Consortium opts for islands solution

By Vahe Petrossian

 24 February 2012 01:41 GMT

The ExxonMobil-led Zadco consortium opted for four artificial islands as drilling and processing centres for an extra 250,000 bpd from Upper Zakum as a more efficient and less costly alternative to installing an additional 25 wellhead platform towers and hundreds of kilometres of new flow lines, writes Vahe Petrossian

The central drilling facilities and processing facilities involving 150,000 tonnes of modular plants will utilise new technologies in “extended reach drilling and maximum reservoir contact to effectively develop the entire field”, Zadco says.

ExxonMobil’s extensive experience at the Sakhalin field in Russia and elsewhere with the new technology played a key role in the decision, Zadco said.

“The use of maximum reservoir contact technology offers the opportunity to reduce the required number of new wells and unlock tighter areas in the reservoir.”

Two such wells have been drilled so far to 20,000 feet, and…

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