DeepOcean's scope of work will include project management, engineering, and execution of subsea services, among others. (Image source: DeepOcean)

Driven by a framework agreement signed with Woodside Energy (Senegal) BV, ocean services provider DeepOcean will be supervising subsea inspection, maintenance, and repair (IMR) services for the Sangomar field offshore Senegal, West Africa

“We have extensive experience from similar IMR operations offshore West Africa, but this is our first project offshore Senegal and with Woodside. We look forward to being Woodside’s subsea IMR supplier here over the coming years and to demonstrate our competence and extensive pool of specialist subsea tools and underwater assets,” said Øyvind Mikaelsen, CEO of DeepOcean.

With a permanently moored floating production storage and offloading vessel (FPSO), the Sangomar deepwater oil field 100 kms south of Dakar has just begun production. The repurposed FPSO started sail from Singapore last December to travel 12,000 nautical miles.

Extensive offshore infrastructure

Driven by 24 subsea wells and associated subsea systems that comprises of wellheads and subsea trees, in-line tees, manifolds, flowlines and risers, flowline-end terminals, and umbilicals, the project demands long-drawn services from DeepOcean. Its scope of work will include project management, engineering, and execution of subsea services such as inspection, survey, intervention, and maintenance, as well as additional services such as underwater inspection of FPSO (UWILD) and standalone ROV operations. The Norway-based provider will be supported by a Senegalese service company called Teranga Oil and Gas Services SARL.

“Sangomar is a large and impressive field development, with extensive subsea infrastructure. Our aim is always to inspect and maintain it as effectively as possible, thereby keeping costs and operational disturbances to a minimum for Woodside,” said Mikaelsen. 

A project of strategic importance, the Sangomar oil field is supported by investments from the Africa Finance Corporation. 

The imaging campaign will cover an area of 3,400 sq km, capturing high-density onshore data set over blocks B404a and B208 of the Berkine Basin. (Image source: Adobe Stock)

Viridien (formerly CGG) will be conducting seismic imaging for a project in eastern Algeria by Groupement Berkine -- a joint venture between Sonatrach and Occidental Petroleum, among other global partners 

CGG is supporting majors such as bp in subsurface digital strategies since they signed a multi-year global data transformation and curation agreement in 2022.

This imaging campaign will cover an area of 3,400 sq km, capturing high-density onshore data set over blocks B404a and B208 of the Berkine Basin. It will involve a team of scientists from Viridien, who will work out of the company's advanced subsurface imaging centre in France.  

Delivering new subsurface insight

The team will draw on their experience of imaging similar large and ultra-dense land seismic surveys in the Middle East to apply an advanced imaging workflow to this project's dataset, and deliver new subsurface insight. They will also work towards polishing the resolution of the target area’s thin and faulted geology. 

Peter Whiting, executive vice president - geoscience, Viridien, said, “Viridien has been selected to conduct this high-profile project in recognition of its ongoing development of best-in-class imaging technology and significant high-performance computing capabilities. This, together with our long track record in Algeria, dating back to the 1950s, in-depth geological knowledge of the Hassi Messaoud Basin, and recent successful completion of a series of reimaging projects in the country, makes Viridien the preferred partner for delivering the best-possible subsurface images for critical field development decisions.” 

Last year, CGG's sensing and monitoring wing Sercel deployed its systems for a 3D mega-crew project in harsh terrain and desert conditions in North Africa.

Spencer Parker, general manager-North America at Process Vision. (Image source: Process Vision)

Monitoring solutions company Process Vision will be presenting a paper titled 'Detection of Contamination in Gas Pipelines' at CEESI Gas Ultrasonic Meter User’s Conference 2024 in Colorado 

“The paper I am presenting will share multiple videos of real-world installations and, with the knowledge gained, provide a circular argument where allowing liquids to pass into gas transmission networks leads to lost revenue for the gas processor, increased operational costs on the transmission system operator and poses serious safety threats," said Spencer Parker, general manager-North America at Process Vision. 

“Two-phase flow in sales quality gas is considered a fault condition. Ensuring that liquids are avoided or filtered in analyser sample systems will protect gas analysers but can lead process engineers to be unaware when these liquids are present, allowing liquids to pass through custody transfer points without tripping alarms and contaminating gas transmission systems,” he added.

Gas sample from the pipeline is significant to ensure long-term, reliable service from gas ultrasonic meters. Designed to closely detect high-pressure situations in gas pipelines, Process Vision's tech solution has come to the conclusion that phase separation and natural gas liquids (NGL) recovery systems do not necessarily perform to specification. In an earlier presentation, Paul Stockwell, founder and managing director of Process Vision, had explained how errors in hydrocarbon dewpoint can lead to large losses for gas processing. Process Vision's model can record live streaming of the pipeline's internal situiation, which can be accessed from a control room. 

LineVu demonstration

Process Vision will also be exhibiting its latest development for liquid carryover studies -- Discovery System. 

In a demo installation, Process Vision's LineVu will be deployed for pipeline assesment to determine liquid carryover problems. Remote access to a real-time dashboard will provide data by the minute, which will serve as the basis for better decisions, resulting to significant improvement in financial, safety and compliance performance. 

The LineVu process camera, which was launched in February, boasts of accurate liquid carryover monitoring in gas pipelines. 

"We are excited to participate at CEESI and to be able to introduce attendees to the capabilities of LineVu and our Discovery System for their high-pressure gas pipelines," said Parker. "Our system's ability to provide live streaming and high-resolution video combined with our proprietary machine learning models enables proactive monitoring of glycol and NGL carryover, leading to increased revenue for processing plants and reduced maintenance costs for transmission system operators."

Stapem Group acknowledged the ceremony as a beginning of expansion, innovation and operational excellence. (Image source: Stapem)

The Stapem Group organised a naming ceremony for its latest vessel -- the STAPEM Boreale -- at the Sonils Base in Luanda Port

Designed specifically for the Angolan offshores, the vessel will operate in Blocks 17 and 32, representing a major investment and strategic vision. 

Blocks of strategic significance

Spearheaded by TotalEnergies, the approximately 658mn-boe rich Kaombo project of Block 32 is considered by the major as one of its greatest technical feats, while Block 17 is known for the signifiacant GIR FLEX project, also operated by TotalEnergies. 

Representatives from TotalEnergies were present at the ceremony, besides other key industry stakeholders such as ANPG, Sonangol and Sonils. 

Acknowledging the ceremony as a beginning of expansion, innovation, and operational excellence, Jean-Marc Gerber, general manager of Stapem Group, said, “I would like to thank all the Stapem Group women and men whose dedication, commitment, and motivation ensured the timely completion of this project despite the short timeframe. This highlights our commitment to excellence and operational efficiency.”