Sheffield Forgemasters' offshore oil and gas specialist, Vulcan SFM, secured a US$7.1 million (5.5 million GBP) contract with Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) to supply 73 steel castings ranging from 0.5-tonne to 19.5-tonne, for a semisubmersible oil platform, the hull of which is being built in Korea by SHI for operation in a Gulf of Mexico oilfield.
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Image from Sheffield Forgemasters. |
Paul Mockford, Design Director at Vulcan SFM, Forgemasters' offshore division, said: “The contract is for a range of components, 20 of which are module support castings which allow the topside modules to sit on the hull of semisubmersible platform - the remaining castings are structural components within the hull.
“These hull castings are complex shapes and will reproduce the intersection of multiple plates of steel which would otherwise be welded together. Castings provide a more fatigue resistant solution in these highly loaded locations.
“One of the key benefits of using a cast solution for complex joints is that they can be designed to reduce the effect of fatigue loading. Thicker sections can be used in areas of high stress and smooth radii introduced to give reduced stress-concentration factors.”
Sheffield Forgemasters will manufacture the castings to the client's design. Delivery of the components is expected to start in late 2017/early 2018, running through to mid 2018.
The new floating production platform will have the capacity to produce up to 140,000 gross bo/d from up to 14 production wells. Oil production is expected to begin in late 2021.
The platform will operate in the Green Canyon region of the Gulf of Mexico, roughly 200mi (320km) south of New Orleans, Louisiana, US. It lies in approximately 5100ft (1550m) of water.
Following a global cessation of offshore oil and gas developments in 2015 the project is the first major offshore development to be sanctioned and will see a second oil platform installed at an undisclosed, established oilfield, to increase overall production capacity.
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