Popeye Subsea Development

Exploration and Discovery
Shell Offshore Inc. is the operator and has a 37.5% interest in the field. Originally, Mobil Exploration and Producing Company and BP Amoco each had 12.5%, and CNG Producing Company, which joined the other participants in the unit in 1992, had a 37.5% interest in the field. In 2000, CNG increased their interest to 50% by buying Mobil's 12.5% interest. Current interest holders are Dominion (50%), Shell (37.5%) and ExxonMobil (12.5%).

The leases were acquired in May 1983 at the Federal OCS Lease Sale 72. Shell Offshore Inc. acquired Blocks 73, 116 and 117, and Mobil and BP Exploration acquired Block 72. The discovery well was drilled on Green Canyon Block 116 in 1984 and 1985 using Transocean’s Discoverer Seven Seas drillship.
 
A total of nine exploratory wells were drilled. The target reserves are in the lower Pleistocene turbidite ‘G” sand, which was deposited in two distinct reservoirs at a depth of approximately 11,500 feet below sea level. 

Check out our Popeye Gee Whiz facts.

Development Plans
Shell announced in 1993 the partners’ plans to develop Popeye using a subsea production system.  Development has been phased. Phase One development involved two subsea wells located on Block 116, directionally drilled to bottom hole locations on Blocks 73 and 116, and connected via 4-inch (inside diameter-ID) jumpers to an adjacent subsea gathering manifold.
 
Arethusa’s Saratoga semisubmersible rig drilled these two wells in 1994-95. The same rig completed these wells in September 1995. The production manifold was installed in May 1995.
 
The first phase of development was designed to recover approximately 200 billion cubic feet of gas and 7 million barrels of condensate. A third well was drilled at the end of 1997.

Production
Production began in January 1996. Production is transported 24 miles by two nominal 6-inch flowlines to SOI’s Cougar Platform in South Timbalier Block 300.

Components of the Subsea Production System 

• The wellhead system is a conventional 3-hanger subsea wellhead.

• The completion guidebase is a guidelineless structure locked to the low pressure wellhead housing.
   
  
• The subsea tree is a 4-inch x 2-inch 10,000 p.s.i. composite block guidelineless design, with a horizontal flow piping connection mandrel for mating with the well jumper.
   
  
• The subsea wells are connected to the manifold with diverless, 4-inch ID duplex stainless steel jumpers.
   
  
• The tree, tubing hanger and jumpers were installed and are serviced using a newly-designed completion riser system and accompanying hydraulic workover control system.
   
  
• The riser system is an innovative concentric design which is expected to reduce running times. Specially designed diverter components convert the concentric configuration to parallel bore to allow wireline access. The riser/control system is designed to shear wireline or coiled tubing, if necessary, and to secure the well in the event of a well kick, or if a riser disconnect becomes necessary.
   
  
• The centrally-located manifold/template has six well receiver slots and two flowline connection slots.
   
  
• The template base, which supports the manifold, is piled to the seabed. It has a diameter of 52 feet, is 10 feet tall and weighs about 105 tons.
   
  
• Although installed initially with the template, the manifold is a separate assembly, 16 feet in diameter, 15 feet tall and weighing about 45 tons.
   
  
• The production control system is a multiplexed electrohydraulic design consisting of a control pod on each tree, separate hydraulic and electrical distribution modules on the umbilical termination structure (UTS), interconnecting flying lead hydraulic and electrical jumpers between the trees and the UTS, and a master control station on Cougar Platform.
   
  
• The UTS uses a low pressure wellhead housing for structural support and has a guidebase that provides guidance and support for landing the distribution modules and the umbilical terminations.
   
  
• The two flowlines are nominal 6-inch, carbon steel line pipe. Their risers are clamped to a jacket leg on the Cougar Platform. At the Popeye Field, each flowline is connected to the flowline jumper, which, in turn, connects to the production manifold.
   
  
• The 7-line hydraulic umbilical, constructed of super duplex steel tubing, supplies high and low pressure hydraulic fluid, chemical injection and annulus vent/service.
   
  
• The electrical umbilical is a double-armored cable and transmits electrical power and signals between the master control station on the Cougar Platform and the electrical distribution unit on the UTS.
   
  
• Both the hydraulic and electrical umbilicals were pulled up an I-tube that was installed on a jacket leg of the Cougar Platform.