TX 75083-3836, U.S.A., fax 01-972-952-9435. ProposalFlow assurance is one of the major considerations when designing a deepwater completion where undesired heat loss through the deepwater riser accelerates the formation of gas hydrates and the deposition of paraffin and asphaltene. In addition, any planned or unplanned shutdown of the well for various well operations for an extended period can result in critical heat loss, which then requires an extended warm-up time to restart the well. In some scenarios, restart of the well becomes impossible without assistance from chemical injection, unless of course, proper thermal insulation was implemented beforehand. Field applications of thermal insulating fluids have demonstrated significant reductions in heat loss by reducing conduction and minimizing thermal convection of the fluid. Such thermal insulating fluids have been applied with great success in many deepwater riser applications during the last several years.For this major deepwater project in the GOM, "how to manage flow assurance" had been identified as key to success of the project from the very beginning of the planning phase. This paper details the selection criteria used in the riser insulation design for the project. Evaluation of several insulation options and combinations of options will be discussed, and the final selection of the preferred insulation method will be presented. The unique design of the deepwater riser enabled the operator to maximize the insulation efficiency by the proposed thermal insulation fluid and to meet the most stringent thermal insulation requirements of this project. Data from downhole temperature and pressure gauges and from the fiber optic DTS system will be presented.

Novel well completion techniques and exceptional field execution allowed the six well completions on the Anadarko operated Marco Polo Deepwater TLP project in Green Canyon 608 to be accomplished in world-class fashion.All six wells (seventeen frac packs) were placed on production in only 168 days, including 14 days lost due to storms, after riser tie-back operations were complete.An operational efficiency of 85%, with weather downtime accounting for 9% and other lost time accounting for 6%, was obtained during the completion campaign. This paper will focus on how the implementation challenges of completing seventeen zones in six deepwater dry-tree wells with a 1000 hp rig were met, and will highlight a number of concepts and technical firsts that can be applied to other deepwater development projects. Background Anadarko's Marco Polo deepwater development project is located in Green Canyon Block 608 in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 175 miles south of New Orleans, in a 4300' water depth environment. Field Development The Marco Polo Field was discovered in 2000, and the project was sanctioned for development in 2001.Six development wells were drilled in 2002 and 2003, and were temporarily abandoned to await completion after installation of the TLP in 2004 (Refer to Figure 1, Marco Polo TLP).The TLP hull and deck were installed in January 2004, and were designed to accommodate a 1000-hp completion rig to run riser tiebacks and perform completions.Only 88 persons are allowed on the platform at a time (maximum POB) due to USCG rules, a significant issue for rig operations. Geological The Green Canyon Block 608 (Marco Polo) field is located in the southern portion of the Marco Polo salt withdrawal mini-basin.The depositional model for the field is a restricted basin floor amalgamated sheet fan sand.Moderate to strong aquifer support was expected, although the potential presence of internal baffles and barriers introduce uncertainty to the extent of the aquifer support. The trap geometry was created by salt withdrawal and extensional faulting due to sediment loading on the eastern side of the salt ridge.The primary trap consists of a fault bounded graben dipping away from the salt ridge.The main faults are west-southwest to east-northeast trending faults that form the graben.The updip trap component to the west is salt and/or sand punch-out.The graben is further subdivided into separate compartments by additional faulting.Refer to Figure 2, Marco Polo M10 Sand Structure Map. Two main fault compartments make up the Marco Polo field.Another graben fault, downthrown to the north west and trending in the same direction as the bounding faults, subdivides the graben into these two main compartments, designated as Fault Block I and Fault Block II. The two main compartments are further subdivided into two additional compartments by faults that are trending northwest to southeast and downthrown to the west (towards salt).The four main producing compartments for the Marco Polo field are designated FB IA, FB IB, FB IIA and FB IIB (Updip compartments are denoted "A"). The productive horizons at the Marco Polo Field consist of seven stacked Lower Pliocene sandstone reservoirs; the M10, M20, M30, M40, M50, M60, and M70; 75% of the reserves are concentrated in the M40 and M50 Sands.Reservoir depths range from 11000 to 13500' tvd-ss.Refer to Figure 3, Marco Polo Type Log. A complete open hole logging suite was obtained on all discovery and development wells.Continuous whole core was obtained through both the M-40 and M-50 intervals in the GC 608 #1 ST#1 wellbore.

Anadarko's Marco Polo deepwater development project is located in Green Canyon Block 608 in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 175 miles south of New Orleans, in a 4300' water depth environment. Challenging flow assurance and field development issues affect both well completion design and production operation strategies. This paper will focus on how the completion design for the Marco Polo wells addresses these various issues, and will highlight a number of concepts and technical firsts that can be of application to other deepwater development projects. Background Field Development The Marco Polo Field was discovered in 2000 with the drilling of the GC 608 #1 well, and subsequently delineated by four sidetracks. The project was sanctioned for development in 2001; six development wells were drilled in 2002 and 2003, and were temporarily abandoned to await completion after installation of the TLP in 2004. The TLP hull and deck were installed in January 2004. A 1000-hp completion rig will be installed on the TLP in the first quarter of 2004, and will be used to run riser tiebacks and perform completions. The Marco Polo Field will be developed with 6 direct vertical access (DVA), dry tree wells with a dual riser system producing from a 6-well slot TLP. First production is planned for mid 2004. Geological The Green Canyon Block 608 (Marco Polo) field is located in the southern portion of the Marco Polo mini-basin. The productive horizons at the Marco Polo Field consist of seven stacked Lower Pliocene sandstone reservoirs; the M10, M20, M30, M40, M50, M60, and M70. Refer to Figure 1 for Marco Polo Type Log. 75% of the estimated recoverable reserves are contained in the M40 and M50 intervals. Reservoir depths range from 11000 to 13500' tvd-ss. The depositional model for the field is restricted basin floor amalgamated sheet fan sands. Moderate to strong aquifer support is expected, although the potential presence of internal baffles and barriers introduce uncertainty to the extent of the aquifer support. The trap was created by salt uplift due to sediment loading. The trap consists of graben faulting associated with the salt uplift. The main faults are west-southwest to east-northeast trending faults that form the graben. The bounding fault to the north is downthrown to the southeast while the bounding fault to the south is downthrown to the northwest. The main updip trap component to the west is salt. The graben is further subdivided into separate compartments by additional faulting. Two main fault compartments make up the Marco Polo field. Another graben fault, downthrown to the north west and trending in the same direction as the bounding faults, subdivides the graben into these two main compartments, designated as Fault Block I and Fault Block II. The two main fault compartments are further subdivided into two additional fault compartments by faults that are trending northwest to southeast and downthrown to the west (towards salt). The four producing compartments for the Marco Polo field are designated FB IA, FB IB, FB IIA and FB IIB (Updip compartments are denoted "A"). Refer to Figure 2, M10 Sand Structure.

Summary Novel well completion techniques and exceptional field execution (per Dodson Completion Performance Database) allowed the six well completions on the Anadarko operated Marco Polo Deepwater Tension Leg Platform (TLP) project in Green Canyon (GC) block 608 to be accomplished significantly ahead of schedule. All six wells (17 frac packs) were placed on production in approximately 168 days (including 14 days lost because of storms) after riser tieback operations were complete. An operational efficiency of 85%, with weather downtime accounting for 9% and other lost time accounting for 6%, was obtained during the completion campaign. This paper will focus on how the implementation challenges of completing 17 zones in six deepwater dry-tree wells with a 1,000-hp rig were met, and will highlight a number of concepts and "technical firsts" that can be applied to other deepwater-development projects. Background Anadarko's Marco Polo deepwater-development project is located in GC block 608 in the Gulf of Mexico, approximately 175 miles south of New Orleans, in a 4,300-ft water-depth(Renfro and Burman 2004). Field Development. The Marco Polo field was discovered in 2000, and the project was sanctioned for development in 2001. Six development wells were drilled in 2002 and 2003 and were temporarily abandoned to await completion after installation of the TLP in 2004 (Fig. 1). The TLP hull and deck were installed in January 2004, designed to accommodate a 1,000-hp completion rig to run riser tiebacks and perform completions. A significant issue for rig operations is adherence to United States Coast Guard rules. Only 88 persons are allowed on board the platform at a time. Geology. The GC Block 608 field is located in the southern portion of the Marco Polo salt withdrawal minibasin. The depositional model for the field is restricted basin floor amalgamated sheet fan sand. Moderate to strong aquifer support was expected, although the potential presence of internal baffles and barriers introduced uncertainty to the extent of the aquifer support. The trap geometry was created by salt withdrawal and extensional faulting because of sediment loading on the eastern side of the salt ridge. The primary trap consists of a fault-bounded graben dipping away from the salt ridge. The main faults are west to southwest to east to northeast trending faults that form the graben. The updip-trap component to the west is salt/sand pinchout. The graben is further subdivided into separate compartments by additional faulting (Fig. 2). Two main fault compartments make up the Marco Polo field. Another graben fault (downthrown to the northwest and trending in the same direction as the bounding faults) subdivides the graben into two main compartments designated as Fault Block I and Fault Block II. The two main compartments are further subdivided into two additional compartments by faults that are trending northwest to southeast and downthrown to the west (toward the salt). The four main producing compartments for the Marco Polo field are designated FB IA, FB IB, FB IIA, and FB IIB (updip compartments are denoted "A"). The productive horizons at the Marco Polo field consist of seven stacked Lower Pliocene sandstone reservoirs: the M10, M20, M30, M40, M50, M60, and M70. 75% of the reserves are concentrated in the M40 and M50 sands. Reservoir depths range from 11,000 to 13,500 ft true vertical depth (TVD) (Fig. 3). A complete openhole-logging suite was obtained on all discovery and development wells. Continuous whole core was obtained through both the M40 and M50 intervals in the GC 608 number 1 ST number 1 wellbore. Reservoir. Initial reservoir pressures range from 6,700 to 7,600 psi. Reservoir temperatures range from 115to 122°F. Ambient mudline temperature is 38°F at 4,300 ft water depth. Reservoir fluids are undersaturated black oils, with API gravities ranging from 30 to 34° and gas oil ratio (GOR) ranging from 700 to 1,000 scf/bbl. During the exploratory and development drilling phases, reservoir pressures were measured on nearly all productive intervals in all wells, and reservoir fluid samples were collected in the main field pay zones and analyzed (Table 1). Completion Design Overview Multiple pay sands, low reservoir temperatures, the requirement to gas lift the wells, and the deepwater environment drove the design of the Marco Polo completions. After significant flow assurance modeling and evaluation, dual barrier risers (with insulating gel in all annular spaces and with a separate gas lift string terminated in a submudline or packoff-tubing hanger) were chosen as the upper completion design (Renfro and Burman 2004). The sandface completion design focused on risk management during completion operations with the hardware designed to minimize future intervention risk. In brief, the 17 pay intervals in six wells were developed with multi-zone selective single stacked frac-pack completions using sliding sleeves with a concentric-isolation string for zonal isolation. Multiple chemical-injection points are installed for hydrate, paraffin, asphaltene, and scale prevention. The installation of technology for downhole-pressure sensing and distributed temperature along the tubing string assisted in well surveillance and hydrate prevention (Fig. 4).

Introduction This manuscript is intended to set the stage for the OTC General Session Panel discussion entitled " When Failure is not an Option: Managing Megaprojects in the Current Environment??, scheduled for Thursday, May 7, 2009. Members of this panel session are as follows:Richard Westney, Chairman, Westney Consulting Group (Panel Moderator)Joel Fort, General Manager, Yemen LNGJames Lucas, President & CEO, Luman InternationalLuc J. Messier, Senior Vice President - Project Development and Procurement, ConocoPhillipsDon Vardeman, Vice President -Worldwide Projects, Anadarko Petroleum Corporation Summary Megaprojects can be defined as projects that are so large that the conventional body of project and risk management knowledge is insufficient to ensure success. Given that significant overruns and delays on megaprojects are almost the norm, it appears that no one really has all the answers to meeting the special challenges of these huge projects. Failure is not an option for most megaprojects. The level of investment, the magnitude of the cashflows involved, and the organizational commitment required are such that the impact of bad outcomes can be devastating to the operator, partners and host countries involved. Megaprojects create challenges that, although now fairly typical, have not typically been addressed in the past. Given the relatively small number of past megaprojects, and their long duration, many executives and practitioners have limited or no experience with them - and the experience of those that do is often not the sort that one would wish to repeat. New approaches are needed, many have been tried, and a new body of knowledge is emerging for these very large projects. The panel is made up of people who are very experienced in megaprojects, representing the executive and project manager points of view, the owner and contractor points of view, as well as the independent perspective of consultants. Rather than focus on success stories, the panel will focus on the most difficult / challenging / intractable aspects of megaprojects and, with extensive audience participation, discuss what has worked, what has not, and what is needed going forward in the current energy and economic environment. Participants will take away an improved understanding that will assist in their planning and decision-making.