Kodiak Oil Field, Gulf of Mexico

Kodiak field is being developed as a tie back to the Devils Tower spar located in Mississippi Canyon Block 773. Image courtesy of VaderSS.

One of the biggest purpose-built, ultra-deepwater pipelay and subsea construction vessels, the Deep Blue will be used for the field development. Image courtesy of Technip.

Global Orion, a support vessel, operated by Technip, will be employed for the Kodiak field development. Image courtesy of Technip.

The Kodiak oil field lies in water depth of 4,700ft in the Mississippi Canyon Blocks 727/771 in Gulf of Mexico, 153 miles south of New Orleans, Louisiana, US.

The field is being developed by Deep Gulf Energy, which is the operator holding a 46% stake while non-operating partners LLOG and Murphy Oil hold 25% and 29% respectively.

Discovered in 2008 by BP, the field is expected to produce first oil in the first quarter of 2016. Plans for future development of the field involve a second well that will be drilled 12 months after the first production.

Deep Gulf Energy bought working interest in the field in 2012 from BP and new partners were brought onboard in 2013 for the development of the field.

Kodiak oil field discovery

The discovery well encountered hydrocarbon bearing sands in Middle and Lower Miocene oil reserves. BP altered its reserve estimates for the field when results from an appraisal well drilled in 2009 came in low and wet.

Two follow-up wells were drilled later, and the field comprises a total of six pay sands.

Kodiak oil field development

Development plans for the field involve smart completions and a subsea tie back of up to two wells to the Devil’s Tower spar located in Mississippi Canyon Block 773. A development well was drilled and completed in 2015 that services three of the primary field pays.

The drilling operations constitute the highest pressure and temperature fracpac completions ever carried out in the Gulf of Mexico. A 6in single flowline will be used to perform the tie-back.

Demanding conditions at the Kodiak field include high temperature and pressure and also extremely corrosive production fluids that require the subsea system and the pipeline to be of bi-metallic construction, lined with corrosion-resistant alloy. The pressure of the subsea system will be 15,000psi.

The Kodiak satellite facility will be attached to the existing spar in the form of two module decks. A special system of buoys will be added to the mooring system to increase the payload of the spar, creating ten additional feed of freeboard.

Offshore installation will be carried out by vessels from Technip’s fleet that include one of the biggest purpose-built, ultra-deepwater pipelay and subsea construction vessel, the Deep Blue, and a support vessel, the Global Orion.

Key players involved with the Kodiak oil field development

AMEC was selected by BP in May 2009 to provide engineering services for the Kodiak discovery.

A lump-sum contract was awarded to Technip for the development of the Kodiak field. The scope of work includes project management, fabrication and installation of approximately 12km of reeled metallic flowline and riser, installation of an 11km umbilical, associated terminations and flying leads, pre-commissioning and testing for the rigid line, and crossings preparation along with pre-lay and post-lay survey.

Project management will be performed from Technip’s operating centre located in Houston, Texas. Welding work on the infield flowline and riser will be conducted in Technip’s spoolbase in Mobile, Alabama.