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Galoc Production Company (GPC), the operator of SC
14-Galoc Block, commenced
drilling in October 2007 using
the drillship “Energy Searcher”, initially with the top holes of the
2 programmed development wells and a pilot hole and later on with
the full well drilling following a batch drilling program. The
drilling phase of the Galoc
Development –Phase 1 was completed on January 7, 2008. Some
2,900 meters of reservoir contact is now “behind
steel” as per the Galoc Plan of Development.
The rig remained in the location for the installation
of the subsea trees and completion
and flow cleaning of the wells. Galoc-3 ST 1 flowed oil to the
surface at a restricted rate of about 5,200 barrels of oil per day
on a 48/64-inch choke, while Galoc-4 flowed at a restricted rate of
6,150 barrels per day with a choke setting of 52/64-inch. The clean
up flow confirmed both wells
and completion integrity and their ability to flow to the surface.
The drillship finally sailed away on February 29th
and was released from service to the project upon its arrival in
Singapore on March 7, 2008.
GPC immediately commenced the installation of subsea
facilities and the mooring and riser system
(M&RS) for the Floating Production, Storage & Offtake (FPSO) vessel
using the construction vessel “Lewek Champion”. The work involved
installation of over 1,200
tons of equipment on the sea bed. The installation work was
completed on March 29, 2008.
The FPSO “Rubicon Intrepid” arrived at the Galoc site
on May 11th,
ready for hook-up and commissioning. Unfortunately, a severe
tropical storm (“Cosme”) traversed
the Galoc site and the vessel had to seek shelter in calmer seas.
Actual hook-up commenced on May 21st
and was initially scheduled to be completed in about 3 weeks time.
With only minor work remaining for the final commissioning, another
weather disturbance, typhoon
“Frank”, threatened the area during the week of June 20. The
FPSO operator conducted a controlled disconnection of the M&RS. The
vessel sailed back to Batangas Bay where repair of some minor damage
to the vessel’s bow thruster was undertaken.
A survey of the laid down M&RS revealed significant
damage to the system as a result of uncalculated laying down of the
riser system resulting into development of kinks on at least 3
sections of the equipment which needed replacement.
GPC likewise discovered leaks in
the lower riser package that also needed repair. The
operator immediately commenced repair works on the
damaged sections of the
facilities. The entire procedure extended through to
September 2008, largely due to
the weather disturbances
which made the repair works using smaller service vessels
practically impossible. Using a larger boat “CSO Venturer” which
was able
to work on rougher seas, repairs and re-installation of the M&RS was
completed on October 3, 2008.
The Galoc Field finally
commenced production on October 9, 2008, initially with the Galoc-
3. The well was flowed uninterrupted for at least 30 hours and was
closed in on October 13th
for pressure build up tests, as per GPC’s drawn start-up program.
The other well, Galoc- 4, was
opened on October 13th
at controlled choke openings for clean-up flow. The 2 wells were
simultaneously opened for full 24 hours on October 18th,
achieving a couple of hours of over 20,000 barrels of oil per day
with flush production.
The initial
well test for the 2 wells ran for about a month in order to collect
accurate well head pressure data.
The first Galoc Field offtake
operation was carried out on November 8 – 9, 2008 using the vessel
MT Ban Gong Hu with 294,316 barrels offloaded volume for delivery to
Petron refinery at Limay, Bataan. The second offtake on December
3-4, 2008, involving 305,704 barrels was sold and delivered to a
Thai company. The 3rd shipment of about 198,000 barrels
from the December 30 - 31 short cargo offtake was sold and delivered
to SK Energy International on January 9, 2009.
Field Shutdown and Repairs/HBMS Installation
Adverse weather conditions on
December 14, 2008, coupled with engine failure of one of the tow
vessels and the breakdown of the stern thruster of the Rubicon
Intrepid caused the FPSO to drift towards the No Go Zone, prompting
an emergency disconnection. During the disconnect a retrieval line
of the riser snagged preventing the riser from falling free such
that it was left at a precarious position jarring the M&RS and was
only lowered several hours thereafter. Inspection/survey of the
subsea facilities using an ROV was carried out on December 21st.
It was found out that the rigid spool on the riser fixed at the
Lower Riser Tether Interface (LRTI) had parted from the LRTI. Also
most of the support was missing from the umbilical side of the LRTI.
It was also noted during the survey that the umbilical and tether
had been laid down in large loops on the seabead at the URTI and the
laydown head was also laid in a large loop to end up laying back on
itself. A twist on the riser was also seen during the survey. As a
result of the disconnection, production operations were suspended
since December 14, 2008.
Repairs and re-installation of the
M&RS commenced in mid-January 2009, with GPC and the FPSO contractor
ROI employing a number of support vessels performing different
tasks.
In January 2009, GPC presented the
revised 2009 WP&B which includes the installation of a Hold Back
Mooring System (HBMS) on the FPSO at a cost of USD 1.5MM. This
additional mooring system will provide Rubicon Intrepid with an
immediate mitigation system to counter the difficulties it has
experienced maintaining position and to moderate the effects of
disconnection to subsea facilities and operations. As envisaged,
this enhancement to the current mooring system is expected to reduce
the frequency of disconnection.
The installation of the HBMS and the
repair works and modifications to the current M&RS were completed on
the 4th week of February 2009. The field finally
started producing again on February 25th at an initial
stabilized rate of 17,200 barrels of oil per day. The second part
of the 3rd shipment to SK energy with additional 161,476
barrels was completed in March 2009. Mitsui of Japan, on the
other hand, received cargo #4 of 266,918 barrels in April 2009. And
as early as April, two additional crude cargos were already pre-sold
to foreign buyers for delivery in May and June 2009.
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