LOC, part of the AqualisBraemar LOC Group, has successfully completed its role providing Marine Warranty Survey (“MWS”) services on the Tengizchevroil Future Growth Project-Wellhead Pressure Management Project (“FGP-WPMP”). From a capex and MWS perspective, this project was one of the largest to date within the sector.
LOC was appointed to the project in 2015, with on-site work beginning in 2017. LOC’s work has included overseeing and approving the shipment of 408 large modular cargo items, weighing up to 1,800 tonnes. The project also included site surveyor attendance and operations across multiple global locations, including Korea, Finland, Bulgaria, China, Russia and Italy, with core project management teams based in the UK and Kazakhstan. The team at LOC worked across a 24/7 operational timeframe, with MWS man-hours on site totalling over 138,000 hours.
LOC’s role also included marine and engineering consulting with regard to the transhipment of modules via the Russian inland waterway systems from either St. Petersburg or Rostov on Don through to the Caspian Sea.
The successful completion of this project is testament to LOC’s own far-reaching global footprint and centralised project management structure, which enabled the smooth project management of global teams across all operational areas. Over the past few years LOC has completed similar large-scale projects for the construction of mid and down-stream energy plants, namely Chevron Gorgon, Yamal LNG and are now working on Shell Canada LNG. In addition to this, LOC opened an office in Aktau, Kazakhstan, following appointment on this landmark project, cementing the group’s commitment to developing in regions where we are needed.
Shai Tzucker, Energy Operations Director at LOC London, commented:
“We are proud to have played a part in such a ground-breaking project, of considerable national importance to Kazakhstan. From the start, the project has invested heavily in local communities and is expected to have lasting benefits for Kazakhstan, via improved infrastructure, investment in local skill and workforce, and through important transfer of skills and knowledge via international partnerships.”
Peter Van Der Kraan, LOC Project Manager, commented:
“LOC is pleased to have played a part in the success of this project. TCO was the biggest project in the industry during the period, further cementing LOC’s position as the go to specialist for global energy construction projects. We are very pleased to have supported Chevron and their project management teams during this collaboration and we look forward to working on future projects together down the line.”
About the Tengiz Field (Credit: Chevron)
Deep beneath the western Kazakhstan steppe is a giant reservoir known as the Tengiz Field, where the oil column measures an incredible 1 mile (1.6 km) across. With a surface area more than four times that of Paris, France, Tengiz ranks as the world’s deepest producing supergiant oil field and the largest single-trap producing reservoir in existence. Nearby is another world-class reservoir called the Korolev Field. Chevron holds a 50 percent interest in Tengizchevroil (TCO), which operates the two fields.
Today, the fields' yearly output could satisfy the annual oil demand of entire nations. Net daily production in 2019 (Chevron share) averaged 290,000 barrels of crude oil, 419 million cubic feet of natural gas and 21,000 barrels of natural gas liquids.
The integrated Future Growth Project-Wellhead Pressure Management Project (FGP-WPMP) is designed to further increase total daily production from the Tengiz reservoir and maximize the ultimate recovery of resources.
The FGP will use state-of-the-art sour gas injection technology, successfully developed and proven during TCO’s previous expansion in 2008, to increase daily crude oil production from Tengiz by approximately 260,000 barrels per day.
In parallel, the WPMP maximizes the value of existing TCO facilities by extending the production plateau and keeping existing plants producing at full capacity. First oil is planned for 2022.
Tengizchevroil is a joint venture between Chevron (50% share in the consortium), ExxonMobil (25% share), KazMunayGas (20% share) and LukArco (5% share).
