FMC Technologies has secured a significant order from Shell covering subsea systems for the Stones field development, plus a further contract for the Exxon/Statoil Julia development, both of which are located in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Under the Shell contract, FMC is to supply eight subsea trees, a subsea manifold, topside and subsea controls and associated equipment.
Discovered in 2005 by the ill-fated Deepwater Horizon, the ultra-deep Stones field is located in the Gulf of Mexico on Walker Ridge Block 508, in a water depth of 2,919m.
In 2005, Discoverer Spirit drillship drilled the Stones-2 to a true vertical depth of 8,705m in 2,919m of water. The well encountered several hydrocarbon-bearing sands in the Lower Tertiary interval.
Then in 2008, an exploration well, Stones-3, reached a depth of 8,960m and confirmed the previous discovery of multiple oil-bearing sands.
On May 8, Shell announced the investment decision for Stones. First phase of development will comprise two subsea wells producing to an FPSO. Later, six more development wells will help to increase the production capacity of the field. Peak production from the first development phase is expected to reach 50,000 barrels oil equivalent per day.
Statoil and ExxonMobil have selected FMC Technologies to supply six subsea trees, a manifold and associated tie-in hardware for the deepwater project which is being developed as a tieback to the Jack and St Malo fields in the Walker Ridge region of the US Gulf in a water depth of 2,100m.
Julia was discovered in 2007 in the strategically important Jack/St Malo area of the US Gulf. Now under development, $4billion phase one is designed to produce 34,000bpd of oil from six subsea wells tied back to the Jack/St Malo production facility. A development drilling programme is timetabled to start next year.
There’s a third piece of good news for FMC as the company is to supply subsea systems to ConocoPhillips for the third development phase of the Bayu-Undan gas field in the Timor Sea.
The $26million contract covers the supply of long lead items such as subsea trees, wellheads, jumper kits and associated control systems. Detailed engineering and additional procurement activities will begin once the field partners announce the final investment decision mid-year.
Additionally, the partners are seeking a suitable semi-submersible to carry out the third phase development drilling programme which is expected to begin in Q2 2014.
