Customer challenges
- Due to our sand management expertise and our long standing relationship with the customer, Expro was contacted by an experienced operator in the Gulf of Mexico to assist with a pipeline flushing due to flow restrictions developed resulting in potential sand build-up blocking production in one of their line segment
- Our customer in the Gulf of Mexico wanted us to provide pipeline equipment on an offshore facility to take returns from a step-out flowline that appears to have flow restrictions. The goal is to flush the step-out flowline using a ROV vessel by connecting the Subsea Tree with an insert and returns being flushed back to the facility for processing
- From a recent workover on the well, the customer had identified that sand was causing the restrictions in the flowline
- Expro had to adapt our sand management equipment to accommodate pound per square foot available on the rig. Our planning schedules and specialist crews had to be adaptable to rapidly changing operations
Expro Excellence
- Crew movements were limited and problematic due to onboard accommodation, however personnel travel and accommodation arrangements were carefully controlled; also utilising local staff from the field pool to minimise exposure
- Expro's objective was to place separation equipment on the platform and take returns from a 6" step out flowline using a ROV vessel with fluid pumping and conveyance deployed by connecting to the Subsea Tree
- Expro partnered with DPI headquartered in Malaysia, office in Houston to provide 10k Cy-Fi Pods operating in duty/standby mode with an accumulator purged of solids offline. Based on the parameters, Cyclone inserts were fabricated and placed within the CY-Fi Pods to capture 90% of the sand. This system can obtain real time solids production data and implement "full or partial automation" for optimised solids purging
Value to client
- Expro brought the flowline back online that had been down since 2008, the value this gave to the customer was an increase in production. The customer was extremely satisfied with the results of the project
- Our solution enabled a faster rig up and down for the customer, which limited their capital spending and ultimately enhanced production
- Zero HSE and service quality issues
