Journey To Hebron – Winter 2012

Hebron is a heavy oilfield estimated to have 660–1055 million barrels of recoverable resources. The field was first discovered in 1980 and is located offshore Newfoundland and Labrador in the Jeanne d’Arc Basin, 350 kilometers southeast of St. John’s, the capital of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada.

ebron is approximately nine kilometers north of the Terra Nova project, 32 kilometers southeast of the Hibernia project, and 46 kilometers from the White Rose project. The water depth at Hebron is approximately 92 meters.

The Hebron owners are ExxonMobil Canada Properties (36%), Chevron Canada Resources (26.7%), Suncor Energy Inc. (22.7%), Statoil Canada (9.7%), and Nalcor Energy (4.9%). Currently, ExxonMobil Canada Properties is the operator of the Hebron project.

The GBS

The Hebron project will be using a stand-alone, concrete gravity-based structure (GBS) to drill for oil offshore. It is the second GBS to be developed for the region and takes into consideration the harsh conditions of the northern Atlantic Ocean, including dramatic ice considerations. The first GBS was constructed at the Bull Arm site in Newfoundland in the early 1990s for Hibernia. Today, the second GBS will be built also at the Bull Arm site in Newfoundland.

The Hebron GBS will consist of a reinforced concrete structure designed to withstand sea ice, icebergs, and meteorological and oceanographic conditions.  It will be designed to store approximately 1.2 million barrels of crude oil.

The GBS will support an integrated topsides deck that includes a living quarters and facilities to perform drilling and production. A substantial portion of the topsides will be engineered and fabricated in Newfoundland and Labrador, and the integration will be performed at the Bull Arm site.

The project includes offshore surveys, engineering, procurement, fabrication, construction, installation, commissioning, development drilling, production, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning.

The Hebron GBS, once completed, will stand 220 meters high. To put that into perspective, it is almost two-thirds the height of the Eiffel Tower, and it’s about ten times higher than the average office building, making it one of the greatest engineering feats currently being constructed in the world.

Bull Arm is one of the main construction sites for the Hebron project. It is where project contractors Kiewit Kvaerner and WorleyParsons, along with numerous local subcontractors and suppliers, will build the Gravity Based Structure (GBS) and living quarters, along with assembling the Hebron platform.

2011 – September:

September: Began site preparation work which included road upgrades, refurbishing buildings, and establishing site services. This work continued throughout most of 2012, including the installation of concrete batch plants and tower cranes.

2011 – December:

Received Comprehensive Study Report approval which enabled the construction of the bund wall for the dry dock area where the GBS will be built.

2012 – October:

Began the skirt installation, officially starting GBS construction. 2012 saw the Hebron project get underway. With all approvals in place, the construction of the bund wall, batch plant, and buildings began. Detailed design was completed; the development application and benefits plan were approved, ensuring the project was well underway.

2013:

Begin topsides fabrication. Construction and fabrication activities will proceed in parallel for several years. When the various topsides components are complete, they will all come together at Bull Arm for integration, hook-up, and commissioning. The topsides and the GBS will then be mated, and the complete platform will be towed to the Hebron field.

2016 – 17:

2016 – Ready for the hook-up and commissioning phase. 2017 – First oil.

Hebron Platform Execution

GBS

• Gravity Based Structure (GBS) construction in dry dock, including civil and mechanical outfitting (MOF)
• Tow-out and installation at deep-water site (DWS)
• GBS construction at DWS – civil and MOF including solid ballast

Topsides

• Utilities Process Module (UPM) transferred to topsides integration pier via heavy lift vessel
• Drilling Support Module (DSM) and Drilling Equipment Set (DES) installed and integrated onto UPM
• Living Quarters (LQ), Helideck, and West Lifeboat Station transferred to barge and installed onto UPM
• East Lifeboat Station and Flare Boom lifted and installed onto UPM
• Complete all module integration connections and commissioning
• Integrated topsides floated to the Bull Arm DWS for mating and hook-up with the GBS
• Deep Water Site
• Float over and deck mating at DWS
• Hook-up and commissioning Topsides-GBS
• Tow-out and installation at offshore location, including grouting

(Source: www.hebronproject.com)