No abstract

Kerr-McGee's and Devon Energy's Red Hawk spar was installed at GB 876 in approximately 5,300 ft water depth (WD) in April 2004. This is the first use of Technip's third generation spar (cell spar) and is one of the first permanent deepwater floaters in full production to use a passive polyester Taut Leg Mooring (TLM) in the Gulf of Mexico (GOM). This paper describes the planning and installation of the Red Hawk cell spar and the polyester mooring system using a Construction and Anchor Handling Tug (CAHT).

The CX-15 buoyant tower was installed for BPZ Energy in the Corvina field offshore Peru in a water depth of 54 m in September 2012. This is the first use of HortonGMC's buoyant tower platform design which was developed for BPZ Energy specifically to address the requirements of their shallow water field development program.One of the key inputs into the selection of the buoyant tower in lieu of a more conventional jacket for this water depth was that it is designed to be installed from the transportation vessel itself and did not require mobilization of additional expensive offshore installation vessels. Peru has very limited offshore construction infrastructure, and the mobilization of large, heavy lift construction equipment would not have been cost effective for the project.Additionally, the duration for installation of the buoyant tower is minimal compared to a conventional jacket, as pile driving effort is eliminated thereby reducing installation time and overall offshore risk. This new buoyant tower design utilized a number of proven deep water technologies where successful installations were completed with large construction vessels and equipment. The challenge in the installation of BPZ's CX-15 buoyant tower was to apply procedures and processes to cost effectively complete an installation with these proven technologies in an area that had minimal offshore construction infrastructure.