Abstract

The Wellhead Barge (WHB) is a production & drilling platform solution developed by Bouygues Offshore (BOS) and its partners Sedco-Forex and 2H Engineering for the development of deepwater fields located within mild environments sea areas.

This solution is based on a spread moored barge supporting the facilities required for drilling, completion and work over, partial production facilities and accommodating production risers with surface trees in a central well-bay. The WHB is linked by import / export lines to a main process centre.

The WHB has been developed for West Africa and Indonesia. It takes full advantage of the unique mild wave conditions and the unidirectionality of the sea states with the results of excellent motion characteristics to ensure year around operability.

The paper will present the main features of a WHB designed to accommodate up to 24 surface trees and equipped for autonomous drilling.

Technical topics will include general deck layout, well-bay area and drilling equipment definition, production riser preliminary design and installation principles, mooring system and drilling availability.

Finally, the technical advantages of the WHB will be presented together with the financial advantages, demonstrating the cost effectiveness of this solution through large costs saving in Capex and in Opex.