Aker to Provide Subsea Equipment for MWCC Containment System

- Aker to Provide Subsea Equipment for MWCC Containment System

Wednesday, July 06, 2011
Aker Solutions

Aker Solutions has been selected for the design, procurement, and fabrication of the subsea containment and diverter assembly for the expanded containment system being developed by Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC). Contract value is undisclosed.

Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) is a not-for-profit, stand-alone organisation committed to improving capabilities for containing a deepwater well control incident in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico. Members include ExxonMobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Shell, BP, Apache, Anadarko, BHP Billiton, Statoil and Hess.

MWCC's expanded containment system is being engineered for use in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico in water depths up to 10 000 feet (3 000 meters) and will have the capacity to contain 100 000 barrels of liquid and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day and is designed for a 15 000 psi maximum working pressure.

"We are pleased to assist MWCC in the development of its expanded containment system," said Erik Wiik, President, Subsea North America, Aker Solutions. "This is also a testament to the experience and performance of Aker Solutions' employees in Houston, Texas."

Aker Solutions will provide the subsea containment assembly equipped with a suite of adapters and connectors to interact with various interface points consistent with the well designs and equipment typically used by oil and gas operators in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico.

Engineering and project management for the containment and diverter assembly will be provided from Aker Solutions' Houston office. Aker Solutions' contract party is Aker Subsea Inc.

The contract has been signed and booked as order intake in 2Q 2011.

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AMEC to Design, Deliver Expansion in MWCC's Containment System

- AMEC to Design, Deliver Expansion in MWCC's Containment System

Wednesday, June 15, 2011
AMEC plc

AMEC has been selected by the Marine Well Containment Company (MWCC) to design and deliver components of MWCC's expanded containment system.

"I am pleased that AMEC's track record of excellent execution, particularly of complex and challenging projects, has gained this recognition," said Simon Naylor, president of AMEC's Natural Resources Americas business. "This project is of significance to the reputation and future of our industry and it is a testament to our people that we have been given the responsibility to deliver a significant part of it."

AMEC's role covers project management, engineering, fabrication, integration, and commissioning of modular equipment to be utilized by the capture vessels of the Marine Well Containment System. AMEC's recent acquisition, qedi, will be supporting AMEC on the integrated completions and commissioning services. When completed, the modular assemblies will be stored and maintained at permanent shore base locations.

The expanded containment system, scheduled for delivery in 2012, is designed to operate in up to 10,000 feet of water in the Gulf of Mexico, and capture up to 100,000 barrels of fluid and 200 million cubic feet of gas per day.

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Big Oil Ready to Deploy New Containment Device for Deepwater Spills

Big Oil Ready to Deploy New Containment Device for Deepwater Spills

Monday, April 18, 2011
Dow Jones Newswires
by Angel Gonzalez

The high-tech marvel that's enabling oil companies to return to the deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico sits in a sun-baked industrial lot in the outskirts of Houston, not far from a gas station, a taco truck, and a highway that could quickly take it to the scene of the next Gulf oil spill.

The new spill-containment device was developed by a consortium led by ExxonMobil to control future spills similar to the largest marine oil spill that leaked more than 4 million barrels in the Gulf in April last year.

"We like it here," Marty Massey, chief executive of the Marine Well Containment Co. (MWCC), said Friday, as the company unveiled to reporters the device, called a capping stack that is the heart of the containment system. "[The device was] built here; the people who built it can maintain it" and can be deployed to its destination "in a matter of days," Massey said. "We are ready to go."

The 30-foot tall, 100-ton stack--a tree-shaped mass of blue, yellow and white steel with protruding knobs and gauges--is meant to be lowered on top of a deepwater gusher, either killing the flow or funneling the oil to ships. It draws on the lessons of the system that BP struggled to develop during the three months it fought to control the damaged Deepwater Horizon well that unleashed a major environmental disaster.

The company said the containment system that the device is part of can capture up to 60,000 barrels a day from wells up to 8,000 feet below sea level.

Massey said that the consortium, created by Exxon, Chevron, Shell and ConocoPhillips, is also developing a similar system with a higher capacity capable of capturing up to 100,000 barrels a day from gushers as deep as 10,000 feet. This improved version, Massey said, will operate from several bases along the Gulf Coast and will be ready around mid-2012.

As the government suspended deepwater drilling following the Gulf disaster, the oil industry needed to quickly take steps and prove that it was capable of controlling any future

HWCG Expands Deepwater Capabilities

HWCG Expands Deepwater Capabilities

Wednesday, March 30, 2011
The Helix Well Containment Group

The Helix Well Containment Group (HWCG) announced it will substantially increase its subsea well containment capabilities this year by expanding its ability to control and contain a release in water depths up to 10,000 feet.

HWCG is a consortium of 22 deepwater operators in the Gulf of Mexico that has come together with the common goal of expanding capabilities to quickly and comprehensively respond to such an incident to protect employees, communities and the environment. HWCG's current system is capable of facilitating control and containment of spills in water depths up to 5,600 feet and will utilize Helix Energy Solutions Group's Q4000, the intervention vessel effectively used during the Deepwater Horizon response.

The system features a 10,000 psig capping stack.

By April 8, 2011, the system is expected to have increased containment capacity and capabilities for water depths up to 8,000 feet, as well as capture and processing capabilities of 55,000 barrels of oil per day and 95 million cubic feet of natural gas per day. In the coming weeks, HWCG will also add a 15,000 psig capping stack.

Full operational capability for water depths of up to 10,000 feet is anticipated mid-summer 2011.

"Our enhanced response and containment capabilities would exceed the depth of any well currently drilled or planned by the consortium's 22 members and would allow operators to control capping and containment stacks at the greater depths," said Roger Scheuermann, commercial director for HWCG.

Building upon equipment effectively used in the Deepwater Horizon response, HWCG has signed an agreement with Helix Energy Solutions Group to provide the primary components of the response. Additionally, HWCG has agreements in place with more than 30 service providers who will provide additional services, products and personnel, if needed.