Building the Hibernia: Newfoundland's huge offshore platform

Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · Welding Journal (Miami); (United States)

OSTI ID:6943470

Irving, B

It seems most of the world is cooperating in the construction of one of the largest offshore oil platforms ever built. Steels are coming into Newfoundland, where final assembly is being conducted, from Belgium, Italy, Germany; stainless steels from Sweden; and titanium from the US. Welding electrodes are being shipped in from Montreal, from Holland, even from Cleveland. The objective is to tap the 615 million barrels (bbl) of oil that lie in the Hibernia field on the Grand Banks, some 195 miles (315 km) east southeast of St. John's, Newfoundland. Actual welding is going on in numerous locations. Although the platform is a concrete base structure, 37,000 metric tons of structural steel is being welded in order to complete the topsides assembly. In charge of all construction work is the Hibernia Management and Development Co., Ltd. (HMDC), an operating company formed by the four owner companies. The topsides segment of the Hibernia platform is divided into five major modules. It consists of five super modules and seven topside-mounted structures (TMS). One super module is being built in Bull Arm in Newfoundland. The process module and the living quarters module are being built by Hyundai Heavy Industries, South Korea, while the mud and utility modules are being fabricated by Belleli, s.p.a., Italy. The five super modules and the seven TMS will be brought together in Newfoundland where they will be welded together. All seven of the topside-mounted structures are being fabricated in Newfoundland. The assembled topsides will be towed to the site where they will be mated to the gravity base structure (GBS).

• OSTI ID: 6943470
• Journal Information: Welding Journal (Miami); (United States), Vol. 73:10; ISSN 0043-2296
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
NEWFOUNDLAND
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
CONSTRUCTION
ARC WELDING
MODULAR STRUCTURES
PIPES
SCHEDULES
STAINLESS STEELS
TITANIUM
TRAINING
ALLOYS
CANADA
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EDUCATION
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
HIGH ALLOY STEELS
IRON ALLOYS
IRON BASE ALLOYS
ISLANDS
JOINING
METALS
NORTH AMERICA
STEELS
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
WELDING
020300* - Petroleum- Drilling & Production