Operation of an articulated oil loading column at the Beryl Field in the North Sea

Conference · Mon Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1979 · Proc., Annu. Offshore Technol. Conf.; (United States)

OSTI ID:6321908

Hays, D L ^[1]; McSwiggan, M; Vilain, R

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1. Mobil North Sea Ltd.

The Beryl Field, too small (80,000 bbl/day) to justify a 100 mi pipeline to the mainland, has a Condeep concrete gravity base platform with storage capacity for approx. 900,000 bbl. An articulated oil loading platform (SPM) was installed one mile from the platform in 400 ft of water for unmanned loading of two dedicated 80,000 dwt tankers, later reduced to 60,000 dwt capacity to provide clean ballast capacity. The 120 ft, 16 in. hose string is stored hanging vertically from the boom tip, with the lower end submerged in the sea; this avoids severe loadings experienced in the catenary configuration originally used. There are no underwater hoses. Consideration is being given to running a subsea power cable from the Beryl platform to the SPM to reduce maintenance manhours and to eliminate some equipment (diesel engine generators, hydraulic pumps, air compressors, fuel and hydraulic storage systems, telemetry system components, and some fire protection requirements). The 900,000 bbl storage capability of the platform in conjunction with SPM reliability has permitted continuing production despite bad weather conditions.

• OSTI ID: 6321908
• Report Number(s): CONF-790444-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Proc., Annu. Offshore Technol. Conf.; (United States) Journal Volume: 3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
024000* -- Petroleum-- Storage-- (-1989)
ATLANTIC OCEAN
CABLES
CAPACITY
DESIGN
EFFICIENCY
ENERGY SOURCES
FOSSIL FUELS
FUELS
HOSES
LOADING
MATERIALS HANDLING
NORTH SEA
OFFSHORE PLATFORMS
PETROLEUM
SEAS
SHIPS
STORAGE FACILITIES
SURFACE WATERS
TANKER SHIPS
TECHNOLOGY UTILIZATION