Essar Projects successfully commissions four offshore well platforms for ONGC
Essar Projects India Ltd. (EPIL), a leading EPC contractor, today announced the successful commissioning of four offshore well platforms for its client ONGC.
An EPIL-led consortium—with Saipem as the engineering partner—was awarded the contract for Engineering, Procurement, Construction, Installation and Commissioning (EPCIC) of four new well platforms by ONGC. Of these, three platforms are in the C-26 Cluster (C-23, C-26 and B-12-1) in the Tapti field, situated 160 km-200 km to the north-west of Mumbai in water depths of 20 m-30 m. The fourth platform—B-173 AB—is adjacent to an existing B-173 A platform in the Neelam field, situated 50 km west of Mumbai in water depths of around 55 m. The project also involved installing a bridge connecting the new B-173 AB platform with the operational B-173 A platform, including structural and process modifications related to the integration of the two platforms. The value of the contract is around Rs 550 crore (or about $90 million).
The project entailed procurement, fabrication and installation of approximately 10,000 tonnes of steel. The primary structures of the platforms were fabricated at Adyard, Abu Dhabi, and transported to India. Fabrication activities for associated structures were executed simultaneously from four different locations of sub-vendors of Adyard. As a result, the Essar Projects team managed to complete most of the work, including major installations of deck and jacket, before the close of clear weather window in May 2016. The remaining hook-up and pre-commissioning work was executed after the end of the 2016 monsoons.
The project demanded stringent safety precautions and execution precision. The installation had to be carried out in hostile environmental conditions characterised by strong ocean currents and poor underwater visibility. Working on the C-23 platform proved to be especially challenging because of the low water depths and strong currents. The execution also needed to be planned to perfection, given a short clear weather window (October–May). This called for timely delivery of material and fabricated structures, and the readiness of pre-installation aids. While modifying the operational B-173A platform and installing the connecting bridge, additional precautions had to be taken to mitigate the risk posed by the presence of Hydrogen Sulphide gas.
About Essar Projects India Ltd.
Essar Projects India Limited (EPIL) is a major EPC company of the Essar Group, offering unique collaborative end-to-end project delivery model that is backward integrated into the supply chain and forward integrated into the operator’s mindset through its sister company links.
It has over four decades of experience executing mega projects in Hydrocarbons (Refinery, Petrochemical & Fertiliser Plants); Tankages and Terminals; Pipelines (Oil & Gas, Water, Slurry and Subsea); Offshore (Platforms, SPM & PLEM); Infrastructure (Ports, Jetties, Airports, Railway, Buildings & Townships); Minerals & Metals (Steel Plants, Sinter Feed, Beneficiation & Pelletisation Plants, Material Handling Systems); and Power Plants (Coal, Gas, Multi-fuel and Hydel).