On January 26, 2017, Blake Moore, Shell Project Manager will make a presentation to the MTS Houston Section on Shell’s Stones FPSO.

Shell is no stranger to setting world records when it comes to deepwater exploration and development. Some 23 years ago Shell started setting records for deepwater development with the Auger development at a depth of 2,860 feet. Then came Mars, Ursa Perdigo and others. Now the Stones development is setting another record as the world’s deepest oil and gas project to date. The development is located along the Walker Ridge area in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, 200 miles southwest of New Orleans in a water depth of 9,500 feet (2,896 m). Shell opted to develop the field using a disconnectable FPSO, tied to a subsea development. Nominal production capacities for the FPSO were set at 60,000 bpd of oil, 30,000 bpd of produced water and 15 MMscfd of associated gas. The FPSO design was based on a Suezmax size, double hull tanker and a contract award was given in early 2013 to SBM offshore to deliver the FPSO.

Shell’s Stones FPSO. Photo courtesy: Shell

The project execution phase began in the fall of 2012, and fabrication on the FPSO began upon arrival of the selected tanker in Singapore in June of 2013. Fabrication was performed in four separate yards in Singapore with topsides modules located in two of the yards (BTE and Dynamac), the disconnectable buoy (BTM) and turret in Keppel’s Benoi yard, and the ship conversion and integration in the Keppel Tuas yard.

The Turritella FPSO arrived at the Stones location in the Gulf of Mexico on January 1st, 2016, connected with the BTM which had been previously installed, and began all riser and umbilical pull-ins during February. Over the following six months integration activities with the subsea facilities were completed, along with final commissioning. Startup was achieved September 2nd, 2016.

About the Speaker

Blake Moore has worked for Shell for over 34 years in various capacities (predominately in facilities and project execution) from California to Norway. He joined Shell’s Deepwater projects group in 1997 and worked several deepwater facilities ranging from subsea to beach, Semis, TLPs and more recently FPSOs. Blake became involved with FPSOs in 2007 as the FPSO lead for Concept Selection and early FEED work for an FPSO Shell was planing to install in Brazil. He later joined the Stones project during concept selection in mid-2010 and successfully completed the delivery of the Turritella FPSO to the Gulf of Mexico in September of 2016.

UPCOMING MTS HOUSTON PRESENTATIONS AND EVENTS

• February 23, 2017 – Luncheon – Texas LNG – Langtry Meyer, Texas LNG
• March 23, 2017 – Luncheon – Industry Outlook – Tudor Pickering American Shooting Center
• March 25, 2017 - Sporting Clays - American Shooting Center
• April 27, 2017 - Luncheon – Jack St Malo Operations and Next Stages – Travis Flowers, Chevron
• May 25, 2017 - Luncheon – Platform Hub Upgrades – Williams
• June 22, 2017 - Luncheon – Decommissioning of Subsea Infrastructure for Independence Hub – Carly Fisher, Anadarko
• October 9-11, 2017 - Dynamic Positioning Conference, Westin Memorial City, Houston