Hello,
Today i thought that i would talk about the oil / gas rig that you will have seen images of. I was involved with the construction of this beast. At any one time there was 850 people offshore.
As oil rigs go, this is a one of kind.
The Mariner oilfield is located in the United Kingdom sector of the North Sea, about 150 kilometres (93 mi) east of the Shetland Islands, Scotland, in block 9/11a. It was discovered in 1981 at a depth of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) below sea level. Water depth in the area is about 100 metres (330 ft). Estimated recovery is at least 250 million barrels (40×106 m3) of oil.
As of December 2012 the operator, Statoil (now Equinor), made the investment decision and final approval of the field development plan by the UK authorities is in progress. The plan envisages a production, drilling and quarters platform based on a conventional steel jacket, exporting oil via a floating storage unit.
The oil is heavy and viscous, with API gravities of 12.1°–14.6° and viscosities ranging from 67cp in the field's Maureen reservoir to 508cp in the Heimdal reservoir. The small volume of associated gas will be used as fuel for the platform, and more fuel gas will be imported via a connection to the nearby Vesterled pipeline.
In summary
It took over 35 years to work out how to extract this super heavy thick oil. The diluting solution that mixes with the oil, thins it out, and we end up with an even better product. As this platform isn’t on a pipe line, she is connected a large vessel, known as an FSU (floating storage unit) This FSU pumps the diluting solution to the platform, and the platform then pumps back the recovered oil. A large tanker comes into the field every few days to collect the produced oil.
Amazing isn’t it.
Have a good week.
Lee
