that the of containers out from the platform in the additional amounts for urgent remedial
mass flow system could not remove all sand pre-dredged pit. This created a channel work caused by the occurrence of scour
directly around the pipelines. This caused the with fixed width in which the pipe handling holes around the platform immediately
main contractor to mobilise a submersible equipment needed to be located later. after its installation in the field. Another
pump frame on their construction barge to The containers were filled with course approx. 60,000 tonnes was placed in 2006
remove minor quantities of sand. gravel (D-type rock) for stability and rock at Chayvo.
berms were built against the containers.
Operations around Orlan of other work
ORLAN PLATFORM The design of the pipeline interface erosion spreads (DSV Seaway Hawk and platform
protection was extensively tested in a model supply boats) required regulation of the
Erosion protection installation (2005+2006) basin in Ottawa, Canada. The design is shown frequent simultaneous operations (SIMOPS).
The Orlan platform’s steel base with skirts in Section A in Figure 29. Large 5 to 7 tonne Initially the diving support vessel was given
measures approx. 90 x 90 m and is installed blocks (type A rock) will form the top layer priority in installation of anode cabling
in 15 m of water depth on a large sand of the erosion protection in this location. around the platform, but later the erosion
ridge. Within days following its installation, protection installation activities were given
substantial scour effects occurred caused by Erosion protection rock types and amounts free access to the platform perimeter as
the relatively strong tidal currents around Table I shows the gradations applied in the much as possible. The platform,
the platform. This required unscheduled erosion protection design, the cover on the understandably, could not function without
remedial work and additional rock and anode pits and pipeline interface, as well regular offloading of supplies from the
caused many deviations from the planned
work right from the start.
Table I. Gradations applied in the erosion protection design.
The general erosion protection design showed Type Gradation
two rock layers (D- and C-type rock) with From (Mass) To (Mass) From (Size) To (Size)
a coarser armor layer (B-type rock) added A 3750 kg 6250 kg
at the corners of the platform base B 325 kg 625 kg
(see Section D in Figure 29). In order to C 10 kg* 325 kg* 200 mm 600 mm
protect the pipeline interface location on D 4.75 mm 125 mm
large platform supply vessels (Figure 30).
The organisation of this at times difficult task
lay in the hands of the Offshore Installation
Manager on the platform. This was organised
by introducing a strict reporting system,
whenever a vessel needed to enter the 500 m
zone around the platform.
of the oil and gas facilities, the main tion entailed: site in the Far Eastern part of Russia meant
contractor and the major subcontractors • Land Allocation Permits; that transporting crews and other
were required to provide their specific input • Permits to Construct Landfalls; personnel to the area required carefully
into the documentation in time. They also • Construction Permit for a Subsea designed logistics, allowing time both for
needed to take care of those licences, Pipeline and for the ORLAN platform extensive travel and for obtaining the
permits and approvals that were required (or: Offshore Installation Permit); necessary legal documentation.
for conducting their own business in the • Water Use Licence and Water Use
Russian Federation, e.g. the Contractor’s Agreement, including a fish damage The extreme distances that foreign
Construction Licence or Gostroy Licence. simulation study and cost calculation; personnel had to travel to get to the vessels
• Permission for temporary import of demanded precise planning of crew
Without trying to be complete, an idea is foreign flag construction fleet/Cabotage changes. It also meant providing
given below of the long permit application Permit (also called the ‘Flag Waiver’); satisfactory accommodations on vessels
process: • Development of project Detailed Design nearby the work areas.
• The Project was commercially announced Documentation in accordance with
at the end of 2001. This enabled the Russian rules, regulations and legislation; The absence of any local support
Project to a transition from explorations • Development of an Oil Spill Response infrastructure on site meant that working
to development stage. Plan and facilities, integrated with main there also required planning of the delivery
• The project received positive conclusion contractor and client; and presence of supplies of materials and
of the State Ecological Expert Review • Marine Mammal Protection Plan (including spares. Each piece of equipment needed to
(SEER) in July 2002 for both the the last 100 Western Gray Whales !); be well outfitted, well maintained and
Extended Reach Drilling and the Phase 1 • Navigation Safety Plan for both work sites equipped with more than normal spare
Development Justification of Investment at Chayvo and Tatar Strait (shipping lane); parts. The ability to replace parts and make
(JoI). In October 2002 the Glavgosexpertiza • Severe Weather Plan (typhoons during repairs in a timely fashion was essential to
of Russia approved the JoI for the the autumn); avoid unwelcome, costly delays.
Sakhalin-1 Project. Favourable conclusions • Medical Evacuation Plan, integrated with
had previously been received from main contractor and client; The magnitude of this challenge was
the Ministry of Natural Resources and • Waste Management Plan (for vessels); enhanced by the inevitable short summer
the Ministry of Development and Trade. • Air Emission Permit; Waste Disposal Permit; working window in Sakhalin which lasts
This was a key milestone and allowed • Development of environmental reporting from June to October. Winter ice clears
the Project to proceed to the next stage, on air emissions, waste management, during the end of May and in October the
that of the TEOC or Technical and WUL compliance, socio-economic typhoon season starts with ice returning in
Economic Substantiation of Construction. statistics of employed persons and so on; November. This tight window did indeed
• In April 2003 the Authorised State Body • Execution of pre- and post-construction hinder the completion of certain aspects of
approved the Development Programme environmental surveys, as well as the operation which had to be postponed
and Budget for the Sakhalin-1 Project. monitoring during construction; until summer of the following year.
• In February 2004 the Ministry of Natural • Inspection and Test Plans; Development
Resources of the Russian Federation of the project As-Built and The completion of both Tatar Strait crossing
approved the positive conclusion of the Commissioning Dossier; and Chayvo offshore pipelines works were
SEER-Panel on the TEOC for Phase 1 of • and numerous ‘Akts of Transfer’ of the continued in 2006 with the Tatar Strait
the Development of the Sakhalin-1 facilities to the Russian Authorities. crossing being finalised during July and at
Project. This Panel, comprising 49 Chayvo the final work at the base of the
leading Russian experts from the Russian Orlan platform being installed in August
academia, technical and environmental CONCLUSIONS and the completion of the erosion
organisations of the Russian Federation. protection rock over these spools being
In April 2004 the Russian Federation The Sakhalin-1 Project in the Russian Far completed during October 2006.
approved the TEOC for Phase I of the East was a many-facetted and challenging
Sakhalin-1 Project. This approval is the project involving several co-venture partners The enormity of such an offshore project in
key milestone that allows the operator each working within their areas of expertise. a severe climate demands flexibility and
to commence construction. The cooperation amongst these partners innovative organisation regarding crews,
was essential to the successful completion vessels and materials. The satisfactory
Each of these major approvals required of the task. During the dredging, trenching completion of the dredging works
literally hundreds of other approvals and and rock placement works, several emphasizes the significant contribution
concurrences as pre-requisites from tens challenges specific to the remoteness of the the dredging industry makes to the
of Russian federal and local government project and the severe weather conditions development of maritime infrastructure
agencies. Further permits and documenta- were encountered. The remoteness of the for offshore resources.